From the Desk of a Branding Consultant:
Forget Four-Leaf Clovers—Here’s What Actually Works in Marketing
In honor of the “month of luck” that brings us St. Patrick’s Day, let’s talk about something I hear a lot as a marketing consultant: “They’re so lucky.”
Lucky to have a loyal following.
Lucky that their campaign went viral.
Lucky to have strong sales without big ad budgets.
But here’s the thing—when you peel back the curtain, marketing success rarely comes down to luck. It’s usually the result of strategy, consistency, and a whole lot of work behind the scenes.
Yes, there are moments where timing or opportunity play a role. But real, sustainable marketing wins don’t happen by accident. They happen by design.
Let’s explore how luck tends to show up in marketing—when we rely on it too much, and when it gets more credit than it deserves.
Luck vs. Strategy in Marketing
Where Luck Feels Like a Strategy (but isn’t):
Your email list.
If you send mass communications out to your email list when you could be targeting the message, you are rolling the dice and hoping for the best. In some cases, this is the only option, but in my experience, there are ways to segment and target.
For example, you know a few things about your customers. How could you target your messaging to speak to them directly?
Another example is you’ve captured how a lead or prospect found you. Are you sending them email communications that speak to what they inquired about?
Do the hard work to target your emails, and success will no longer be about luck; it will be about serving up the right message to the right person at the right time.
Posting on social media.
So, you got those three posts out per week for the last six months – great job! Posting consistently is a great start—but if your content lacks strategy or follow-through, it’s like shouting into the void.
Did you have a strategy? Is your strategy measurable? Are you reviewing your efforts to see what is working and what isn’t? Oh, and then adjusting accordingly? This is especially important if your business operates in a highly niche space, is B2B, or is not the sexy lifestyle type brand that people gravitate toward.
Eliminate the luck and start with a measurable strategy, and the guessing game and/or wasted efforts are significantly diminished.
Why Consistency Is the Real Lucky Charm
It’s a common mistake that business leaders make, and even savvy marketers occasionally make it. It comes down to follow-up and consistency.
For those leads you gathered at an event…you know, the ones that showed interest in your product or service—follow up with them, and you no longer leave things to chance. You are in control of your success.
For those marketing efforts that you start and stop, like emails, blogs or social media posts, keep going. Don’t post for two weeks and then fade off because you got busy. Stay consistent, and you plant the seeds that grow into successful marketing initiatives over time.
No luck needed.
Success Doesn’t Just Happen—It’s Earned Through Reps
You might look at a successful brand and assume they just “got lucky.” But luck is rarely the whole story. You’ve heard of overnight success stories, but seldom do you listen to what it took to get there. Just ask Michael Jordan. He once said:
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
It’s a powerful reminder: what appears to be success often hides a long trail of missteps, lessons, and unglamorous effort.
Marketing is no different.
That viral campaign, that record-setting sales quarter, that brand with the cult-like following? They didn’t happen by chance. They were the result of consistent strategy, testing, refining, and showing up—even when no one was watching. Just like Jordan taking shot after shot, marketing success comes from repetition, resilience, and refinement.
Did you catch a bad case of comparisonitis?
Comparisonitis happens when we fall prey to comparing ourselves to others. It can happen in our personal lives, too, of course. But in this case, it happens to brands or businesses that look at what their peers or competitors are doing and think, “Why didn’t my marketing initiative drive those kinds of results or go viral or any other desirable results?”
This type of comparison can be dangerous for a lot of reasons.
One main danger of comparisonitis is comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle or end. You’re just not being fair to yourself.
Another danger of the comparison game is related to the work.
Were you willing to take 9,000 shots like MJ did? Did you do the research, produce the work consistently and follow through on your prospects? Some might see my marketing initiatives as lucky, but they weren’t there when I postponed my New Year’s Eve plans to get a last-minute client request done before I left to celebrate.
One of my favorite quotes is, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” This quote, translated from Latin (Fortuna est quae fit cum praeparatio in occasionem incidit.) is attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca and reminds us that we make our own luck.
So before you chalk someone else’s success up to “luck,” ask yourself—how many shots have you taken?
That said, I wish you this: May your preparation meet opportunity – often!
Let’s Work Together To Ensure Your Marketing Initiatives Are NOT Left to Chance.
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