It’s only human. Busy people put in an extra effort and eventually it’s done; the new website is finally finished, the brochure is out, the tender has gone in, conference attendees have melted away happy and you can pop the cork and toast a tough job well done…

It’s time to get back to the everyday world and all those things that got shoved aside.

The trouble is that the real difference with marketing comes when the effort is sustained. It has to be business as usual. Of course there are peaks but the steady climb throughout the year gets you further than the occasional scramble.

Brands are about relationships and take time to establish. This is especially true online. There are few shortcuts in reputation-building – except to disaster. People have become accustomed to having lots of information available. And if your website doesn’t provide it there are plenty of alternative sources. This includes qualitative assessments as much as raw facts.

The rise of social media and blogging has vastly increased the impact of word of mouth online. People increasingly can and do find reviews and voice opinions online. There are innumerable specialised bloggers, evangelists and opinion rousers. Companies like Reviewcentre and Reevoo have emerged to harvest and propagate product reviews.

In this environment, a company that is not responding to the online world and adapting as a result is losing out. If it fails to engage with external opinion, neglects its web presence, stymies site traffic or acquiesces in poor search engine rankings it is turning its back on a primary source of growth. The tools and the services are out there.

So enjoy the moment, have a good time – and start marketing again tomorrow.