One of the more common misperceptions in brand marketing is that you can expand your company’s audience with that single snappy blogpost, Tweet, or video.

That, in fact, almost never happens. The most effective brand strategies, typically, build critical mass gradually, over time, courting followers and subscribers by consistently producing quality content. The objective should be to inculcate an almost “Pavlovian” response among visitors to your website, social media site, or video channel, meaning that when they see your brand, it triggers a reflexive mouth-watering appetite for quality content.

A big part of this incremental strategy is understanding how most people consume content. Almost anyone can be tempted by “click-bait” offering a glimpse of Rihanna sunbathing poolside, but most people aren’t tempted to regularly return to that website as a result of that content, no matter how revealing. Conversely, a series of short articles deconstructing how the performer launched a cosmetics and lingerie line that took the marketplace by storm will engage your audience in a more fulfilling, and sustainable way.

“By the yard,” former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke is fond of saying in speeches to young people, “life is hard, but by the inch, life’s a cinch.”

The axiom typically produces its share of eye-rolling from the audience and cements Schmoke’s reputation as a bit of an affable nerd. But most everyone understands the point: nothing good happens overnight; enduring change occurs as a result of good habits nurtured by simply getting up every day, and putting in the requisite work.

Rinse and repeat.