There are many aspects of a marketing strategy which must be monitored in order to be successful. Factors such as understanding your unique value proposition, defining your target audience, and developing and publishing content usually take up most of your attention. There is, however, an often overlooked characteristic of marketing which plays a large role in how your marketing efforts are viewed: consistency.

Consistency and Why it Matters

Consistency in marketing means setting a standard your audience, internal staff, and even competitors can can expect. Consistency should exist throughout every aspect of your marketing efforts, but it must be present in your branding, the frequency and timing of content and messaging, and the quality of the content you publish.

Here is how inconsistency negatively affects the keys aspects of your marketing strategy:

• Branding – Your organization?s brand is the face your business presents to the outside world. It?s far more than just a logo, encompassing color, fonts, tone, and personality. Inconsistent use of colors, messaging tone, or even the look and feel of your logo confuses your target audience about who you really are.
• Frequency and Timing – Publishing content on a regular basis and in a predictable manner (i.e. posting a new blog every Monday) builds anticipation and allows your audience to plan time to read your content. Inconsistency in the frequency and timing prevents you from building trust with your audience and keeps you from gaining a consistent following.
• Quality – This is a big one! Your audience?s time is valuable, and it is important for you and for them that you understand and respect that. It is essential that you develop a certain standard for the content you publish and never waver from it.

Setting a standard of consistency in your marketing efforts takes time, patience, and effort. But it provides so many benefits to your business, it?s well worth the effort. Consistency means you:

• Puts you firmly in control of your marketing – Remember: you are in control of when you develop and publish marketing content. Set a schedule which best suits the capabilities and assets of your organization. ?
• More engagement from your audience – Quality content delivered on time and on a regular basis is a great recipe for client engagement. When your audience knows what they can reliably expect, they will be eager to engage with your brand.
• Build a large and loyal following – Increased engagement allows you to continually build a your audience, and a large audience means business growth.

Consistency is key to a successful long-term marketing strategy. You can reach consistency by understanding your goals and starting small. Build upon each success, learn from your mistakes, and soon you will be on the path to where you need to be!