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Did you know that you can Google “the most powerful marketing phrases” and get hundreds of ideas on what exactly you should say to your customers, so they instantly want to buy from you? Ok. I am being cheeky here. Yes, the words are there, you can Google them, but this is not what makes your customers WANT to buy from you. Is it?
This month, we are diving into the second C of Cucumber Marketing. There are three if you were wondering. The first one was clarity in marketing, and this month, we will be talking about CONSISTENCY.
Let’s see why consistency is such a big deal in marketing. Or rather, why it SHOULD be a big deal in marketing.
1. Consistency Doesn’t Imply Stagnation
Apparently, consistency is a highly controversial topic. Just looking at a couple of quotes below will make you think if consistency is really that overrated…
Consistency is the most overrated of all human virtues… I’m someone who changes his mind all the time. Malcolm Gladwell
Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead. Aldous Huxley
Let’s look at the meaning of the word first.
Consistency:
Conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness.
Origin:
Late 16th century (denoting permanence of form): from late Latin consistentia, from consistent- ‘standing firm’.
I find it interesting (and very fitting when it comes to marketing and branding) that the origin of the word means “standing firm”.
Why is it fitting for marketing?
Because the main purpose of marketing and branding is to communicate the benefits of hiring your company and to provide reassurance to your potential and existing customers that your company will do the job well if you do hire them. In order to do that, you will need to “stand firm” in your conviction that what you say is accurate and what you dol matches your words. And that is achieved through consistency in your messaging across all of your marketing platforms – when you tell your customers the same story through everything you do.
“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” Tony Robbins
I am #TeamTony on this one! Being consistent doesn’t mean you will never change your opinion or change your mind about something, it’s having the discipline to act on the ideas you have.
Conclusion:
Consistency doesn’t mean stagnation - it means having the discipline to do what’s necessary (over and over again) to get the result you are looking for.
Consistency Keeps Your Branding Alive
Over the past ten years, we’ve worked with many different businesses from various industries. We noticed a few interesting patterns of what successful companies do or don’t do. One of them is how they treat their brand.
Successful companies take their branding seriously. They spend time and money on developing brand assets and guidelines, but what they take even more seriously is how they execute their brand. Their Brand Book literally becomes their Brand Bible, and all of their marketing materials must adhere to the brand guidelines strictly. In other words, once the brand has been created, they don’t overthink it. They don’t spend hours and hours on design revisions and tweaking. They just follow the Brand Book.
Here’s a perfect example of how Starbucks does it – a perfect marriage of consistency, while keeping things fresh:
So, if you find yourself constantly worrying about your company’s colours versus the consistency of your brand – take notes! Listen, there’s no limit to perfection, but if you are agonizing over that shade of purple instead of making sure that your salespeople say the same thing as your website (consistently) – you might be missing a chance to really connect with your customers.
Conclusion:
It doesn’t matter how beautiful your brand is unless it works. Unless it is consistent.
Consistency Doesn’t Work Unless You Do
We often get asked – why do I need to hire a marketing agency if I already know what I need to do. Sure, I probably didn’t say anything you didn’t already know in this blog post, either. But it’s not what we know, and it’s not even how good our marketing strategy is, that would determine the success of our marketing campaigns. It’s the execution of your marketing plan that will make all the difference. This is where marketing agencies come in – they help you stay consistent and to follow through (and expand on) on all the amazing plans and goals you already have.
Executing marketing and branding strategies is not rocket science, but it definitely is a discipline. Doing it consistently takes time. It takes time to develop the processes and systems, to ensure the outcome will follow best practices, keeping past experience and previous results in mind. Hiring a marketing agency will ensure that you always put your focus where it should go – which in the end will save you time and money, making sure your marketing campaigns are purposeful and effective.
Conclusion:
Having the knowledge and the plans is not enough, executing the ideas consistently will make all the difference.
And what do you think about consistency?
Did this article add a fresh perspective to what’s going on in your organization? Let us know on LinkedIn or Instagram – we would love to hear what you think about this topic!
Would you like to speak to one of our Cool Cucumbers about your current marketing?
Give us a shout at 604.559.7509 to set up a discovery meeting, or stop by our marketing agency in Vancouver – we always have chocolate!