Consistency may be the most powerful quality that small businesses can implement to build an active online community.
Be honest: Could your social marketing be described as randomly jumping from one social network to another to get your message out? That approach simply doesn’t work in a digital world where precision is possible, and therefore, should be leveraged.
Consistency happens to be a rare quality, which is why it is so powerful for differentiating your business. Use it to build and sustain your online business communities.
Repetition is Memorable
Marketing should be memorable. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, such as being funny, creative, or provocative. Yet, even though the best minds are hired to create memorable Super Bowl commercials, why is it that only a few are later remembered?
You need to consistently repeat your message for it to be memorable.
Even if you have huge budgets and lots of talent, building a memorable brand can be challenging. In contrast, being consistent with your marketing is a simple as building systems that ensure everything is implemented well, and on time.
When your newsletter, blog post, or other online content is delivered on a consistent basis, you set the expectation of “being there” for your community, thereby encouraging everyone to tune in.
In addition to that, even if you audience does not show up when you publish, the mental association of your digital channel with that particular time will serve as a reminder to tune in the next time.
Consistency Honors the Community
Consistency speaks to your professionalism, commitment, and quality. We all have unforeseen events and circumstances in our businesses that work against this. However, the nature of digital gives you a means for managing it all.
Start building an inventory of content so that you can get and stay up to a month ahead of schedule. This allows you to take time off when you need to, while never letting your community down. This is what I plan to do leading up to the launch of my small business podcast in November. I’ll have at least 25 shows under my belt before we go live.
Attracting an audience is just part of the online marketing equation. You have to continue to earn their attention by engaging with them on a regular basis.
Need a good model to follow?
In an earlier article I shared 9 tips that help to keep my social media marketing organized. Maybe some of them will work for you.
Another idea is to build a structure that in some way mirrors your life habits. For example, I get my deep thinking done on weekends. This is when I flesh out at a rough draft for my articles, newsletter, etc.
This gets the heavy lifting out of the way, leaving the balance of the week for commenting and sharing in short bursts whenever there is a few idle moments between projects.
How about you? How do you make consistency work to advantage your business marketing?
Leave a comment below?
About the Author: Jeff Korhan, MBA, helps mainstream small businesses create exceptional customer experiences that accelerate business growth. Get more from Jeff on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.
Jeff is also the author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business – (Wiley 2013)
