I was having a conversation yesterday with the cofounder of a firm in our industry. It was the first time we’d met. We were talking about marketing execution, and he said something really interesting… “We haven’t done any marketing because I was afraid that once we started, we wouldn’t be able to stop!”
To which I responded, “You are 100% correct!”
Consistency
He shared that he was concerned that if they started blogging, for example, and they got really busy, that they might not be able to keep it up. He mentioned that he’d been to the blogs of several firms in our industry that hadn’t had any new posts in over a year. And that reflected poorly on those firms.
Again, I said, “You are 100% correct!”
Consistency is one of the two most important aspects of effective marketing. It’s one of the elements that even allows your message to have any impact at all. For a couple of reasons…
- Simply stated… it takes time for your message to cut through the clutter and make an impression in the mind of the buyer. And even longer to get to the top-of-mind position we all covet. The good news is that all channels – email, social media, advertising, exhibiting, etc. – can work together to achieve this goal.
- The problems start when you stop. And it’s not just about it causing a ‘bad look’ for your firm (though that’s a real issue)… but if you are inconsistent with your marketing – and especially if you stop for an extended period of time – you don’t just lose your place in line in the mind of the buyer, you fall to the bottom and have to start all over again. So, my contact was right… once you start, you can’t stop.
Frequency
While consistency is key, it also assumes a certain frequency. So, for example, while publishing one blog post every January 1st is consistent, it’s not frequent enough to have an impact.
And this led to the second part of our conversation. We were talking specifically about posting on LinkedIn, and he was concerned that posting too frequently would be off-putting and make him look bad. To which I replied, “Well, that depends…”
With social media marketing, all too often, the message is a sales pitch. Do that too frequently and yes, it will be off-putting… and polarizing… and irritating… and cause your LinkedIn connections to disconnect!
The key is to use your social media platform to share helpful, useful, beneficial information… even if it’s not yours. Use it to link your connections to articles, blog posts, press releases, upcoming events, association resources, and so on.
And here’s the point… as long as you’re sharing – and not selling – you really can’t post too often. If the information you share helps people to learn, to do their job better, to solve problems or even to be entertained… more is better!
Note: once you achieve a high frequency for sharing helpful information, then you’ve ‘earned the right’ to occasionally insert a self-serving post – pitching a service, etc. Just don’t do it too often.
Conclusion
Consistency and frequency – the two most important factors for successful marketing – are why haphazard, I’ll-get-to-it-when-I-get-a-chance marketing never works.
So, take a look at what you’re doing today – email marketing, social media, advertising, content creation, etc. If you’re not consistent enough or frequent enough… fix it.
It’s never too late to implement effective marketing!