Why Consistency in Marketing Is Critical for Success
Last week we sat down with a client to review some branding content we created for them.
As the meeting went on, they were continually concerned that we were reusing the same words and phrases over and over again.
They were worried their content was too repetitive and wanted to “mix it up.”
They were confused about the entire goal of marketing messaging.
The truth is, marketing content should be repetitive. It should use the same words and phrases over, and over, and over again.
Because people just aren’t paying attention.
Repetition for the Win
Marketing content exists to teach your prospects about the problems you can solve for them.
Repetition is part of the teaching process.
When you describe the problems you solve and how your products and services provide value to your clients, you should feel like you’re repeating yourself.
Using the same language consistently isn’t lazy or boring — it’s a highly effective way to make sure your prospects understand exactly how you can help them.
It ensures they remember how you can help them because there’s no way they’re going to remember you on the first message.
Or even by the 5th.
It takes about 8 messages before a prospect will take action.
8.
And if they’re all different, your potential client isn’t going to necessarily realize that they’re all coming from you.
You see, most people see about 5,000 marketing messages per day.
They are literally bombarded with the dang things, so it’s really difficult for messages to stick.
You have to work very hard to stand out from the crowd, but one of the ways you can do that is by making yourself memorable.
Repetition is memorable.
Great Marketing Content Takes Advantage of How the Brain Works
When a prospect comes to your website (or reads your emails, or sees your social media posts), their brain isn’t immediately ready to interpret your message.
Instead, it’s scanning for clues that tell it if what you have to say will help it survive or not.
Only once your content passes the survival test will it be processed more thoroughly.
Repeating key statements about the problems you solve for your customers helps their brains understand that what you provide is necessary for them to survive.
It actually increases the likelihood of further processing and understanding.
And that level of processing leads to conversions.
Content frameworks that work are repetitive. We utilize The Problem Solver Method™ to understand how our brains process new information. Check out the video below to learn more about the framework.
Consistency Is Popular
Look, the game of marketing and advertising is a popularity contest. It’s about having the most popular message possible, the one everyone is drawn to.
But here’s the thing — being popular, as we all know, doesn’t always equate to being great.
There are many very popular products out there that aren’t as great as the competition.
Why are they so popular?
It’s almost always because of marketing and advertising.
The message of the product has become so ingrained in people’s minds that it doesn’t matter if it’s not the best, or the cheapest, or if their customer service sucks, or whatever.
What matters is that their message won.
In almost all cases, consistency works better than mixing it up.
Sure, if you’re reading a book, you don’t want to read the same word over and over and over…
But we’re not talking about fiction here. We’re not talking about an English paper.
We’re talking about marketing, and marketing that’s mixed up is marketing that people, who are super busy and super overwhelmed by tons of other marketing messages, is marketing that they fail to connect to the other marketing messages they’ve already heard from you.
This is as basic as the idea of a logo. You don’t change your logo for every single ad you put out there, do you?
So why should the words be any different?
Think about some of the most famous taglines out there. “Just do it.” “A diamond is forever.” “The happiest place on Earth.”
They didn’t feel the need to change their tagline every few months to “mix things up,” now did they?
And they continue to succeed, even though there are competitors who are objectively better in various ways.
Look, people are smart, but they’re just not applying their brain power to your marketing messages. They don’t need to. They don’t have the time for it.
Your marketing message isn’t important enough to them for them to do that.
So they’re just giving it a glance.
If it’s different every time, then they’re going to glance away, not remember it, and pay more attention to the one that hits them over the head so many times that they finally pay attention.
The one that’s most popular.
The loudest one.
That’s what you need to do.
You need to do it in your ads.
You need to do it in your marketing.
And you definitely need to do it on your website.
Get A Marketing Strategy That Builds Value In Your Business
Does your strategy generate leads for your business? Do your visitors instantly understand how you can help solve their problems?
Does your website or marketing assets make them want to learn more?
Not sure if your marketing is working —download our sample strategy and learn more about how a Value Building Marketing Strategy can help your business.
What is Value Building Marketing
Value Building Marketing is a collaborative project between RS Consulting and Blue Steele Solutions. Our agencies work together to combine our experience and expertise for marketing strategy clients. We create strategies that work —
Without a great strategy, you can waste your time and your marketing dollars. We’ll start with a thorough review of your business, brand, audience, and goals then use market research and our decades of experience to create a strategy that’s just right for you.
Then we’ll give you a game plan that includes what metrics matter for your business and how to track them, a complete overview of all suggested strategies and tactics, and an implementation guide and estimated budget for all your marketing activities.