In the last few months I’ve become something of a gym rat, as I’m trying to buff up and complete a long weight loss campaign. (I’ve dropped nearly 50lbs with Weight Watchers and exercise.) And I’ve both read and discovered for myself the one factor that really makes a difference: consistency. So I try to get to the gym 6 days a week. Most of the time, I manage to do it, too.
Buffing up your marketing is similar. You have to be committed and consistent. Your product has to have consistent quality, it has to be delivered in a consistent manner, and your non-promotional pricing should be relatively consistent and stable.
Promotion is where consistency seems most difficult. I’ve seen more campaigns fail because of a lack of commitment and a lack of delivery consistency. Social media outlets wither and die; newsletters become sporadic in content, delivery, or both; loyalty programs fade away.
Why is that? Because in the case of these marketing programs, much like going to the gym, starting is the easy part. Finding content for those first couple newsletters is easy. Thinking about what to tweet, blog, or put on Facebook isn’t hard the first time. Six months down the road, however, you may start to feel like you’ve written or tweeted it all, and that’s when your campaigns are at risk.
How do you beat this? Knowing those times are coming and planning for them is half the battle. I don’t like to enter content projects without a relatively wide group of authors, or a group of authors whose compensation is tied to delivering content. Put the same pressure on yourself. If you’re a marketing employee in a company of some size, you likely have variable compensation tied to objectives. Make the creation of that content over time one of of those objectives. If you work for yourself, consider putting a portion of your income at risk, maybe by agreeing to donate a set amount if you fail to create the content you need. For you, this has double risks – you are losing opportunity by not being consistent in your marketing, and you’re having to pay out some of that hard-earned dough.
Want your marketing to be buff and stay that way? Be consistent.