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Top Tips to Master Marketing Consistency

Top Tips to Master Marketing Consistency: “Excellence is not an act, but a habit” 

Marketing can often feel like an overwhelming task, especially for small companies and organisations that may not have the resources for a dedicated in-house team. In these types of entities, it’s common for different team members to chip in when creating marketing assets and communicating with customers or potential customers.

While this approach can foster a strong team ethos and make lighter work of marketing tasks, it can also lead to inconsistencies. Differing views and outlooks, however well-meaning, can sometimes muddy the water in outbound communications. I am always keen to talk to my clients about how one of the most crucial factors in building a successful marketing strategy is consistency. I may be giving away my age here, but in their 80s pop collab, Bananarama & Fun Boy Three told us: “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it, that’s what gets results”—and when it comes to your marketing efforts and output, I couldn’t agree more! 

My clients are more and more regularly taking advantage of the plethora of free or inexpensive marketing and design tools and apps now available. These are easy to access and use, making it possible for even the smallest organisations to create professional-looking marketing materials. However, the abundance of design, font, and colour options can also be a double-edged sword. With so many choices, it can be time-consuming to select the best elements to represent your brand. Often, the person responsible for marketing might feel like a kid in a sweet shop—excited but overwhelmed—leading to confusion and indecision. 

Below are some top tips on how to maintain consistency in your marketing efforts and why it’s so important. 

  • 1. Establish a Clear Brand Identity  Before you even begin marketing, it’s essential to have a well-defined brand identity. This includes your logo, colour scheme, typography, tone of voice, and crucially for micro businesses, whether you communicate in first or third person. Consistency in these elements across all platforms helps build brand recognition. When your audience sees the same look, feel, and message everywhere—whether it’s on your website, social media, print materials like brochures and posters, or broadcast media such as radio or TV—they’re more likely to remember and trust your brand. 
  • Tip: Create a brand style guide that outlines all these elements. A brand style guide is a document that details how your brand should be represented across all marketing materials, both digital and print, as well as in broadcast marketing like TV and radio. It should include guidelines on logo usage, colour palettes, fonts, imagery, tone of voice, and even preferred layouts for print materials. This guide ensures that anyone working on your marketing, whether internal or external, adheres to your brand standards. 
  • 2. Maintain Regular Communication  Regular communication with your audience is key to staying top of mind. Whether through social media posts, newsletters, blog updates, or even regular print magazines, consistency in how often you communicate is crucial. Infrequent or erratic messaging can confuse your audience and diminish the impact of your efforts. In order to get the best value for time spent and assets created, it is also important to be consistent about the order in which new information is released to the public when new products are launched or new services are developed. 
  • Tip: Develop a content calendar to plan and schedule all your different communications in advance. This helps ensure that your messages are delivered consistently and on time, across all mediums, including your digital platforms, print materials, and any broadcast efforts.. 
  • 3. Be Consistent Across All Channels  Your audience interacts with your brand across various channels—social media, email, your website, print materials like leaflets, and possibly even across the airways. Consistency across these channels helps create a cohesive experience. The same messaging, visuals, and tone should be used across all platforms to reinforce your brand identity. 
  • Tip: Use tools like social media management platforms to schedule and monitor your posts across different channels. For print materials, ensure your design and messaging also follow your brand style guide to keep your materials consistent, and make sure they mirror visuals, photos, and descriptions used when talking about the same topic/product/service in digital comms. 
  • 4. Set and Stick to a Content Strategy Your content is the heart of your marketing. Whether it’s blog posts, videos, social media updates, or printed newsletters, the type of content you produce and how often you publish it should align with your overall strategy. A sporadic approach to content creation can lead to disengagement from your audience. 
  • Tip: Start with a manageable content schedule. It’s better to communicate less frequently but consistently than to overextend yourself and fail to deliver. Apply this strategy to all forms of content to maintain a steady flow of communication. 
  • 5. Monitor and Adjust Consistency doesn’t mean being rigid. While it’s important to maintain your brand’s identity and messaging, you should also be open to making adjustments based on what’s working and what’s not. Regularly review your marketing efforts across all channels—digital, print, and broadcast—to see where you can improve. 
  • Tip: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your marketing campaigns. For print and broadcast, gather feedback from your audience or track engagement to understand what resonates and allows you to fine-tune your approach while maintaining overall consistency. 
  • 6. Engage with Your Audience  Marketing materials, voice, and tone need to consistently mirror your customer, service user, or target market. As an example, this could include consistently adding in customer testimonials that align with the audience you’re trying to engage. When using stock photography or gathering images as part of a brand photo shoot, it’s also important that the photos of ‘customers/clients’ match the demographics and culture of your current and ideal brand audience. 

Consistency in how you engage with your audience is just as important as the content you produce. Whether you’re responding to comments on social media, emails, queries on your website, reviews, or feedback from surveys or radio interviews, a consistent and timely approach builds trust and loyalty. 

  • Tip: Set aside time each day to interact with your audience. This doesn’t have to be time-consuming, but a little regular engagement goes a long way in fostering strong relationships. 

Consistency in marketing isn’t just about repetition; it’s about building a reliable, recognisable brand that your audience can trust. For small businesses and charities, where resources may be limited, focusing on consistency can make your marketing efforts more effective and sustainable in the long run.

By implementing these tips, you’ll not only make the most of your time spent on marketing but also create a lasting impression on your audience, whether they encounter your brand online, in print, or through broadcast media. 

If you need some help with this or any other aspect of your marketing, please do get in touch.

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