Do what I say, not as I do..............

Well well well, seems I have made a snafu (calculated or not). Can you guess what this snafu is? I will give you a hint - consistency. Anybody? Brueler Brueler has anyone seen.............O.k you need another hint? How about – time? I think we are getting closer ........ding ding ding I think we have a winner!!!!! All Right! For all of your efforts you win a big screen TV for your next dream. O.k. o.k. the answer is providing a consistent and timely posting. It has been a bit over two weeks since my last posting and I bet you forgot all about me - well almost. Point is, Social Media Marketing is just like every other form of advertising. If you are not in front of your audience they will forget you or not trust you with their time. Especially when they can click just around the corner and find someone else doing the same thing you are.

This brings up a good question – “do you have to have the same consistent campaign message over extended periods of time and does it really matter”? Well, it is a complicated question. I am going to extend a “yes” and a “no” answer. I know it is a bit confusing, but there really is a “yes” answer and a “no” answer. “Yes” you need to provide a consistent “Brand” message over time and on a consistent timely basis. “No” you do not need to provide the same campaign type of message all of the time. Think of “Nike”, they provide a brand image of athletic footwear that will help you perform better. Their campaign messaging changes depending on the sport they focus on in advertisements.

Check out “Assessing the long-term impact of a consistent advertising campaign on consumer memory.” http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/advertising/174156-1.html. This article is a bit long, but it does provide some pretty good insight into “consistent advertising”. If you do not read the article, at least remember this from the article:

Consumer recall and recognition will be better for a brand whose schema has been established with a continuous advertising campaign compared with a new brand using a similar message strategy.

This is very important for all of us trying to brand our product. It is not good to steal someone else’s idea and try to make it our own. Yes, there may be some elements, but be very careful. Just take a look at the Duracell Bunny vs. the Energizer Bunny. Think about this for a bit. Is it the Duracell or Energizer bunny???? Think hard. It is actually both. The point is Eveready (owner of Energizer) captured the concept from Duracell (legally of course), but confusion grew with the public and Duracell actually believes about 40% of those who see the advertisements think of Duracell rather than Energizer.

Without consistency you will

• Slowly lose customer trust and credibility
• Confuse your customers by appearing undecided (make up your mind!)
• Come across as not having been in business very long

Consistency is very very very important!

Let me know if you agree or not.