Consistency online equals trust
One of the primary goals when marketing online is to get people to know, like, trust, and value you. Because that’s what it takes for people to do business with you, or so the saying goes. But one of the more challenging aspects of that is the trust factor. How can you get people to trust you online?
The key is consistency.
Importance of Consistency
Did you know that every time you board an airplane, the pilots rely on their preflight checklist to make sure everything goes well with the flight?
How much trust would you place in the pilot if you knew he had a different checklist each time? Or maybe did them in a different order each time? Or even skipped things sometimes?
Not a lot. Consistency is huge.
Now, there’s no easy answer to how often you should publish online. It depends on your audience, as well as how often you can do it and still keep up with it. But more important than the specific frequency is simply consistency. It doesn’t matter if it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, an email newsletter, or your blog, the key is consistency.
Some of you may have gone to a company’s website, and they had a blog. When you took a look, you discovered it hadn’t been updated in a year, or two, or even more. They weren’t consistently updating it.
In your mind, if you visited a site like that, you may have found yourself asking, “Are they even in business any more?”
And they might not be! Then again, they might just be inconsistent. You can see that in cases like that, it’s better not to have a blog at all.
A Warning
Opinions on consistency seem to be divided. It’s either viewed as boring, or essential. Several quotes demonstrate this:
“Consistency is the hallmark of the unimaginative.” – Oscar Wilde
“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.” – Anthony Robbins
So which is it? Is it boring, or is it essential?
The truth is, it’s both. It’s essential to success, but it may become boring to you if you’re practicing it.
Online consistency is no exception. Blogging week after week, month after month, year after year can get boring. And the same can be said for social media, email newsletters, and any type of online marketing.
But consistency is absolutely necessary if you want your online marketing efforts to bear fruit.