Marketing Consistency Builds Trust

Ever meet those people who say they’re going to do something, but then they don’t follow through? Or how about they say they’ll do one thing, but then they’ll go ahead and do another. Or how about those people who just talk in one place and have a certain opinion or agenda, but when you hear them in another place around a different group of people they have a different opinion or agenda?

Is this someone you would like to get coaching from? Or buy a similar service from?

Probably not. In fact there is a stereotype out there of the “used-car salesman” to cover this type of experience. Basically, it’s a person who will say anything to anyone just to make the sale.

Ultimately what it’s about is a lack of integrity. What I’m talking about integrity I’m talking about an integration of who they are into what they are saying and doing.

As I’ve noted, human beings are wired to survive. We tend to be hypersensitive to danger signals. And when we see someone functioning in a way that seems that disjointed, that’s definitely a red flag.

From a marketing perspective, the problem is that it’s easy for us to get scattered. It’s easy for us to talk about one thing in one way in a certain space, and forget that we’ve talked about it in a different way in another space. As a result, we can accidentally send the wrong signal.

This is why you want to be consistent in your marketing. You want to come across as a person of integrity, a person who is authentic and consistent.

Last week, I talked about Brandon persona. This week I want to talk about how you can help keep your brand persona consistent so that you can avoid accidentally turning away potential clients.

Creating a Consistent Brand Persona

Please, do not try to be someone who you are not.p this can go wrong in so many different ways. 

I realized that there will be a temptation from time to time to say things you wouldn’t normally say or offer services you wouldn’t normally offer. Don’t.

First, if you find yourself offering services you would prefer not to offer, you run the danger of both burnout and doing less-than-stellar work. Imagine being a client who expects a certain level of result, and then doesn’t get it. This is not the kind of client experience you want. It’s best if you stay within your zone of genius. Let your business reflect what you do best, then you can achieve the best results

Second, clients or potential clients may start to smell a fake. They may start to wonder if the person they signed up with is really the person that they’re working with. Their experience isn’t lining up with their expectation. And if they are clients, they paid to work with the person they met, not the person they’re working with now. Couple this with less than stellar results can lead to bad reviews. Those can the track from your ability to get more clients.

Please, when you are building your brand persona, be yourself. Yes you want to present the best possible you you can be, but it still needs to be you.

Consistent Presentation

Now I want to look at some specific ways that you come across to clients that you want to be mindful of.

Brand colors and fonts

Make sure to use your chosen brand colors and fonts everywhere. This includes not just your website but all printed materials as well.

Unfortunately, you don’t always have control over this. When you post to Facebook or create an ad, you simply have to work with what you got. But when you have the choice, shoot for consistency across all platforms.

Consistency through Imagery

Is your brand serious? Is it cute? Is it avante garde? Whatever impression you’re trying to convey, you want to use images that project that persona. And you want to use that imagery consistently. Do you use photos or cartoons? Do you use color or black-and-white? It’s best not to switch back and forth, unless there is an intentional reason to do so. 

Consistency through Language

What you say matters. The way you say it matters. How often visitors hear the same thing matters. Repetition is your friend. 

When marketing your business, I recommend you focus primarily on three talking points. I’ve written about this before. (https://wiseowlmarketing.com/focus-your-marketing-message/) This will help you keep everything in alignment and the message itself consistent. 

When talking about problems that need to be solved and your solutions, again use similar language. No, I don’t mean use the same words again and again like you’re keyword stuffing. I’m simply saying that you need to keep the voice generally the same. 

Consistency through Transition

Imagine you come across a Facebook ad. It claims that it has a product that can prevent cancer. When you click through, you find they are selling small shovels that make digging up dandelions by the roots easy so you can make dandelion tea. 

There’s a disconnect there. You want your ads to reflect the content of the landing page clearly. Make sure you not only identify the products, but also echo the language. That way, as they transition they don’t feel like they are experiencing a bait-and-switch. 

Consistency Leads to Trust

Trust isn’t something freely given. It’s something you earn. Avoid doing anything that can derail that trust, because it’s a lot easier to lose it than to gain it. So, be consistent, come across as a person with integrity, and go get those new clients.