Consistency is all.

In your marketing messages and brand values, are you consistent, or do you keep changing headlines?

To be recognised and valued by your target audience you have to maintain consistency in your marketing messages. The down-sides of inconsistency are:

• People have short memories, so they forget things quickly. But they spot inconsistency and hold it against you.

• People have short memories and need to be continually reminded of things. If you are constantly changing your proposition, all that communication turns into a blur.

Look at the brands, products and services that you value in your business and your life. How often do the strong and successful change the headlines of their marketing message?

• BMW

• Nike

• HSBC

Now look at your own marketing messages and build your message foundation on something you can live with for some time.

Refinement

One common misconception is that consistency means staying the same or is an excuse for never changing. Consistency is vital. Consistent refinement of your proposition is also important. Staying true to the messages you have already communicated to the market whilst refining the message and the offer to take account of the changes in your customers and prospects.

Your offer to your market should be constantly reviewed. You must take soundings from customers and prospects as well as from people who choose not to spend money with you. Use the insight that you gain from this process to refine details of your value proposition and to ensure that you stay ahead.

You already have a process to ensure that you gather insight from customers?

• Take that insight that you already gather and make it work for your proposition

• Check that you have updated your offer to take account of the continuous learning that your customers and prospects will be undertaking – just from working with you already

• Make a conscious effort to refine your products and services when the time is right

If you are channelling your sales efforts in a new direction:

• Will you use standard products?

• Will you customised the offer in some way to better meet the needs of your new target customer?

• Does your new target customer allow you to maintain a consistent message to your existing customers?

  • How many steps are there from your existing customers to your new targets?

This was a guest post by Paul Fileman of SPS who are a national team of proven senior management professionals, passionate about working to help businesses achieve their next level of development and performance. Whether they are facing market changes, financial problems, people/skills issues, or are preparing a major project, they offer dedicated support from a multi-disciplined team of experts.

Free updates:
If you enjoyed this post and would like to be kept updated on future posts, then please click here to get updates by Email. Alternately you can follow the updates the Business Opportunities And Ideas Facebook page or follow me on Twitter.