We work with a lot of people in various stages of their Internet marketing campaigns and invariably there is one element that we consistently see as lacking: consistency!

Sure that sounds silly but it’s true. One of the most touted ‘advantages’ of Internet marketing is the ability to get in and out when something doesn’t work well. The trouble with though is it is truly a double-edged sword. Inexperienced or even just anxious Internet marketers don’t always give their campaigns in e-mail and search marketing enough of a chance to succeed.

The result of this ‘start and stop’ approach to advertising and marketing is a disconnected and disengaged customer. Some would argue that they only need to advertise when there is something worth advertising. I would contend that if you don’t always have something worth advertising then you may be doing something fundamentally wrong with your business.

People, as in your existing customers and prospective customers, crave consistency. They crave the ‘knowing’ that you are there to serve their needs regarding your products and services. It’s comforting for people to see that a business that they work with is out ‘in the market place’ and actively working to get new customers or satisfy the existing ones (or even better, doing both).

The consistent marketer is the one that wins the day over the long-term. The marketing professional that is updating and informing their customers and prospects through e-mail campaigns that are actually effective (you can deliver a consistent message that consistently sucks, by the way) is seen as a real ‘player’ by their target market.

This applies to search marketing as well. If you are consistently showing up in the search results for your keywords whether it is in the organic or paid results (or better yet, both places) this is another indicator to your customers that you are a good choice for them. People like to be associated with businesses or organizations that are active and alive. If you are putting out sporadic messages about sporadic events your image is at risk.

So how to maintain consistency in your Internet marketing efforts? Planning. It’s that simple. If you are scratching your head wondering where you would get the funds for such efforts you can probably look at your existing marketing efforts and identify several areas that are getting inconsistent attention thus allowing you to reallocate those budgeted dollars to an area that could produce measurable results.

You can also plan a quarter at a time and schedule your email deliveries to create a consistent ‘interaction’ with the customer. This regular communication can be enhanced through social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook if they are viable options for your type of business.

No matter what you choose for the vehicle though, you will have to create and deliver a consistent presence for your customers to keep you at the top of mind for their needs when they arise. Since not all people have the same needs a that the same time you have to be ‘in front’ of them all the time to catch everyone at their actual time of need. If you are just doing search marketing or e-mail marketing ‘when you can’ you are probably missing many opportunities to influence other customers when they were ready to buy. Your inconsistent delivery will give what you deserve: inconsistent results.

So how can you become more consistent in your Internet marketing efforts today? If you need any help call us and we’ll help you find a way to make the most of what you have on a consistent basis.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.