Consistency is key.

It means, just like with anything, if you start small and keep this going daily, you will see the compound interest of your effort’s payoff. Marketing is not an on/off deal. Don’t treat acquiring new customers and new business like you may treat a diet. Consistent efforts, quality, and quantity in your message will add value over time. Additionally, consistency will give you the leads you want, turn leads into paying customers, and increase customer engagement and spending.

It’s easy to convince yourself that posting on social media matters when it’s convenient for you or you have an occasional promotion, and it’s a common lie that we tell ourselves that not being consistent in our social media presence, email campaigns, blogs or various print efforts definitely won’t feel like something that will directly affect your sales whatsoever—but I promise… taking the time to draw awareness to your company and brand consistency is one of the best ways to incorporate daily efforts to attract and build relationships both online and offline with your perfect clients and customers. And it’s one of those things that fall by the wayside during economic downturns or you’re in the fast and furious rush of busy seasons.

As a result, if you want to grow and are serious about your business and your purpose, you need to market your business- if you want to stay in business. Viewing marketing as an investment vs. an expense may be the difference between getting results.

Who is it you want to serve?  Who are your profitable customers?

These people are where you should target your efforts. These people you identified will be your existing customers as well as customers you acquire in the future. As you work to add more consistency to your marketing efforts, keep your customers and the leads you want to generate in mind. After all, they will be the ones to refer you to their network. Additionally, they will be the ones to engage with you on a routine basis while leaving those coveted reviews, AKA those referrals I mentioned.

When was the last time you reviewed your competitors?

If you are unsure of this next effort, you will want to incorporate this as a way to look at and know your competition. This simple habit will give you a pulse on what their efforts may or may not look like. This also is something to do consistently. This can help you gauge if you’re missing out on important industry insight or important customer insight. Did you know looking at customer engagement not only in your business but other businesses like yours is free advice on what they are looking for or not looking for? How do they leave reviews for you? How are they reviewing your competition? Are you seeing weak spots in their business that you know you shine on? What do they offer that you don’t and vice versa? Even if you offer the same service or products, you likely have a few areas where you shine that could help set you apart and drive business growth with these key areas. Go ahead, write down two to five of your competitors, and spend a little time daily or weekly reviewing one or two of them.

No matter what kind of business you have, or you may be just starting your business, your customers are humans. Just like you are. Treat them as human as you would want to be treated. It sounds simple, right? However, it is surprising how often this isn’t the case.

In all my years working various jobs, this was my biggest pet peeve as an employee. Being told to treat customers differently based on status. Back when I would bartend, my largest bar tabs and tips came from those with no status. I took pride in treating customers as customers and serving them in the order they arrived. You may be surprised down the road; some people who look like they wouldn’t help grow your business end up being your largest supporters. Next, as my career grew in sales, my largest opportunities came from listening to customers. More importantly, I listened to their objections about why they don’t do business with us. This resulted in fixing errors in our system to drive results and win customers back.

Your customers are always doing business with you. Learn from them, and engage with them. Prospect customers engage with them as they are your customers. You never know what may come of a new relationship. If they choose to do business elsewhere, learn why they didn’t choose you. They likely will spot errors in your system of how you do business that your current customers may not.

You don’t need to stress about making huge improvements to your marketing efforts. Simple discipline and habits, little by little, have a compound effect on how you grow your business and your brand. This can make an impact six months, a year, or even three years from now.

Okay, that’s a fair amount of insight, inspiration, and tips… Now it’s time to put some action items into a list for you as you start creating small habits in your marketing efforts.

First, review what marketing efforts, if any, you are doing today – social media, blogs, podcasts, email campaigns, direct mail, print, and or digital advertisement and choose to be more consistent each day with one of these areas.

Next, dig into two to five of your closest competitors and reflect either daily or weekly to identify potential opportunities in which you can outperform them.

Finally, and probably the easiest habit to incorporate, is to be kind to everyone you interact with. Employees included.

If you still need help in being consistent with your marketing efforts and creating a competitor analysis, check out our other blog posts for more information that will help you. You can also contact us for a free consultation to discuss our marketing management packages to keep your marketing consistent and get you results.