What is consistency’s secret power in the 2023 world of B2B marketing, and why aren’t more marketers taking advantage of it?
It’s well established that consistency is a key component in the world’s most successful B2B marketing efforts.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity — in existence since the 1950s and beginning last year the home of the Cannes Creative B2B Lions awards — highlights consistency as a vital ingredient in the most creative marketing.
“The rudiments of the most effective creative work have not changed – topicality, building intrigue, and consistency and commitment to a universally appealing brand platform, are proven qualities of the most impactful work,” the organization noted in its most recent event wrap-up.
Consistency is especially important during uncertain times, when we tend to seek out the surety and comfort of the tried and true.
“Brand is purpose and the purpose is the brand,” Michael Park, chief marketing officer at ServiceNow recently observed during LinkedIn’s* inaugural B2B Summit event, B2Believe.
“Without consistency, you produce a thousand points of dim light. The recession is a known pattern; we’ve seen this before. Use the macro crisis as an opportunity; have the courage to align to a new vision; we own the narrative and can address concerns with a positive tone,” Park added.
TopRank Marketing was at B2Believe, where our CEO Lee Odden shared insight from LinkedIn vice president of marketing Jim Habig, on the challenges uncertain times present and more, in “LinkedIn #B2Believe and The Playbook for Promise Making in B2B Marketing with Jim Habig.”
The secret power of consistency, however, comes when it is used with the right combination of other marketing qualities to form a unique state of digital harmony.
Let’s jump in and find out four of the top ways to incorporate consistency into your B2B marketing efforts and build a more harmonious strategy.
“Without consistency, you produce a thousand points of dim light.” — Michael Park CMO at @ServiceNow Click To Tweet1 — Increase Consistency With Your B2B Marketing Tool-Belt
B2B marketers in 2023 have a wealth of tools at our disposal — AI and otherwise — that can sometimes prove overwhelming, however finding the ones that perform the best for your particular way of working and adding them to your tool-belt can take your marketing efforts to new levels.
Using the right tools not only makes life easier for B2B marketers and helps them create better client outcomes, but can also help marketers create consistency through efficiency – especially when certain tasks can be automated using the ideal tool for a particular task.
Some see consistency as one of the most vital elements in 2023 B2B marketing efforts.
“Consistency is more important than genius,” Mark Schaefer, B2b marketing author and speaker, recently observed.
“To become a habit with your audience, you have to show up on time,” Schaefer added.
37 percent of enterprise content marketers said that achieving consistency with messaging was a top challenge at their organization, according to Content Marketing Institute’s recent “Enterprise Content Marketing: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – Insights for 2023.”
To help you find the right B2B marketing tools, we’ve published lists such as “Marketer’s Toolkit: 10+ New Tools To Enhance Your B2B Marketing Stack,” and looks at some of the key tools being put to use in the generative AI side of marketing in 2023, in “Humanize, Organize, Strategize & Personalize: 4 Ways To Boost B2B Influencer Marketing With Generative AI.”
“Consistency is more important than genius. To become a habit with your audience, you have to show up on time.” — Mark Schaefer @markwschaefer Click To Tweet2 — Ingrain Consistency With The Habit Of Scheduling
Turning something new into an ingrained habit will come more naturally to some people than others.
Achieving harmony in your consistency takes time and effort, and with it comes the ability to recognize just the right content publishing cadence, as our own senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite examined in “How B2B Content Marketing Can Build Trust that Stands the Test of Time.”
“Customer experience expert Shep Hyken says the secret to creating a raving fan is to consistently exceed expectations,” Nite observed.
“It’s the ‘consistently’ part that makes all the difference. For B2B content, that means establishing a regular cadence for publishing high-quality content and continually following through. It’s much better to publish one amazing content piece a month than four mediocre ones. Set your content calendar to a level of commitment that combines consistency and quality,” Nite added.
A harmonious consistency can apply equally well to customer and internal experiences, as Patrick Bosek, CEO at Heretto recently suggested.
“The key is consistency. We need to deliver the same knowledge to employees and customers consistently throughout their journey,” Bosek noted.
Diligently building consistency by making certain tasks part of your daily routine also takes time, yet the rewards can last a lifetime, as we explored in “Enduring Engagement: 5 Easy Ways To Build New B2B Marketing Connections & Make Them Last.”
“It’s much better to publish one amazing content piece a month than four mediocre ones. Set your content calendar to a level of commitment that combines consistency and quality.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites Click To Tweet3 — Differentiate With Consistency and Influence
Once you have it in place and running smoothly, don’t be afraid to promote the consistency of your B2B marketing content. With so much content being produced hourly — by human hands and by AI — efforts that stand the test of time have the opportunity to rise above less consistent efforts.
In B2B influencer marketing consistency is also important, as our own Lee Odden recently observed in a new Partnershup Unpacked podcast interview with Mike Allton, head of strategic partnerships at Agorapulse.
“To be successful at influencer marketing in the B2B space, invest in the relationships with people, and that means an always-on, ongoing effort. It doesn’t mean a lot of effort, but it does mean a persistent effort, just like any other kind of relationship. It requires care and feeding,” Odden shared in “Why So Many Brands Fail At B2B Influencer Marketing w/ Lee Odden.”
Allton has also recognized the power of consistency, especially when it comes to building trust.
“Consistency is key: Regularly sharing valuable content with your audience is crucial for building trust and credibility. Develop a content strategy and commit to consistently posting on your chosen platform,” Allton recently observed.
“Consistency is key: Regularly sharing valuable content with your audience is crucial for building trust and credibility. Develop a content strategy and commit to consistently posting on your chosen platform.” — Mike Allton @Mike_Allton Click To Tweet4 — Elevating Your B2B Marketing With Consistency
When is the right time to expand on what you have already made a consistent part of your B2B marketing?
Once a tactic or task has become ingrained in your business routine, consistency has been achieved, yet to find digital harmony you’ll want to take on new challenges, try new techniques, or expand on an existing element of your B2B marketing strategy.
80 percent of the top-performing technology marketers said organizations that give customers a consistent experience across their journey was a top priority, while just 62 percent of all technology marketers agreed, according to Content Marketing Institute’s most recent “Technology Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2023.”
“Maintaining brand consistency may be challenging, but the benefits are worth it,” May Habib, co-founder and CEO at Writer, recently shared in Advertising Week’s “3 Reasons Why Brand Consistency Should be Top Priority.”
“Don’t miss out on growth opportunities by underestimating this powerful element in a marketing strategy,” Habib added.
You can learn even more about the importance of consistency in B2B marketing in our “Steady As She Goes: Why Consistency Builds Better Long-Term B2B Marketing.”
“Maintaining brand consistency may be challenging, but the benefits are worth it.” — May Habib @May_Habib Click To TweetMake Harmony Your B2B Marketing Secret Power
As important as consistency is, it’s also good to keep in mind that practicing it doesn’t have to mean giving up on creativity, new ideas, or exploration. One of the reasons for consistency’s great power is its versatility, as it can easily be applied to an endless stream of new digital marketing tactics.
We hope you’ve found this look at the usefulness of consistency — especially when taken to the next level with a well-rounded digital harmony — to be helpful, and that you’ll be able to incorporate some or all of these insights into your own B2B marketing efforts.
More than ever before, creating consistent B2B marketing that elevates, gives voice to talent, and humanizes with authenticity takes considerable time and effort, which is why more brands are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing. Reach out to learn how we can help, as we’ve done for over 20 years for businesses ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and many others.
*LinkedIn is a TopRank Marketing client.
