How a Lack of Consistency can Kill Your Content Marketing

“A skeptic, I would ask for consistency first of all.”

-- Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Consistency may seem like somewhat of a dull topic at first glance. It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing people sit around boardrooms and dinner tables talking about. But, from historical authors, to famous actors, to sports stars, to politicians, to social activists, if you look up quotes about consistency, everyone has something to say. That’s because consistency is in fact incredibly important. This could not be more true when it comes to your B2B Content Marketing strategy.

"Success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come." -- Dwayne Johnson

Creating great content for marketing is not easy. It takes both skill and practice to perfect your content writing and/or creation. Many B2B organizations spend a lot of time, funds, and efforts to perfect their marketing content.

Related: Write Content that Converts

Obviously, no organization wants their perfectly good content to go to waste, but unfortunately this happens far too often. The content, despite being excellent, brings no leads or customers to the business. Why does this happen? Well, usually, because of a lack of consistency.

Despite the fact that 89% of B2B organizations have a content marketing strategy, only 37% have a strategy for that content’s creation and distribution. Without a strategy for when, where, and how your organization’s content will be created and distributed you are essentially just “winging it” and hoping for the best. You might think this will work because the content being created is excellent, but this is not the case.

Why does content consistency matter?

Content is nothing without consistency, that much we know is true. Consistent content, on a consistent schedule, builds brand awareness. It helps your audience see and interact with your business. One great piece of content might help a consumer then and there, but it won’t help them build the relationship with your brand that consistent, helpful, strategic content will. And we all know that building a relationship with your buyers is what will eventually turn them into a lead.

On a related note, consistency of content will improve your SEO and website traffic. Two of the most important elements in good SEO are quality and frequency. Consistent content shows search engines that your website or blog is well maintained with valuable information to search criteria.

How can you make your content consistent?

To make sure your content creation and distribution stays consistent, start with a strategy. Yes, you already have one for the “what” of your content, but what you need now is a strategy for the “how” and “when.” Set goals for your marketing and lay them out in an actionable plan.

One aspect of this plan should be an editorial calendar. This can function as so much more than just a calendar of blog or social media posts. It can help you plan campaigns and find essential keywords, all while keeping everything organized and streamlining your content marketing strategy. You can also look back on your editorial calendar to track the success of your posts in terms of days and times.

The above steps will help you create consistent content, so now it’s time to get consistent with content distribution. Many B2B organizations view distribution as an afterthought, something that isn’t nearly as important as the content itself. But each article, blog, or post you make is a marketing tool that you can use to your advantage and you should think as much about your distribution plan as your content creation.

Start thinking about how you’re going to use each piece of content as a tool to engage your audience some time before you publish it (your editorial calendar can help with this). If you sit on content and don’t send it out at the right time, or if you passively distribute it without finding ways to make your audience aware it is there, you’ll practically be wasting all that good marketing content.