If you want to stay on top, consistency is the name of the game.

In our last blog, ‘Make your brand unforgettable‘ we tapped into ways our memory works, and this blog goes hand in hand. If you have a business or are in the marketing game, by now you would’ve seen the term ‘consistency’ being thrown around like a basketball. Now, we all know what the word means, and you may even know the benefits of it, but we’re going a little deeper to walk you through the internal process that happens inside your head, and how consistency plays a big role in that process.

We’re bombarded with thousands of messages every day, in fact, it’s been estimated that we’re exposed to around 4000-10000 ads on the daily. Think about it for a second, how many brands can you see walking around your house; electronics, accessories, clothing, appliances, food, books, toys, hygiene products, cars, etc?

A brief rundown on what’s happening inside our head.

Our brains have the immense capability to scan the world around us and choose what’s relevant to the process. The primary goal of brands is to move from short-term memory (STM) and into long-term memory (LTM), but before that happens, the data must pass through our brain 4 part for information processing:

1. Exposure
2. Attention
3. Interpretation
4. Memory

From there, it’s the data that spikes interest that sticks (for more on that, read our previous blog ‘Wanna be unforgettable? Understand how your memory works’).

Now, if you don’t have time to read that blog (or can’t be bothered), here’s the TL;DR.

You have 2 memory systems; short-term and long-term. 

Your short term is just that, short term. So, your brand needs to be ‘good’ to move into your LTM.

How do we gain LTM status?

CONSISTENCY FRIENDS. Number 1 in the information processing is ‘exposure’. You could have the best damn brand going around, but if it’s not out there for the world to see, they ain’t seeing it. Consistency adds to the memory bank, memory sparks recognition.

You may have seen the stat ‘it takes 5-7 brand impressions for someone to remember a brand’. This is why, memorability and consistency go hand in hand.

Here are some more stats for you from The Impact of Brand Consistency Benchmark Report by Lucidpress:

• Study participants whose brands are consistently presented are three to four times more likely to enjoy excellent brand visibility than those with inconsistent brand presentation. 
• The greatest negative impact of inconsistent brand usage is the creation of confusion in the market, as reported by 71% of study participants.
•  The average revenue increase attributed to always presenting the brand consistently, estimated by those organizations with brand consistency issues, is 23%. 

What does being ‘consistent’ mean?

Your brand messaging (both internal and external) should be the same.

Your visual identity (colours, fonts, graphics, imagery) – the same.

Your brand voice and tone – the same.

Brand personality – the same. 

Ya get?

This is why having a strategy is so important. All of the above should align with the brand direction and future plan (check out our past blog ‘How strategy can make or break your brand’). Having guidelines for processes and identity (both visual and verbal) gives you a sound structure to make sure that you keep things in check. 

Put it this way, if you have 4 people working for your business and they all speak and act differently when they have control of your social media account, you’ll confuse your audience can’t figure out who you are (cue stat 2 in the above bullet points). 

For some, the feeling of repetition can feel like you’re jamming a message down someone’s throat, but in this day and age, I can assure you that no one is seeing every bit of information you put out, only you will. It’s important to constantly reiterate who you are, what you do, what you’re about, why you’re here, and how you do it, over and over so that people know what to expect. This will help you to nail the exposure step and move you into the memory bank.

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