How Consistency Is the Key to Success in the Digital World

We as marketers are increasingly guilty of what I call the shiny object syndrome. Oftentimes we see the tactics and tools used in an effective marketing initiative as the center of the marketing strategy instead of seeing it as way to execute the strategy. This is especially true when it comes to digital marketing.

 It seems like I hear about the "Next" big marketing tool every day. Don't get me wrong, yes new technologies and methodologies are important but I believe there's an element not commonly discussed that makes a company succeed in the digital world.

What sets apart a successful digital strategy isn’t the way a team implements a tactic, the money invested, or the time spent.

What makes a company succeed in the digital world is consistency. Let me explain.

Why Consistency Matters

Imagine you are in Japan for a business trip. As you go from one meeting to the other, you feel a bit tired and decide to get a coffee. You start looking for places, but you aren’t sure where to go. All of a sudden, you spot the image of a familiar green mermaid. It’s Starbucks. You rush into the store and get your favorite coffee, a tall caramel macchiato.

Think about this situation for a second. Why would you decide to go to a Starbucks when you could have gone to any other coffee shop in a country like Japan? You could say it’s brand preference; you like the brand more than others, so you are biased to choosing those brands you like over the ones you don’t.

But there’s another reason behind this apparently irrational choice: every time you go to a Starbucks, whether that’s in Japan, South Africa, or Brazil, you know you are going to get the same drink every single time. The consistency of the Starbucks' coffee is what drives your loyalty.

One of the most common attributes associated with Starbucks' consistency is the over roasted, burned flavor their coffees have. Some people blame their baristas for their lack of skills; while others say that's done on purpose. By creating a flavor so distinguishable, consumers get used to a taste they can't get anywhere else.

Can you get a better coffee somewhere else? Of course, but you choose Starbucks over and over again because you consistently have the same experience you’ve come to expect.

The consistency of Starbucks creates customer loyalty, which drives higher revenue per customer while driving the acquisition costs down. Consistency is what fuels their customers' satisfaction, which in turn increases their word-of-mouth. Their consistency helps Starbucks acquire more customers at low cost. This is how Starbucks is the largest coffee retailer in the world with a market capitalization of $78 billion dollars.

Just as a company like Starbucks can increase their customers’ loyalty thanks to the consistency of their products, you can do the same with your digital strategy.

The Power of Consistency to Enhance Your Digital Brand

I believe a brand is made up of many individual small pieces (i.e. touch points) that must be put together in the mind of a customer. When one of your potential customers must decide between choosing your company or your competition, the overall impression they have of your company is what convinces them to pick you. The same process happens every time they decide to purchase from you.

Consistency is what takes the pieces of the puzzle and puts them together to form a solid image. If your company fails to provide its customers with a consistent experience, your brand perception will suffer, lowering the chances of keeping them loyal to your company.

In the famous book The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, authors Al Ries and Jack Trout refer to the importance of consistency, which they called the "Law of Focus."

“The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind.”

Owning a word requires you to focus your message, the main reason your company exists, and drive that concept in the customer's mind. Focus requires consistency; every touch point your customers have with your company you must communicate that same message. That's especially true in your digital strategy, where your customers are a few clicks away from your competitors.

Many marketers, especially the digital ones, dislike talk of the need for consistency because it appears too “touchy feely” and not sexy. Digital marketers are used to measuring everything they work on: how many clicks their campaigns get, how much they pay per impression, how much ROI each campaign gets them, and more. Their relentless focus on immediate results can dilute the need for consistency but this can confuse their audience and thus affects the very thing they want: results.

A good example of this could be seen by looking at the marketing tactics of major retailers like Nordstrom and Kohl's. In the past decade, we’ve seen more retailers than ever, Kohl's included, embracing the Black Friday shopping weekend with great success. Obviously Nordstrom wants to grow sales just like everyone else so it stands to reason that they should seize the opportunity to gain momentum into the holiday season, right?

Probably not. Nordstrom has created a brand in and around a luxury experience that is unparalleled by its peers. If they were to jump on the Black Friday bandwagon, they might see strong sales in the short term but would likely see decreases over time. Nordstrom’s clientele believes in the complete Nordstrom experience, is willing to pay for it and is unlikely to be swayed (and would probably be offended) by fighting a crowd for a pair of $10 slippers.

Instead, Nordstrom has embraced digital tactics and is them to consistently build upon what it values: Customer Service. Nordstrom is shifting to sales models that allow their customers to shop when they want, how they want, and where they want. They’ve opened many more shopping channels and brands that offer various price points to their customers. Not because it is what makes them more profitable but because it’s what the customer wants. That is what Nordstrom is about and they refuse to waiver. The adaptation to the digital marketplace has led Nordstrom to become the #2 store for online shopping amongst millennial clothes shoppers (right behind Amazon).

We are living in the age of the customer, where their experience and the relationship they have with your company drives the way a business grows and innovates. This is what brings results.

Without focus, your company stands powerless against your largest competitors. On the other hand, if your brand is consistent, you will be able to stand out to those whose values and interests align with yours.

The Key to Consistency: Dedication

If you look around, you will find businesses which have failed to communicate their brand in the digital world. The reason behind this failure is simple: it's hard to maintain a single message at every touch point. It's a common practice that businesses which don't understand the digital world to outsource their digital strategy to an agency.

Companies spend five, six, or even seven figures to get their digital strategy in place. It's true some of them succeed thanks to the fact that outsourcing allows them to focus on what they do best (running their business) and delegate what they don't (digital communications). But many times, these companies miss the chance to keep a consistent brand perception. Digital agencies may solve the problem the company faces (taking their company online), but they fail to do it in sync with that the company represents.

Consistency takes a lot of hard work from top management. If the executives say they stand for specific values, but then they do things that go against them, everyone will feel confused. Employees will lose morale fast while customers will feel cheated. Why would they care about your values if you don’t care about them?

Behind every consistent brand action, there’s dedication. Once you focus your message to one word, you must keep it and take it to heart. Every one of your goals and your actions must be in line with what you have said and done in the past.

Failure doesn’t happen because marketers don’t have enough good ideas. Failure occurs when marketers try to implement too many of the latest and greatest tactics and forget to align them back to who the company is and what makes it great.

As we have talked about before, a dedicated and consistent brand will create a feeling of predictability which will inspire your whole company towards meeting your goals. Consumers will trust you more, which will make them feel as if they are working with a company that cares about them.

How to Succeed like Nike and Burberry with Consistency

Do you know why Nike is one of the most popular brands in the world? It's not only their quality, pricing, or design that made them stand out. Do you want to know their secret?

"Just Do It."

Their famous slogan, which has been in used since 1988, has been consistent with their marketing campaigns almost without interruption. According to a US report by the Center for Applied Research, Nike spent $300 million on overseas advertising alone, mostly focused on the Just Do It campaign.

Since Nike launched their Just Do It campaign, they have been able to boost their share of the sports shoe market from 18% to 43%. This is despite the competition of older more established brands, such as Adidas and Onitsuka.

Nike's slogan shows the power of brand consistency, but it doesn't prove the impact in their digital strategy. To see how consistent branding impacts a digital strategy, we need to cross the Atlantic and take a look at a famous British clothing company.

Burberry is an iconic British company credited with inventing and popularizing the trench coat. Since its invention as a garment for British soldiers who were in the trenches of the WWI, the trench coat has become an international fashion staple.

In 2006, Burberry was faced with the problem of increased competition in the industry and changes in the execution of marketing strategies. Back then, two top executives declared that they wanted the brand to become the first fully digital luxury company, a surprising decision coming from a classic company like Burberry. To launch their new digital initiatives, in 2009 they created the Art of the Trench, a site that published user-generated content of people wearing Burberry’s signature trench coat.

Following the launch of the Art of the Trench, Burberry was one of the first to jump on Snapchat and Periscope. They also were among the first to test Instagram’s video ads and Twitter’s buy buttons. By the end of 2014, Burberry upgraded its mobile site, which tripled their mobile revenue.

The overall goal of Burberry has been to be consistent throughout all digital channels. Shoppers can now buy any product online and pick it up in-store or have a sales rep order a product for them online while in-store. Additionally, users will experience a unified shopping cart both on mobile and desktop devices.

The consistency of Burberry's digital strategy has allowed them to become not only at top player in the fashion luxury category, but also one of the top player across industries. According to the digital think tank L2, their consistent digital strategy is considered among the best among companies like Apple, Nike, and Google.

Takeaways

Consistency has been driving industry-leading brands like Starbucks, Nike, and Burberry to get at the top of their industries.

Although all three companies have spent hundred of millions of dollars to grow their businesses, none of them would have been able to do it without the consistency behind their strategies.

In the case of Starbucks, the consistency of their products have helped them create a loyal following that helped them become a $78 billion behemoth. Even though I didn't talk about their digital strategy, they have also gotten incredible results from it in recent times, having hit the highest historical revenue for a non-holiday quarter.

In the case of Nike, the consistency behind their marketing campaigns has led them to become the largest supplier of sports shoes and apparel in the world and an icon in and of itself.

Finally, the commitment of Burberry to having a consistent digital strategy has helped them stand out in the luxury fashion market, a profitable but saturated industry.

If you commit to your company's mission, you will be able to reap similar results. Once you do, you will have to keep at it. Day after day. Month after month. In other words, consistently