Continuity is King in Local Marketing

October 31, 2016

Consistency of message is the foundation for local marketing success and significantly more valuable than any idea, price point or promotion.

By Kerry McKiernan

Local marketing success has little to do with big ideas and everything to do with good decision making, plan consistency and consumer relevance. Influencing consumer buying behavior is a process. Getting someone to hear you, understand you and react to you takes time. There are no magic potions or silver bullets. Individual tactics succeed one week and fail the next. The foundation for sustainable local marketing success is message continuity (consistency) across all media channels. In the simplest terms, frequency is the highest strategic priority in a local marketing plan. Saying the same thing in the same way, to the same target in the same geography is absolutely essential. Plan for continuity. Plan for success.

For many advertisers, advertising planning is something they do in their heads, not on paper. They make emotional decisions based on trends, competitive activity, immediate circumstances or personal tastes. Emotion is the root of poor decision making and leads to inconsistency in message, which then leads to lack of relevance and lack of understanding at consumer level. More importantly, it all leads to lack of frequency.

Stay with Your Plan

Continuity is king and the throne of continuity is a disciplined planning process and message alignment across multiple channels. Marketers need to spend less time working on new ideas and more time staying on plan with an absolute focus on consistently delivering a message that is relevant, understood and defensible.

Stay focused on your plan goals without getting distracted by the competition or the “great idea.” With everything you do tactically, you are either on plan or off plan. The checks and balances of managing local marketing must be a consistent part of the work flow, used every day to improve decision making and ensure continuity of message.

Consistency of message is the foundation for local marketing success and significantly more valuable than any idea, price point or promotion. Advertisers must be consistent in what they say and who they say it to. Frequency, relevance and understanding are essential to marketing plan success — all three of which rely on continuity of message for effectiveness.

Kerry McKiernan is President and General Manager of E3 Local Marketing Solutions, where he has worked since 2002.