We’re often told that ‘consistency is key’ when it comes to managing our Social Media channels. But what does that actually mean? 

Well, for a busy business owner like you, consistency means showing up in a way that makes it easy for followers to find and engage with you.

Let’s dig a little deeper…

Why is consistency on social media important?

There are lots of reasons why it’s important for you to maintain a consistent presence on Social media. 

It helps followers recognise content from your brand

It helps people understand your key messages and values

It ensures a level of professional quality across all content

It lets potential customers know you are still trading

Where you need to be consistent:

Bios, banners and profile pics

Over time the information on our different social media platforms can get out of sync. 

Perhaps you set up a Facebook page years ago but your new focus is on Instagram; does that mean your Facebook banner is now out of date? Maybe you’ve never got round to changing that old profile picture on LinkedIn?

As you don’t know where a new prospective customer might find you on social, it’s important to have a cohesive brand image across all channels – even if you’re not using them. 

It helps people to recognise your brand wherever they find you.

Action: Check your social platforms. Ensure your profile pics, banners and business information is the same. If you’re not active on an account, update it to let people know where they can find you.

Posts

When it comes to posting on social media, being consistent is good for you and your followers.

Firstly, when you decide which platforms you’ll post on – and how often you’ll post – you can factor in the work that needs to be done. 

It means you can plan ahead (more on that later) and be purposeful about your content.

It also means your followers know what to expect from you. If they know you post daily, for example, and haven’t seen anything in their feed for a few days they may head to your profile to see what they’ve missed. I know I do this with accounts I love.

You can speed up the actual posting process by using an automated scheduler. I use Later, but I have put together an awesome post over on my Instagram which talks all about schedulers and which ones to use, check it out here.

Action: Choose your core platforms and decide how many times a week you’ll post. Remember you don’t have to be on every platform and you definitely don’t have to post every day. Do what’s achievable and manageable.

Brand image

When your branding is all over the shop it is hard for followers to spot your posts in their busy feeds.

Make it easy for them by establishing a clear look and feel to your imagery. You can do this by creating templates in Canva, or using an app such as Wordswag.

If this isn’t something you’re confident about let me know and I can help.

Action: Head to Canva and create a set of branded templates.

Planning

When you’re consistent with your planning you remove the headaches of posting on the fly.

Planning helps you to figure out the types of content you plan to post, the topics you want to post about and of course, when to post it.

I recommend you set aside a day a month to plan your content. As you get faster you can spend less time on it, or perhaps do just a few hours a week? Either way, putting that time in the diary is essential.

There are lots of ways you can plan your content. You can do it in a Trello board, use a spreadsheet or – if you prefer good old pen and paper – you can jot ideas on Post-it notes then stick them to a monthly wall planner. I’ve also put together a 30 day content plan which you can download completely free here. 

Action: Block out time in your diary to plan next month’s content. Do it now. Yes, now. 

Engagement

When it comes to consistency, this is one area you can’t afford to scrimp on. Consistently responding to comments and DMs is super important, as is taking time to engage with other accounts.

This simple, albeit time-consuming, habit is the best way to improve your reach and help you to build new and lasting connections. 

Action: Set aside at least 15 mins a day to engage on your accounts – even on days you don’t post yourself. 

See the image below? That should be a bold reminder of why being consistent on social media is important (this was a genuine text message I received after I recommended a local joiner)

Want to be consistent on social media but don’t have the time? Let me help you with my full social media management package, hand it all over to me and I’ll take care of the lot.