Planning, Consistency and Results

I thought I would just mention consistency this morning. Firstly...

Every Good Friday, for as long as I can remember - since I was a child, there have been some constants

- Smoked salmon for lunch
- Ben Hur on television

It has become part of the Good Friday "brand" as it were. Consistent. Regular. Expected. I have come to expect it every Good Friday, and they are part of what makes Good Friday the day I have come to enjoy. (Okay, so I don't watch BenHur anymore cause I think I can recite the entire dialogue word for word by now)

Secondly...

Exercise. I have been having some knee issues lately so my active levels have gone from a high A to a low D in recent days and I can feel the difference. If I am not being consistent with my workout regimen, I know I will start to whine about not seeing results. But such is the scenario - steady as she goes equals results. And I have a plan as well. I do cardio every day and target various areas using weights on certain days, and know when I will totally mix it up to not only achieve best results, but also to avoid boredom and annoyance cause in my world, exercising is not fun. It's necessary.

Thirdly...

Public relations must be consistent if it is to be effective. It has to be planned if it's going to work - the 4Ws and the H come to mind. You cannot expect people to know about your brand if you're not talking about it regularly and getting it out there, and you cannot hope to build reputation and trust if you don't stick to one message. Reputation and brand strength don't come by chance or luck. It's part action and part talking about the action in a consistent and clear fashion. I worked in an organisation that was not talking. At all. Lots of things happening but noone was talking. That in itself is a strategy of course, but is it a good one? Would you want to work for someone that noone else knew about?

Sadly (Good Lord!) I have also worked in an organisation where there was no plan. Hard to believe it but it's true, so the communications directives were random and often reactive. It often seemed like an after thought (public service) and there was no who, what, why, where, when, or how about it. Just "whoever, whatever, wherever, whenever, or however".

So ask yourself

• Is my message out there regularly?
• Is my message consistent?
• Is my message vehicle the right one for my audience?
• Is my audience reacting to my message positively (or negatively)?

A plan helps you stay on message and to be more strategic in how you craft and deliver that message. And like anything else, it needs to be reviewed and assessed regularly to ensure that you are indeed getting the results you are hoping for. If not, then you need to tweak the plan and fix the areas that need fixing so your messages are not outrun and outcommunicated by your competitors.

And this goes for internal communications as well. Inconsistency can lend to lack of trust and create misconceptions which can derail your entire communications strategy.

And just to add finally, with new media, one has to stay on course there as well. There are some organisations that tweet 2 days a week, then maybe once in the next 2 weeks, then 5 times the next week, and then maybe 3 weeks will pass again before another tweet shows itself. You just never know if you're going to get a response, or when you will get it. Blogs stay stagnant for days without an update, after promises of greatness from its owners. Simply because there was no plan or a contingency plan because let's face it, sometimes things happen and you just get swamped or someone goes on vacation or what have you. But this should not affect your customer, should it? Have a plan, darn it!

So my plan for tomorrow involves some Smuckers sugar free strawberry preserves for breakfast, with smoked salmon for lunch and maybe if I feel like it, an afternoon with Charlton Heston, coupled with some weight training. I expect excellent results! What's yours? Communications or otherwise?