In Marketing, it’s not “consistent or inconsistent”, it’s human.

I often refer to myself as being consistently inconsistent. 

Sometimes I say it like it’s a joke, but it’s true.

And in a world that champions the consistency of marketing, output, and visibility in the name of growth...that can be an uncomfortable spot.

A spot that is full of self-doubt or FOMO or even shame.

For me, it isn’t full of those things much these days, not because I stay consistent, but because I’ve accepted that I can’t simply strip my humanity during “business hours.”

No one can! And we shouldn’t have to. 

They say to be consistent, all the marketers. And I’ve said it too! Back before I knew. Because that’s what we’re taught. Hammer the messaging in, be consistent, repeat it, be visible, don’t let your customer forget about you. BE TOP OF MIND!

It’s exhausting. And VERY unrealistic for people running their own business or who ARE their business.

The thing with the marketing I was taught in school is that it was taught through the lens of traditional business. Well, for corporations really. When I was a senior in college in 2008, instead of studying a textbook we studied the Wall Street Journal because the housing market was crashing. We made our own marketing plans for the banks to retain customers after merging with other banks.

Outside of the fear we felt knowing we were about to graduate into a sizeable economic crisis, we thought this might be how it is out there. We can make a marketing plan to the moon because businesses have budgets for us to do so! And teams to make it all happen. To be consistent…

Spoiler alert! This is not the case. BUT, people are still telling folks that this is how you can market yourself or your business of one or maybe you and a couple of people part-time contracting. 

Big companies have massive budgets and teams to be consistent, but even those teams are made up of humans.

Whether we have a big or small company, or it’s just ourselves, the things that happen inside of us and outside of us impact our ability to do, well, anything.

And especially business. Depending on our financial privilege and lived experience with money, that pressure can vary. 

I’d like to interrupt this blogcast for an important announcement: It’s capitalism Y'ALL!

More on that another day. Back to “consistency”!

Consistency in marketing and life looks different for everyone. And when a marketing person tells you how that should look for you, it doesn’t usually stick. They mean well, I’m sure, they just want to help. But business isn’t usually done with things like trauma, lived experience, and privilege in mind. 

And life! And pandemics! And the impacts of climate chaos and war and human rights uprisings.

And then there’s the personal. For me, that looks like Bipolar 2, ADHD, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. All of which massively impacted my life and well-being for 10 years before I even knew that’s what was happening. 3 months ago I was given these diagnoses and the tools to manage them.

Am I totally consistent now? Nop. It depends on the day, just like it does for anyone. But I can feel the urge to create more coming back. Which feels life-changing. 

In this capitalist hellscape, making money is how we survive. Most of us have to do it. But our businesses don’t exist in a vacuum and neither do we. We can’t block out the rest of the world in the name of marketing consistency. At least not all the time. And if you can, if that’s how you process, that’s okay too!

Consistency is relative and personal. And I take comfort in that. That it means something different to everyone and no version of it is wrong. 

Let me repeat that: No version of consistency in your business is wrong. Sometimes we can only focus on the work we already have and sometimes we have the energy to do that and more.

For me, it changes constantly. At its origins, marketing is human to human. And for those of us that do business person to person, it still is. That starts with honoring our own humanity. 

If you want to dive a little deeper into what that could mean for you, we have something that could help. Last year, I was certified in the Leadership Designs™ and running a Human First Business. I apply them to my work with clients when making marketing game plans for them, so we have a guide, and then we can adjust based on how their consistency changes. 

This is why we play <3

Monica