"Just be Consistent"

A 10-15 min read

I used to think all I had to do to be consistent was to just post every single day.

So I did. For three months straight. Every morning: post. Every afternoon: post. Every evening: story. Sometimes even more than that and guess what happened?

Crickets and that disheartening feeling that we've all felt before of screaming into a void that didn't care.

But I wasn't gonna let that stop me because - especially at the time - I had a digital product I truly believed in and I knew it would bring a lot of value to people, so I continued to do research to figure out what it truly means to be consistent and what I was doing wrong.

After reading some blogs and following some real marketing content, I came to understand that "just post consistently" is one of the laziest pieces of advice in digital marketing. It sounds helpful, and feels actionable, but it doesn't give people the full context in what being consistent means as an online marketer.

Posting every day didn't save me.

• Nobody knew what I stand for
• My content looked different every time
• I sounded like a different person in every post
• People couldn't remember who I was or why they should care

I was creating just straight noise, because yes I was very consistent, but I was also consistently forgettable.

I started to realize that consistency is about getting people to recognize me when they see my content on a day to day basis. Do I have a signature messaging style? Does my brand's visual personality (color scheme, logos, etc) stand out to where people can start to recognize me in a second?

Just think about these popular brands we buy from. Nike, Mcdonald's, Liberty Mutual. We know there slogan, jingle, and even there colors. Why? Because we were constantly seeing their commercials, hear there jingles on the radio, and seeing their ads on social media. It's like embed into us. We couldn't shake it if we tried.

If someone can't describe what you stand for after following you for a month? You're just posting to fill up space.

So let me show you what consistency looks like to me and how I try to apply it to my content strategy everyday.

The 4 types of consistency no one really talks about

By now, you probably realize that when I say "consistency," or "being consistent", I don't mean just your posting schedule, so below are 4 types of consistency I learned.

1. Visual Consistency (Your Look)

What it means: People tend to recognize your brand before they see your name. Your colors, fonts, and style should be cohesive across everything.

• Same 2-3 colors everywhere (website, graphics, social posts, digital products, etc)
• Same 1-2 fonts
• Same photo/graphic style ( filters, editing style, same vibe)
• Someone scrolls past your post and thinks "Oh, that's [Your Name]" before reading a word

Why this matters: Your brain recognizes patterns. When visuals are consistent, people remember you. When they're all over the place, you're just more noise.

Think about brands you recognize instantly:

• Notion (beige/cream, clean, minimal)
• Glossier (millennial pink, soft, feminine)
• Patagonia (earth tones, outdoor vibes)

You scroll past their content and you KNOW it's them. That's visual consistency.

My Pinterest used to look like a mad house. Different fonts every post. Random set of colors every other week. It looked 'creative' and "aesthetically pleasing" but nobody recognized my content.

How I fixed it:

• Picked 2-3 colors and used them everywhere. I use deep purple #5F0F40, black, white. Keeping it simple over here.
• Picked 2 fonts max and stuck with them. (Lora and Merriweather girlie)
• Created 2-4 post templates and reused them.

Now don't go around here buying a $5k branding package (unless you got money like that to ball out). Just pick something and not change it every week.

And trust me I know it's hard for us perfectionist because we think we like these two colors together, but then when we go back to look at it, something looks off and we spend 4 hours going through new color palettes. Ignore it and stay the course.

Some tools I use:

• Canva Brand Kit - saves your colors, fonts, logos
• Coolors.co - generate color palettes
• Google Fonts - find font pairings

2. Message Consistency (What You Stand For)

What it means: Your core beliefs that show up repeatedly, AND 2-4 main content pillars (topics) you can talk about constantly. People know what you're about without having to always check your bio.

Examples:

• A food blogger: Recipes, Kitchen Tips, Restaurant Reviews, Meal Prep
• A fitness coach: Workouts, Nutrition, Mindset, Recovery

Why this matters:

If you talk about marketing one day, then gardening, then cryptocurrency, then parenting, people won't know what to expect from you from a business POV and will confuse them on what you offer and sell. After a while, you can begin to build authority in your specific areas (instead of being all over the place).

Me for example:

My content pillars:
Content Marketing, Blogging, Digital Products, Ghostwriting, Behind the scenes/Case studies

Every post I write falls into one of these buckets. You'll never see me randomly posting about:

• Stock trading tips
• Graphic Design hacks
• Relationship advice

My core beliefs (as examples):

• Transparency > hype
• Simplicity > complexity
• Learn the process, then automate
• Sustainable growth > hustle culture

Every post I write filters through those. Even if I'm talking about email subject lines, my PERSPECTIVE is consistent.

Now this is not to say you can't change things up a little and add some personality to your content. PLEASE DO! I will sometimes talk about home organization things I started doing, or my favorite food/restaurant, or just something random to yap away online, but my point is don't let that be your main strategy as a business or creator. If you want people to follow, subscribe, or buy, you need to be consistent in what you offer and who you offer it to.

People don't just follow content. They LOVE perspectives. That's what social media is about after all right? Getting a glimpse into other people's lives and seeing how they think, act, and move in life. If your perspective changes every week, you're confusing your audience.

How to fix it:

You basically want to ask yourself, if someone followed me for a month, would they know what topics I cover? If no → you need content pillar consistency.

1. What are you knowledgeable about?
2. What do you want to be known for?
3. What does your ideal audience care about?
4. Pick 2-4 topics that overlap

• Write down 3-4 core beliefs/values
• Before you post ANYTHING, ask: "Does this align with what I stand for?"
• If no, don't post it (or reframe it so it does)

3. Voice Consistency (How You Sound)

What it means: You sound like the same person across emails, blog posts, social media, and website copy. Your tone is recognizable.

What voice consistency includes:

• Tone: Casual vs. formal, playful vs. serious, warm vs. direct
• Language: Do you curse? Use emojis? Write short sentences or long? Industry jargon or plain English?
• Perspective: First-person ("I believe..."), second-person ("You should..."), or mix?
• Personality: Sarcastic? Encouraging? Blunt? Empathetic?

Examples:

• Person A: Warm, encouraging, lots of metaphors, gentle, nurturing
• Person B: Data-driven, formal, technical, precise

Me? I believe I have a mix of a honest, direct, occasionally sarcastic, with some sprinkles of being warm and encouraging. Kinda like a best friend who loves you, but still keeps it real when you mess up.

What voice INconsistency looks like:

Your email: "Hey! So I tried this trendy tactic everyone's talking about and.... it flopped. Here's what I learned lol"

Your website about page: "We are committed to providing innovative solutions that empower organizations to achieve their strategic objectives through best-in-class methodologies."

Your audience: "...who ARE you?"

Why this matters: Voice is personality. If your personality changes depending on where people find you, they can't truly connect with you. You're a stranger every time.

How to find YOUR voice:

• Write like you talk (seriously, read it out loud)
• Pick 3-5 adjectives that describe how you want to sound
• Before you publish, ask: "would I actually say this in a conversation?"

4. Positioning Consistency (Who You Help + How)

This one was my struggle point. I kept changing who I was 'for' damn near every other week. One week I was focused on helping beginners, then a couple weeks later I switched to helping advanced marketers, then coaches, then e-commerce brands. I was all over the place. Once I got clear and really honed in on who I dreamed of helping, like my dream clients, my positioning started to make sense.

What it means: You clearly and repeatedly state who you serve, what problem you solve, and how your approach is different. Your ideal audience knows immediately: "This is for me."

What positioning consistency includes:

• Target audience: Who are you talking to? (Digital marketers? Coaches? Bloggers? Freelancers? Be specific.)
• The problem you solve: What struggle/hesitation do you address?
• Your unique approach: How is your solution different? Why should they buy from you or work with you?
• The result you deliver: What do people get from following, subscribing, reading your ebook, taking your course?

Examples of clear positioning:

• "I help digital marketers cut through the marketing BS and take realistic action"
• "I teach busy moms how to monetize their expertise from home without burning out"
• "I show SaaS companies how to turn users into returning clients "

What positioning inconsistency might looks like:

• One post: "For beginners just starting out"
• Next post: "Advanced strategies for scaling to 7 figures"
• Next: "Also I do graphic design and life coaching!"

Why this matters: 

Confused people don't buy. If they can't figure out who you are in 10-15 seconds, you've lost them. They will scroll on by onto something else.

How to fix it: 

Fill in the blanks below and say this EVERYWHERE (bio, about page, newsletter, website, etc):

"I help [WHO] achieve [WHAT RESULT] through [YOUR APPROACH]."

or you can switch it up "I [YOUR APPROACH] to help [WHO] achieve [WHAT RESULT]."

Examples:

Online course creator:
"I help online course creators build engaged audiences that buy through authentic social media marketing and email strategies that don't feel salesy."

Digital product seller:
"I help new solopreneurs create and sell digital products that solve real problems using audience research and product packaging that converts with ebooks and templates."

Virtual assistant:
""I build systems and streamline operations for 5-figure entrepreneurs so they can focus on revenue-generating work instead of drowning in admin tasks."

Ghostblogger (Mine)
"I ghostwrite strategic blog content to help digital brands attract clients with authentic thought leadership."

Then say it over and over, in every intro, on every page, in person.

Test: Ask 3 people who follow you: "What do I do?"

If they give you 3 different answers? Your positioning isn't consistent.

Okay, so if consistency isn't about how often you post... does frequency matter at all?

Yes, but only AFTER you nail the 4 types above.

Here's the thing. You could be posting 5x/week and still be forgettable.

Or you could be posting 1x/week with strong brand consistency = memorable and trustworthy

Frequency amplifies what's already there.

If what's there is strong (clear message, cohesive visuals, recognizable voice, sharp positioning), posting more often helps.

If what's there is weak, posting more often just creates more scroll by content.

So what SHOULD your posting frequency be?

Whatever you can sustain for 6+ months without hating your life.

• Can commit to weekly? Great.
• Can only do bi-weekly? Perfect.
• Monthly deep-dives? Also fine.

The key: Pick a rhythm. Communicate it. Stick with it.

"I publish bi-weekly roundups every other Wednesday."
"New posts drop the first Monday of every month."
"You'll hear from me twice a month"

Predictable > frequent.

How to Audit Your Own Consistency

Okay, so how do you know if you're consistent? Start with ONE type of consistency. You don't have to try and fix everything at once. Pick the one that's the most broken.

Try this:

Visual Audit: Look at your last 10 posts/graphics side by side.

• Do they look like they're from the same brand?
• Same colors? Same fonts? Same vibe?

If your visuals are chaotic:

• Pick 3 colors and 2 fonts
• Create one Canva template
• Use it for everything going forward

Messaging Audit: Look your last 10 posts

• What themes emerge?
• Can you identify 2-3 core beliefs that show up repeatedly?
• If someone read only these 10 posts, could they tell you what you stand for?
• Filter all future content through them

If no → you need message consistency.

Voice Audit:

• Read your website about page or bio out loud
• Read your last email out loud
• Do they sound like the same person wrote them?

If no
* Write down 5 adjectives that describe how you want to sound
* Read everything out loud before you publish
* Ask: "Does this sound like me?"

Positioning Audit: Go to your bio, website, and newsletter

• Do you describe what you do the same way everywhere?
• Ask 3 people who follow you: "What do I do?"
• Do they give similar answers?

If no

• Write ONE sentence: "I help [WHO] achieve [WHAT] through [HOW]" or "I [YOUR APPROACH] to help [WHO] achieve [WHAT RESULT]."
• Put it everywhere
• Say it in every intro for the next month

Think abouts:

• "I have no idea what my brand colors are"
• "Every post sounds different depending on my mood"
• "People ask me what I do even though they've been following me for months"
• "I can't describe my own positioning in one sentence"

If any of these are true, start there.

Give yourself 30 days to nail ONE of these, then move to the next. In 4 months, you'll have built actual, recognizable consistency and you'll be doing it without having to post every single day.

Consistency is just repetition

Every time someone sees your content (emails, blogs, socials), it reinforces who you are, and over time, you become memorable.

Pick your colors. Define your beliefs. Find your voice. Claim your speciality.

Then stick with it!

Thanks for reading! 💖

Gina