The world keeps changing and changing and changing. Brands keep upping their game to keep up with all these changes. It is a great thing to be innovative, but there are some areas where PRs need to remain consistent. Having a balance of innovation and consistency is crucial if you want your PR moves to succeed.
It seems like everyone is bending over backwards to be the PR that does something new and exciting. We celebrate every creative move — as we should.
That being said with PR, and in life, you can have too much of a good thing. If you keep changing and changing your PR approach, you will sacrifice the many benefits that consistency has to offer.
You don't have to sacrifice creativity for consistency, or consistency for innovation.
Alrika Möller from media update helps you balance consistency with innovation.
The Benefits of Consistency
Build Trust
Consumers want to have brands they can trust — which seems to be in short supply these days. When a brand is consistent in its PR messaging and communication, it creates the perception that the brand is also consistent in its service and values.
As a general rule, people are more likely to trust people and brands that are consistent in the way they do things. Trustworthy brands have loyal customers.
Create a Brand Image
Every brand wants to be easily recognisable. The moment consumers see your messaging or branding, they need to know exactly who you are. Iconic brands like Coca-Cola have nothing to worry about here because they have been around for so long.
Brands that are a little younger need to work at getting that same level of brand recognition. Advertising is an important part of this, but being consistent in your PR campaigns and PR communication will solidify your brand image, especially in the media.
How to Be Consistent in PR
Every PR campaign has different goals and purposes. Every crisis needs a different response. How can you be consistent in public relations when no two PR scenarios are the same?
Even if you manage to be consistent, you might find yourself being boring or out of touch. After all, innovation is how PR campaigns go viral.
Methods of Communication
With the fast-moving pace of the digital world, it can be easy to just hop on a new train and use a new form of communication to reach your audience. The problem with this is that digital platforms come and go like TikTok dances — popular one day and cheugy the next.
That is why it is important to utilise classic or reliable communication methods consistently. Building relationships with the media to get consistent media coverage will benefit your brand long after TikTok goes out of style.
A great way to keep your communication consistent is to use established brand platforms. Send out press releases and make them available on your website.
Once you have all the consistent communication avenues covered, you can get creative with new ways to reach your audience. You don't have to choose between the traditional and the trendy.
Have a Golden Thread
We already covered the fact that every campaign or message has a different goal, which makes it a little complicated when you try to be consistent. That is why it is important to have an overarching goal or golden thread running through every piece of PR work that you do.
If everything you put out as a PR has a thread connecting it back to the main message, it will create a consistent message or theme. The continuous thread will show people what is important to your brand, which ultimately builds trust and loyalty.
The thread can be anything from the fact that your brand cares about the environment to who its main audience is. Once you have a consistent thread to use in all your messaging and campaigns, the PR can get creative with ways to make the connection.
Have a Brand Voice
Have you ever seen a brand that is usually super formal get very relaxed on their social media, but then the email they send out is all businessy again? It feels weird, right? Brands need to have a consistent voice across all their communication avenues.
As a PR, you can get as creative as you want with product launches and campaigns; but if the voice is different than the last time, it will feel disconnected. Craft a voice that fits well with who the brand's audience is and what it does.
That way, it will feel familiar and trustworthy to your audience, regardless of how innovative and experimental the campaign is.
Consistency and innovation do not have to be enemies. Let them complement each other, and your brand will reap the benefits of both.
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*Image courtesy of Canva