Every time I catch the Tube I do this ridiculous thing.
We like a 15-minute walk from the Tube station in leafy North London.
There is a bus to the Tube station that comes roughly every 8 minutes. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a GCSE maths question.)
Most of the time I walk. But if it’s raining or I’m wearing heels, I wait for the bus. And it goes like this:
(Me, waiting for bus) This will be so much quicker. My hair won’t get frizzy on the walk and I can send a couple of emails while I’m waiting. Definitely the best plan.
(5 minutes pass): Hmm, where’s the bus? It better hurry up. Maybe I should have walked.
(10 minutes pass): Where’s the damn bus? I could have nearly walked it by now. I’m going to be late now. But probably still quicker to wait for bus.
(11 minutes pass): Maybe it’s broken down and it’s never coming…Stuff it, I’ll walk.
(Start walking. After 5 minutes, get overtaken by bus. Curse my life choices. Jog rest of way to station. Arrive at destination sweaty, annoyed and slightly late.)
Every. Single. Time.
Do you ever do this too? (Please say you do).
But whilst flip-flopping on transport decisions isn’t fatal, it can be more serious with marketing and branding.
If one week we decide that LinkedIn is our thing, but the next we abandon it for Instagram, we don’t get the chance to create connections with our audience.
Just like we get frustrated with that flaky friend who constantly reschedules (‘So sorry! My llama has come down with laryngitis’), your audience will soon tire of us not showing up when they expected. And they’ll find someone else to hang out with instead.
Successful marketing and branding is all about consistency.
About showing up over and over and repeating our messages until they connect with our audience.
So find what works and stick with it. Save the flip flops for holidays.