This post first appeared in a slightly different form on Junta42. It is reprinted with permission.

About a month ago, we brought home our first pet…a guinea pig that the boys named Phary (pronounced Ferry).

After the initial adjustment week, a routine developed.  The boys would get Phary out of her cage in the morning and right before bedtime.  As one of us walked over to get Phary out of her cage, she would place herself in the left corner of the cage so we could easily grasp her and carry her out.  All was right with the world.

Last week, the routine changed a little.  There were a few mornings we were gone and couldn’t get to Phary.  There were also a few nights where she didn’t get her “out of cage” playtime.

Understandably, Phary didn’t like this.  This morning when I went to take her out, she didn’t go to her regular spot, and fought me a bit as well as I struggled to take her out of the cage.  As I finally took her over to the play area for the boys, she almost pooped in my hand.  Not pleasant.

We were not consistent with Phary, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Above All, Content Must be Consistent

Naturally, after the “Phary Incident,” I thought about content marketing (but of course). Not that your customers are like guinea pigs, but the same behaviors apply.

• A content marketing initiative, be it a blog, e-newsletter or custom magazine, is a promise to your customers. A deviation in the regularity or consistency of the content product is like breaking that promise.
• Once the promise is broken, you should expect a change in behavior in some of your customers. For example, if you have a weekly e-newsletter, then suddenly skip a few weeks, your open rates will decrease. You’ve broken the promise, and readers just don’t care as much any more.

So, when you look at your content marketing tactics, put consistency at the very top.  Don’t believe for a second that you can skip an issue here or there and it won’t have a negative impact.

Joe Pulizzi is founder of Junta42, the go-to site for content marketing and custom publishing. You can read more about Joe at his blog or check out his book, Get Content. Get Customers.

Posted in Marketing and promotion