Why content consistency really does matter (and how people get it wrong)

Consistency is one of those words that gets thrown around constantly when it comes to content creation, usually followed by someone telling you to post more, try harder, or “just be more disciplined”.

But for most small businesses, inconsistency isn’t about laziness or lack of commitment. It’s about time, energy, and not really understanding what consistency is supposed to achieve in the first place. Whether it’s website content, like a blog, or your social media presence – consistency is your best bet at selling what you’re selling.

Technically, posting on social media twice a day, every day, counts as being consistent if you keep doing it, but so does posting only once a week, on the same day. Likewise you could put up a blog post every week, or only once a quarter – what matters is what your goals are, and what’s actually manageable for you.

This article isn’t about telling you to post every day or how to manipulate the algorithm. It’s about why consistency matters at all – and why so many people get it wrong.

What people usually think “consistent content” means

It depends who you ask, but it’s a common misconception in the content creation and influencer world that you have to post on Instagram or Tiktok every single day to grow your following. And it’s fine if you want to do that, or if you’re disciplined at batch making your content, but it doesn’t leave much room for days off or real life! It can also get exhausting and you end up chasing your tail or posting rubbish just to keep up.

Being consistent is more than just posting something daily, or posting on every platform, or forcing half-baked content out. It’s about putting out good-quality, relevant content at regular intervals, and with a thought-out goal. 

Yes, it’s true that messy action is better than no action, so it’s sometimes better to post something that’s simple rather than nothing at all for weeks, but everything you put out should still be relevant to your brand and have a purpose, even if that’s just to entertain or inspire.

The real goal with posting consistently is to stop it from wearing you down and becoming a chore so that you stop bothering at all, and to make it manageable and worth the effort.

What consistency actually does for your business

It’s not just about feeding the elusive algorithms so that your content gets shown more (although that is somewhat a factor), but posting consistently good content at consistent intervals builds familiarity – people start to recognise you and get to know you, and you (and your brand) stick in their mind a little more each time. 

It also builds trust – you show up in a reliable way, proving you’re someone worth working with or hiring, and you get your message across repeatedly, making it easier to understand over time. 

None of this requires constant posting – it requires repeated, clear communication, not volume.

So where does it all go wrong?

For most small or independent businesses (i.e. anyone who doesn’t have a dedicated marketing team like Google, or my personal favourite, Ryanair – check out their Instagram account for some free entertainment) – content just isn’t a priority when you’re trying to run a business or charity and get the real work done!

Imagine if Ryanair didn’t have their marketing team and just left it up to the pilots or ground staff to post their social media content? There’s no way they would manage to post consistently entertaining content, while also sharing deals and accurate information on new routes, nor would they have the time to start beef with the likes of Elon Musk!

The point is, consistency takes time and effort – something most small businesses or charities just don’t have. It also takes patience to see the results – much like exercising, sadly you don’t get skinny after going for one run (I wish!), but if you run every week and eat more of the right things, you’ll start to see a difference, but it takes time! That’s why it’s actually better to post LESS often if it means you’re more likely to stick to it.

Often the main issue though, is that people aren’t sure what they’re posting is even “correct” or good enough, which holds them back and makes the whole thing worse. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what you post, as long as you’re getting your message across in some way, and your brand stays consistent. 

Take Ryanair as an example again (perhaps this post should have been called “Ryanair’s Instagram – a case study”?) – they recently posted a carousel of 3 photos of planes with human faces overlain, with the title “3 facts you didn’t know about planes”, and one of them was “planes can’t eat food because they don’t have mouths”! Obviously, this post is silly, and nonsensical, and doesn’t tell me anything about what Ryanair offers in terms of air routes and pricing. BUT – it did make me laugh, it stuck in my mind enough to write about it today, and it told me that the company cares about entertaining their customers. Most importantly, probably 90% of Ryanair’s content follows this same vein. When I’m scrolling Instagram, I stop when I see their posts because I trust that I’ll find value in them. And through this very simple marketing technique, I’m far more likely to choose to fly with them!

Consistency vs constant posting

Consistency is what you say, how you say it, and how often people hear from you. Whereas posting constantly without providing any value is just noise.

Putting out one good blog post a month and a few supporting social media posts, or if you don’t have a blog, then maybe just weekly posts, can be more effective than daily content you’re just going to resent and give up on.

What sustainable consistency actually looks like

The key is creating a regular and realistic schedule for yourself, where you plan it out properly, make sure the content aligns with your brand and the message you want to convey, and that the frequency of posting is something you can keep up with, even when life happens.

Using fewer platforms and focusing on showing up reliably on them is more likely to produce results than posting anything and everything on all the platforms you can find.

You can use hacks like batch creating content, or using templates on Canva or Instagram to make the process easier, but taking the time to plan the schedule, being deliberate about what you post, and sticking to the routine is what really matters.

If you’re reading this and thinking “that’s all easier said than done, but I just don’t have the time or energy, or I don’t know how to create valuable content” then don’t panic. I can help you come up with a schedule, or even produce your content for you. Just send me a message and we can talk about it.

Why clarity matters more than frequency

We live in an age of algorithms and oversaturated platforms. Something like 1.3 billion posts are shared on Instagram every day (yes, billion!), and 7.5 million blog posts are published daily as well. So there’s just no world in which what you’re posting today will be seen by everyone who follows your account/blog. That’s why the quality of what you post has to be consistent between posts, and everything you post has to have clarity.

Repeating the same core ideas or messages in the majority of your posts, just in different ways, is one way to achieve this. Eventually the people who follow you will see one or two of your posts, and you don’t want them to miss what you’re selling because the one post they saw was just a nice quote with no underlying message. That’s why everything you post should touch on your value in some way or another. Clear messaging over time is what sticks.

So to sum it up…

Consistency isn’t about proving how hard you’re working. It’s about making it easy for people to understand who you are, what you do and to trust you over time.

If content keeps falling to the bottom of your list, that doesn’t mean it’s unimportant – it usually means it needs simplifying or you need someone to take it off your plate altogether. 

Doing less, better, and more deliberately is often the thing that finally makes content work and gets you the attention and sales that you’re ultimately after.

Leave a comment below if you’ve found this article helpful or you want to talk about how I can make writing content easier for you!