Would you give your entire annual marketing budget **** on just one ad to run once during the Superbowl?
Of course you won't. You know people seeing your message just once won't be enough.
Then why do we spend our time and dollars on single-shot marketing instead of repeated messages?
The answer is... most people just don't know better. Or, perhaps repeating your message over and over again just seems boring.
But the truth is, your fate follows!
Last weekend I went to hear Direct Marketing Master Bill Glazer (my marketing mentor who runs the Glazer-Kennedy Inner Circle (with Dan Kennedy)) speak at a conference in Los Angeles. During his talk, he shared with viewers how he spent the last few decades of his life running Baltimore's #1 retail men's clothing store, Gage Menswear, with his late father.
Bill talks about one of his first direct mail campaigns, and how during the planning stages he announced to his father that he would mail a special promotional offer to the same list not once, not twice, but three times. are going to do. His father was amazed and shouted at Bill that he was insane and wasting their money!
Bill continued and mailed all three pieces of the campaign. Well, their results showed that mailing the same offer three times not only increased their response, but doubled their response! Pop was on the floor, and he was certainly delighted with the flurry of sales to come. From that point on he trusted Bill with his marketing dollars.
Why does repeating your message work? online newspaper writing
It's simple... People are flooded with messages every day. The last stat I heard was that each of us sees over 3,700 different messages a day! This means that if you're going to break out of the clutter, you need to repeat yourself over and over, really get their attention, ask them to read or listen, and give them feedback.
Your task now is to look at all areas of your marketing and advertising in your business, and see where you need to add some follow-up.
Some quick places to look:
Your Ezines - Are you publishing your ezine well enough? Once a month just don't cut it anymore. You should reach out and "touch" your prospects and customers at least once a week, if not more. (If you're running out of ideas or you're not sure how to do this without annoying people, my ezine system takes care of that for you!)
Teleseminars and Live Events - When promoting the event, you will need one or more announcements or mailings. As a general rule, when I'm actually trying to fill out a teleseminar (phone seminar), I send at least three emails dedicated to promotion. For live events, you need dozens of messages, and ahead of time. Most trainers I know start marketing at least six months before hosting any live events!
One-on-One Marketing - If you cold call or send letters to prospects, how often are you following up? Don't be afraid to call or mail again. I have responded to an offer myself after contacting me several times, and am glad the seller took the initiative to follow up.
Ads - Instead of spending your budget on a few big ads per year, try running one small ad more often! Plus most publications, both online and offline, will usually offer you big discounts if you buy more than one ad at a time. (I do this with commercials in my own ezine, Straight Shooter Marketing.)
Remember, many of the marketing experts who have tested all of these strategies say that repetition is the key. So don't even feel like you have to get creative with your marketing - just saying or mailing the same thing over and over is better than saying no or mailing it again.
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