Take the time: Repeat, repeat, repeat your message
Take the time: Repeat, repeat, repeat your message
So much of getting into potential customers’ evoked set* is repetition. Yet, so many marketing efforts are one-and-dones: put out an ad, send an email, post once on social media, etc. But what are the chances that your target audience will see that ad, read that email, or view that post when you want them to?
Sure, the platforms and channels we utilize are smart and can provide guidance on when the best time to do all of these things should be to get the biggest bang. BUT, the questions I always ask are:
What is the confidence level?
The larger and more dispersed my target audience, the less an average range means and the less accurate it becomes.
Out of all of my activities, how many times will my target audience be exposed to in a given period?
We marketers know that emails can perform well for an audience that has already developed some sort of relationship with our brand (open, clickthrough, conversion, and share rates are always much higher). But, when if we sent that same exact email to a list of cold leads, those rates plummet. This is the same for any social post we put out or ad space we buy.
Yet, we tend to forget that not all target customers are ready to buy our solution right now. In fact, according to LinkedIn’s 2022 survey, only 5% of our target audiences are ready to make a buying decision at any given point. AND, to top it off, of those 5%, they’re likely to consume 13 pieces of content before making their final buying decision.
So, what are we to do?
Time: Campaigns should span months, not days and weeks.
Long-game: Repeat your messages across all your channels over those months, differing the dates, times, and cadence to maximize reach.
Be realistic: Don’t be disappointed with a small return (likes, reposts, shares) when you start. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Content: Provide content in different formats. You can utilize one central piece (like a white paper or solution overview), and create a blog, video, infographic, social posts, and articles from its base content. The CTA in the derivative pieces should point back to the central piece.
Maturity: So much investment goes into short-form, tactical pieces of content. Of course these are important, but keeping the focus on these will not allow you to create pieces that are sustaining, that build the brand, that infuse emotion, and can help you in the long-term. For those in the security world, you’re probably familiar with Crowdstrike’s Threat Report. Or Gartner’s Magic Quadrant reports. Each one is issued once a year, anticipated by its followers, and referenced heavily across many different channels. Investing in these types of pieces is a huge effort, but a long-term investment strategy will eventually pay off.
Remember, post, share, post, share, post, share, repeat, repeat, repeat.
* Evoked set = the brands of a particular product that a customer considers when choosing to buy the product.
Have questions about this blog or my viewpoint? Then please contact me at rosa@rosalear.com or fill out a contact me form here.
