Consumers have new wants and needs and make new purchases every day.
Very few people have a need for any specific merchandise item on any given day. In half of all the general merchandise categories measured in a consumer study, the individual’s decision to buy and the actual purchase were made in just one day. Frequent, steady advertising reaches this “thin market” capturing the business when they are ready to buy, not just when you are ready to sell. Advertising increases the likelihood that more consumers will know who you are when they are ready to buy, on any given day.
Frequent advertising reaches your customers and positively impacts how they perceive your business.
Frequency builds awareness; awareness builds familiarity; and familiarity builds trust. Conventional wisdom says that your target audience needs to be exposed to your message approximately 3+ times so that the message sinks in and so that you build awareness. Just like dieting, advertising gets the best results over time. Each ad and each additional exposure build on the previous ones.
Advertisers who use more frequency are offered the best rates.
Most media offer significant incentives for their larger, and more steady advertising clients, those with frequent advertising campaigns. Whether these incentives are for committing to a certain number of commercials, or for investing a fixed dollar amount over time, media recognize the need for frequency and encourage advertising clients to use it effectively, with lower pricing as an incentive.
Today’s advertising may be influential, but running commercials again tomorrow will help move a prospect forward toward making the purchase.
Moving prospects through the sales funnel process is one good reason to advertise. Advertising is an investment in the growth and future of your business. Consumers who buy products or services from firms like yours almost always buy them from a business that they knew about before their need occurred.
Advertising frequently helps you to out-position your competition.
If you are not advertising as much as your competitors, then who is more likely to reach the consumer who is ready to buy? Advertising regularly and at effective frequency levels puts you in a dominant position as buyers step forward to make their purchases.
Advertising is just one more key, day-to-day activity that keeps your business open and viable.
Just as you invest money and energy in opening your doors daily, keeping the shelves stocked, with communication systems, telephones, and computers operational, and with your staffers on the job, advertising is just as necessary. Advertising is one of your smallest expenses. For an average business, the investment in advertising could be as low as 2-3%.
Advertising frequently equals higher than average financial results.
Every business needs new customers each week. A study conducted by the Advertising Research Federation showed that more frequently advertised products resulted in higher profit levels.
Frequent advertising helps you spread your sales more evenly throughout the year.
You can help avoid spikes in customer traffic, and more efficiently utilize resources and manage inventory by using advertising time to sell products off-season, in slower parts of the year.
Frequency helps your advertising cut through the clutter and drives home the message.
Mohammed Ali did not become the heavyweight champion of the world by punching 20 people one time each. No, he became the champ by punching one guy, very effectively, 20 times. By applying high frequency to his poor opponent, Ali was able to drive the message home…with frequency.
You need to advertise steadily and with frequency because in reality “people forget.”
The customer base simply forgets without regular, consistent reminders. Every day without your story being told is one more day consumers may be influenced by your competitors.
Bonus
Consumers Still Spending Time With Radio
[From Radio Ink] More from Nielsen’s latest Total Audience Report. Despite the onslaught of new technology, radio listening is still very high among consumers, according to Nielsen numbers. The average time spent listening to the radio for adults 18 and older has only trended down slightly. In the first quarter of 2013, adults spent 2 hours and 48 minutes listening to the radio every day. In the first quarter of 2014, it was 2 hours and 46 minutes, and in the first quarter of this year, it was 2 hours and 42 minutes.50-64-year-olds are the largest weekly radio listening demo at 14 hours and 51 minutes per week, followed by 35-49-year-olds at 13 hours and 39 minutes per week. The 18 to 24-year-old demo is listening to the radio for 10 hours and 11 minutes every week. Radio numbers are second only to traditional TV watching.
You can download the full Nielsen report, chock full of plenty of details, HERE.
