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Do People Really Need to See Your Ad 7 Times Before They'll Buy From You?

Written by: Lei Wang

Article Overview: According to the advertising industry, your prospect needs to see your ads at least seven times before they'll act on it. And if the claim is true, you will need a deep pocket to play the game. That's why so many businesses spend enormous amounts of advertising dollars on branding and positioning, but at the end of day they have very little to show for it. Most businesses go through the mechanical motions: creating brochures and websites, buying advertising space in newspapers and magazines, paying for prime spots on radio and TV, and launching public relation campaigns to pursue publicity and raise public awareness.

Do People Really Need to See Your Ad 7 Times Before They'll Buy From You?

According to the advertising industry, your prospect needs to see your ads at least seven times before they'll act on it. And if the claim is true, you will need a deep pocket to play the game.

That's why so many businesses spend enormous amounts of advertising dollars on branding and positioning, but at the end of day they have very little to show for it.

Most businesses go through the mechanical motions: creating brochures and websites, buying advertising space in newspapers and magazines, paying for prime spots on radio and TV, and launching public relation campaigns to pursue publicity and raise public awareness.

They simply follow the herd and copy what their competitors are doing, while scratching their head and wondering why sales haven't picked up one bit?

Many people blindly believe what the advertising agency tells them. They are told that marketing is all about brand recognitions, and according to the advertising industry:

“People will buy from you when the mention of your name gives them a predictable, positive, warm, fuzzy feeling. They needs to be reminded of you all the time, they need to see your name on bill boards when stopping by the traffic light, read about you in newspaper and magazines when catching the train to work, and watch your ad on TV while they eat dinner!”

As an entrepreneur, unless you have a multi-billion dollar advertising budget like Coca-Cola or McDonalds, you can’t afford to spend money on feel-good messages and pre-branding to the vast universe of people who will never be your prospect.

Most ads need to run more than 7 times over extended period of time due to the following reasons:
>> The advertisement fails to grab attention because the title or content lacks emotional appeal.
>> The advertisement provides no compelling reason or clear instruction on how to take action.
>> Timing is not right and the likely buyer is not ready yet to make a purchase.
>> Not many businesses can afford paying for a full page placement, and it’s very hard to sell anything more than $50 dollars from the size of a classified ad.

There are two ways to eliminate most of your advertising dollars, one method is to get equivalent free ad placement. The second method is to make an offer so irresistible you will have a qualified prospect – who is most likely to buy - stand up and identify themselves to you. And instead of running repeated ads at a few thousands dollars for each run, you can start your pursuit at your convenience, and at the cost of a phone call or letter.

This topic is outside the scope of this article due to word limit. However, it will be explained in more detail through subsequent email lessons. Visit my website and sign up for your *FREE* Marketing Lessons. This is just one of a dozen exciting strategies I will share with you.

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Article Tags: advertising agency, catching the train, coca cola, creating brochures, emotional appeal, entrepreneur, herd, mcdonalds, mention of your name, motions, period of time, prime spots, public awareness, public relation, publicity, radio and tv, recognitions, seven times, traffic light, warm fuzzy feeling



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Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - I concur with the above posters. Franchise Times is a very good industry publication.


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