Advertising was the way to get messages across to the most number of people by interrupting their viewing, listening, reading or daydreaming.
Now, there is too much going on in our lives to be aware, let alone wanting more tugs on our scarce resource, attention.
So, how do we market today?
Well, we take a tried and tested model of Ready, Aim, Fire. But, instead of firing, we start conversing. What I mean by this is that we start talking, listening, asking, giving and educating.
Through conversing, we continue to have frequency but it is more potent - We are communicating rather than broadcasting. We are learning about our market all the time and adapting to their changing needs and desires.
Frequency leads to trust. Trust leads to sales. Sales to profits.
We use frequency, instead of interrupting, to build awareness and permission to get closer to our prospects and customers. And, this is where care is required.....
Throughout our conversation, there are three things we have to exhibit for trust to develop:
Consistency Do as you say. You know the old adage of walk your talk. Not always that easy!
Value Provide material people want and will use
Attention Show interest in them, give them your attention, explicitly reward their attention and not just promoting what our products and services can do for them.
Consider 20 years ago, frequency meant spending huge sums on advertising, direct mail campaigns and the like. Not now! Frequency can be done by large, small and micro businesses for very little money.
The downside is that, because it can be done by everybody, there is an info-glut. And, we are all selfish about how we spend own time and attention.
Each communication has to have something for the reader, the consumer of the material. Failing to do that means they lose interest and stop participating and are lost forever...
The email is a prime way of delivering frequency. And here, the key is the timing of each communication. Too often and it becomes an interruption. Not frequent enough and your reader loses the thread of your overarching message.
Unfortunately, there's no magic formula to determine the optimum timing - so you're better to test different approaches.
Twitter is another tool where you can deliver frequency within 140 characters. You mix information giving, sharing and support to build awareness and trust.
Time for action Just reading this article is not enough! Take a moment to assign time in your calendar to review how you build trust and sales through frequency for your business.
