Is frequency driving your campaign performance?

In 1994 REM released the seminal track ‘What's the frequency Kenneth?’. Our national youth radio network Triple J thought the song was so good they played it twice in row. How’s that for getting the listener to really take notice of the song? 

Much has been said about the number of marketing messages we see every day. The number varies from 300 to 20,000[1] depending on who you ask, and with smartphones, advanced out-of-home technologies and social media, this number is continuing to increase. But what does this mean for your ‘share of voice’? It means that never before has it been so important to gain cut through with your messages to engage your audience in an authentic way that leaves them favourable (at the very least) towards your brand.

Recently ContactAbility ran a direct mail campaign for a leading global IT company. This client had a bespoke, targeted list and highly personalised creative execution. The campaign was a success, achieving a 7% response rate, three times higher than their average benchmark. Based on this result the client wanted to run a new campaign to a new customer base. Naturally we were happy to support them but had to ask the question - "what would it mean if we mailed the 93% that did not respond the first time with a tailored follow up pack?" Our logic? If we had proven the audience, the creative and the channel then why not the frequency? Could we increase the response rate while leveraging the existing creative and continuing the message to gain take up? Unfortunately, we’ll never know as the client didn’t go for it - in their mind, frequency was not as important as a new message, and it made us want to challenge this thinking even further 

Repetition = Popularity 

Granted, this statement isn’t true for all, but generally speaking if the message is right for the right audience at the right time the above equation is king.

“Studies suggest that repeated statements are perceived as more truthful than statements made less frequently, “presumably because repetition imbues the statement with familiarity.” In simple terms: frequency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breed trust.”[2]

Other studies show that messages become more popular the more people are exposed to it because familiar also equals more believable.

What’s the right frequency Kenneth?

For REM’s ‘Kenneth’ track the right frequency was definitely greater than two but the double play sure did kick things off. We’re pretty sure sending two promotional emails or texts in a row would get noticed too but what we really want to know here is: what’s the ‘effective frequency’ for an entire campaign?

Effective frequency is the number of times a person is exposed to a message before an action is made and before exposure is considered wasteful or overkill.  John Philip Jones adds: “it’s the idea that there must be enough concentration of media weight to cross a threshold. Repetition [is] considered necessary, and there [has] to be enough of it within the period before a consumer buys a product to influence his or her choice of brand.”[3]

Various studies back this theory up….

• Brand effectiveness tends to build quickly with 4 or 5 exposures then the effect of incremental exposures tapers off.[4]
• Lead generation response steadily improves from the first to the fourth exposure, and then declines afterwards. [5]
• Response increases up to 13 exposures and then declines - be the campaign over a short or long period of time (Zielske, 1959) [6]

While the advertising minimalist or even the CFO might call out that one exposure should be enough, the ‘magic number of three’ repetitions - adopted as a rule of thumb for ad effectiveness in the ‘70s - is based on cognitive research that connected a person’s learning to repetition. What’s also interesting is that this learning curve doesn’t consider creative strength, message complexity, market share of the brand and competitive pressure. 

Researching what others have done isn’t enough if you want to find your very own magic frequency number as there are so many factors in the mix. To determine optimum frequency you need to thoroughly analyse your market and your message. Plucking a number from thin air and hoping it will deliver is a gamble, as is copying past studies. Getting to know your customer’s ‘path to purchase’ is a more sensible way to identifying your magic number.

The path to effective frequency

Whether your campaign is traditional direct mail, targeted EDM or proximity marketing via smart phone location it’s important to look at your customer’s 'path to purchase' when calculating frequency. The ‘path to purchase’ involves asking the following:

• How familiar is the customer with the brand?
• How does the customer currently engage?
• How do they digest information?
• What critical steps do they take in evaluation, consideration and ultimately, purchase?
• How visible is your competitor in the channels the customer engages with?

Knowing the answers to these will help determine how frequently you message customers throughout the duration of your campaign. For example, if a customer engages (on average) once a week via your Facebook page, once a month via your newsletter and generally browses online before purchasing in store every three months, then sending two sale reminder text messages within a week is probably welcome as they are already invested in the brand. If, on the other hand, you are targeting someone who doesn’t know the brand well then high frequency in a short time may put them off. This audience may need more exposures over a lengthier period of time (say six months) to explain the products and build trust before the sale emails and texts roll in. 

In summary, frequency drives performance so long as you know your audience well. Remember that your magic number may be different from the brand down the road so it’s important to test and get intimate with your database if you want effective results.

What’s your magic frequency number, Kenneth?

By: David Bruce