Reach vs. Frequency: Touch 100 Once or 25 Four Times?


Reach and frequency are terms generally used when planning advertising campaigns. However, the concept of reach and frequency applies to any promotional activity you undertake: direct mail, direct selling, and even networking.

Reach is the number of people you touch with your marketing message or the number of people that are exposed to your message. Frequency is the number of times you touch each person with your message. In a world of unlimited resources you would obviously maximize both reach and frequency. However, since most of us live in the world of limited resources we must often make decisions to sacrifice reach for frequency or vice versa.

For example, an air conditioning repair service who has decided to do a direct mail piece has to decide whether to mail the entire Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex once or to mail a quarter of the Metroplex four times. An attorney who receives many of her clients through networking may have to decide whether to attend one weekly networking meeting or four different monthly meetings.

When faced with decisions of reach vs. frequency remember this rule of thumb:

Reach without Frequency = Wasted Money

Marketing is the process of building a business relationship with potential customers. Have you ever established a lifelong friendship with someone you had contact with only once? Probably not. Generally friendships (and all relationships for that matter) grow as a result of frequent contact over time. Even when the potential to form a great friendship is there at the first encounter, it is unlikely it will grow without nurturing.

Seth Godin in his book Permission Marketing uses an analogy of seeds and water to demonstrate the importance of assuring adequate frequency in your promotional campaigns. If you were given 100 seeds with enough water to water each seed once would you plant all 100 seeds and water each one once or would you be more successful if you planted 25 seeds and used all of the water on those 25 seeds?

While intuitively and even conceptually we understand the importance of frequency to successful promotional and sales campaigns, somehow when it comes to actually implementing the campaign, we opt to sacrifice frequency for reach. And then we complain about the ineffectiveness of our promotional efforts. Undoubtedly one of the biggest wastes of marketing dollars is promotional activities that are implemented without adequate frequency.

When faced with the decision of mailing one direct mail piece to 10,000 people or mailing to 2,500 people four times think about the fate of those 100 seeds you can water only once. Unless you have water rights and can obtain additional water, opt for less reach and more frequency.

© 2003 Strategies-by-DESIGN. May be reprinted with credits and contact information.

Julie Chance is president of Strategies-by-DESIGN, a Dallas based firm that helps small businesses and service professionals Map A Path to Success by attracting potential clients and turning them into loyal customers. Strategies-by-DESIGN provides consulting, training and skills based coaching in the area of marketing strategy development. For more information or to sign up for our free marketing tips e-newsletter go to http://www.strategies-by-design.com or call 972-701-9311.


MORE RESOURCES:

Find Best Business Cards, Envelopes And More In Mississauga Posted By: Clarksongraphicservices


Printed products and services are a vital requisite of any business. Whether small or big, every business needs apt mark

Analyzing The Australian Media & Advertising Industry Available Through Bharatbook Posted By: bharat book bureau


bharatbook.com adds report on "Analyzing the Australian Media & Advertising Industry" which presents a future outlook fo

Credit Card Processing Basics: Account Provider Options Posted By: Alberto Moran


Credit card processing is a necessity these days. The majority of consumers prefer to use a credit or debit card, whethe

Vms Benefits To The Carrier Posted By: Tony Selin


Video messaging service is not just beneficial for mobile video messaging but has

Syftaeem It Company Seo Services Helps In Bringing Quality Traffic To Your Website Posted By: SINGH VIKRAMJEET


Syftaeem IT Company knows the ways to locate your site among the top pages of websites on World Wide Web. New website fi

The Adjustment Bureau Download-see The Great Experiments With Awesome Speed Posted By: Simran



The Adjustment Bureau Downl

Strong Users Of Sms Gateways - Citizens To Get Access To Sms Flood Alerts Posted By: Neeraj Saini



A recent study conducted between October 25th and November 5th, 2010, by Burson-Marsteller, a global communication

Three Distinctive Features Of Social Networking Logos Design Posted By: Tammy becker


I have worked for many companies during my professional career where I learnt different marketing and advertising techni

Small Business Marketing And Seo Posted By: Mathew


Small business marketing means to make search engine optimization techniques for a small business website to increase th

Temporary Tattoos Can Be A Best Way To Promote Your Company Or Brand Posted By: Niraj Gera


Looking for a new way to help promote your business or market your company? Temporary tattoos can be a fun & desirable w

Tattoo Machines | The Rise Of The Brand Tattoo Posted By: Rachel Z


Its no secret we live in a materialistic culture where branding is everything; from designer handbags to shampoo and fro

How To Grow A Business With Roll Up Stands For Marketing Posted By: Adriana Noton


The benefits of using roll up stands for marketing a business will soon be realized once an owner makes the decision to

Customized Stickers! According To Your Choice Posted By: Bryan Fuller


The victory of all advertising campaign has all the time used the fundamental element of customization. The market appro

Exceed Your Expectations And Express Yourself With Bumper Stickers Presented By Printinghost Posted By: Sid Shah


Spring is on your door! Enjoy your time and increase your business expectations with appropriate advertisement of produc

Sign Makers Posted By: Gareth Hoyle


Improving Business Exposure Using Professional Sign Makers

The exposure that your business receives goes hand

Services Provided By Property Management Company Posted By: Sanjay Rohilla


A property management company can help in turning the money in gold. The experienced property managers play a very vital

Looking For New Ideas In Corporate Entertainment? Posted By: Vikram Kumar


Many companies are looking in to corporate entertainment to build better business relationships with vendors, contractor

Online Market Research Firms Have Gained A Lot Of Precedence Posted By: Nikita


Online market research firms have evolved with time as the need to understand existing and emerging markets has risen al

The Luxurious And Glamourous Burberry Goods Are Never Out Of Date Posted By: usaburberry yingying


Burberry has updated Burberry collections from a trend perspective and its advertising campaigns have become more hip an

Make Money Growing Plants - Make Money With Plants Posted By: Ella Y Burton


Is your garden of flowers and plants growing before your eyes? Are they crowding up and now appear like a forest? Before

more articles

home | site map | privacy policy

relax here massagefree classified ads