If the three keys to retail sales are said to be location, location and location, the three keys to marketing are repetition, repetition, and more repetition. Statistics vary, but a commonly accepted guideline in advertising is the "Rule of Seven", which states that a prospect must be exposed to your branding message seven times before the prospect is aware of your product enough to actually make a purchase. One survey concluded that it takes more than 30 exposures before a customer can remember your name and message at will.

That's why practiced marketers shudder when a business owner says "I'll try a mailer (or a display ad or an e-blast) once and if it works I'll do it again". It's important to think in terms of a marketing program rather than individual marketing pieces. Marketing has a cumulative effect. One-time or sporadic advertising is usually a waste of money.

Repetition works for four reasons. First of all, repetition implies permanence and staying power wins trust. If a prospect senses you are here to stay, the confidence and comfort levels go up, and suddenly a purchase occurs. Second, repetition synchs into the way human beings learn. Have you ever been introduced to someone at a party and two minutes later you were unable to recall their name - that's what happens to a display ad run one time. We need repetition to learn. Third, repetition simulates the 24/7 effect. In other words, if you advertise 12 times in a monthly magazine or send 12 e-blasts per year, people always know where to find you easily for referrals or to re-find you for themselves. Fourth, repetition is the only way to break down the "rock of resistance" that exists in everyone. This rock gets harder every year as consumers develop ever stronger immunity to marketing messages.

As Woody Allen once said "Showing up is 90% of success". Show up in your customer's e-mail inbox, favorite magazine, or mailbox on a regular basis and you will be maximizing your chance for marketing success.