This is the third article of a three-part series. I'm 
illustrating the marketing challenges of PrescottWeddings.com, 
a small business. 

If you don't remember anything else about marketing, remember 
this: Frequency is king.

The more often you can get your name in front of your potential 
and current customers, the more likely you will make a sale.

Depending on what study you look at, people need to see your 
message anywhere from three to 27 times before they act upon it.

And, if you want to brand your business, then you need to get it 
in front of your customers as often as possible.

How do you think Ivory Soap, Campbell Soup and Tide all built 
their brands so deeply into our minds? Through years and years of 
repeatedly advertising. That's why those brands pop into our head 
when we think about soap, soup or laundry detergent.

So if you want to build your brand, then you need to advertise 
frequently.

There's another benefit to advertising frequently. It also helps 
your current customers.

People like to know they made the right decision after they 
purchased something. How much reassurance they need depends on 
how much they spend, but everyone needs some confirmation they 
made the right decision. Your advertising can help.

Studies have shown that people are more aware of car ads after 
they purchased a car -- specifically car ads of the model they 
bought. And they're more likely to both believe and approve of 
the message. Again, because they want to know they made the right 
decision. 

So there are many good reasons to advertise frequently. Does that 
mean you have to spend a fortune? Not necessarily. There are a 
few tricks you can use to get the frequency you need at a low 
cost. (These are print tricks -- other advertising outlets, such 
as radio and online, we'll talk about in future issues.)

1. Make your ad as small as possible. Small ads cost less. See 
"Advertising on a Budget – Part 2: Thinking Small" for more 
information on shrinking your ad.

2. It's better to schedule your ads to run all at once than 
spread them out. People will never remember when they don't see 
your ad, only when they do. If they see your ad a lot in one 
week, they're going to be under the impression you advertise all 
the time because they won't remember NOT seeing your ad other 
weeks.

3. Take advantage of any frequency programs your newspaper 
offers. And definitely sign a contract -- don't run ads under the 
open rate.

Here's how it worked for PWC.

The newspaper had a program called "3 For Free." If you ran an ad 
three days in a row, you got the next three days for free (the 
paper was published six days a week).

We designed a tiny ad -- a one by two inch ad -- and we ran it 
six days in a row. Then we skipped the next three weeks and did 
the same thing again the next month.

After a year of doing this, PWC had people coming up to her 
telling her they saw her ad "all the time." Business owners 
wanted to advertise on PWC because they could see the commitment 
PWC had to advertising. Brides and grooms were visiting PWC on 
a regular basis because they were being "reminded" monthly.

What did all this cost? About $100 a month.

But, a word of caution. It takes time to build a business and a 
brand. It won't happen overnight. But it will happen, especially 
if you remember to keep getting your name in front of your 
customers and potential customers as often as you possibly can. 

Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a 
writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free 
e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity 
with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become 
more successful at attracting new clients, selling products 
and services and boosting business. She can be reached at 
http://www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek.