Surround your customers with messages

I was reading an article on employment strategies for those out of work. The common lament was that resumes were sent, phone calls were not returned, no employment was found (their marketing didn't work). The recommendation of the experts was to surround the hiring manager with a message. Resume, phone message, snail mail letter, and, whenever possible, have existing employees mention your name. Showing up at the office in person would be a big plus.

That might look like an 'it's who you know, not what you know' strategy and you're right, it is. That's the point. One of them anyway.

The other point is that multiple mentions of the same message through multiple media makes you look like you're everywhere, like you're bigger than you really are. Multiple media have a higher frequency than a single medium.

By now, we all know that customers need to hear your name somewhere around six or 7 times in order to remember it. We also know that it takes a few more mentions in order to get them to purchase from you.

Contrast that with this fact: people remember the names of their acquaintances after only two or 3 meetings.

The lesson: if you want to use media to promote your business, plan on at least 7 contacts (7 times cost of the ad). If you want to get people to remember you faster, go out and meet them. Put a face with the name, put product in their mouths and a coupon in their hands.

Surround the customer with your message. People buy from people they know.