• Survey
  • Book Becky to speak
  • The book: Small Town Rules
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Repeat your message seven times

By Becky McCray

A 7 painted on a brick wall

Photo (CC) by Lincolnian on Flickr

People have to hear your message seven times before they remember it. Or, that’s what I’ve heard.

(You may have heard a different number, but the exact number isn’t important. What is important is to realize you have to repeat yourself. And if you’re in business, you’ll have to repeat yourself a lot.)

Small Business Implications: 

  • Stick with a theme or promotion much longer than you think. Why do you think Absolut Vodka used the same ad campaign (the distinctive bottle shape, and a pun around “Absolut”) for so long?
  • Use multiple media to give the same message. Don’t be afraid to put the same basic information into your Facebook Page update, your Twitter stream, an email, plus a sign on the door at your store.
  • Leave information up for much longer than you think. How long does a sign have to be up before your average customer walks past it seven times? How long does the notice have to be on your website before your average visitor will see it seven times? Could be a long time, eh?
  • Repeat messages many more times than you think necessary. How many times do you have to send your message on Twitter or Facebook before your average follower even sees it once?
  • It’s fine to blog more than once on the same topic. Add something new, update it, or rework it. Thanksgiving comes around every year, and every year we do a new post on our liquor store website with Thanksgiving wine tips. We always find a way to make our advice simpler every year.
  • Extend the same courtesy to your employees. Repeat instructions in more than one way. Provide the same info multiple ways.

How do you use repetition to your advantage in your business?

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • Zoom Towns: attracting and supporting remote workers in rural small towns - December 10, 2020
  • In an economic crisis, spend your brainpower before your dollars - November 25, 2020
  • Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
  • How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
  • The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
  • Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
  • Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
  • Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
  • Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
  • Economic self defense for small towns  - June 7, 2020

November 15, 2010 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, Small Biz 100

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. Chris Eastvedt says

    November 17, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    I disagree that a message must be be told seven times to be remembered; that’s old school thinking for average products being sold to average people. Repetition doesn’t endear products to me, in fact it often does the opposite. Comcast comes to mind. They’re everywhere: on the radio, TV, the internet, they send mailers to my house, their vans scour my neighborhood- honestly I feel harassed. I am so turned off by a message I never asked for that on principle alone I’ve vowed to never utilize their services. Somehow I don’t think that’s what they had in mind.

    I don’t think it’s so much the frequency of the message that’s important, but rather the quality of it, and being able to get permission from those who are interested in listening.

  2. Becky McCray says

    November 17, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    Chris, thanks for bringing an opposing point of view.

  3. Juan Prego says

    December 1, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    Maybe Both?

    What about repeating a high quality message which focuses on a necessity/ particular interest of those who are listening?

  4. Becky McCray says

    December 1, 2010 at 11:26 pm

    Juan, I think the key is that there are all kinds of messages, with all kinds of purposes. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that once isn’t always enough when we are communicating.

  5. Meilee Anderson says

    December 7, 2010 at 6:17 pm

    You never know how or when people may access your message. If I update Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Website, Newsletter, Direct Mail Piece and send an email that’s seven times for the same message but delivered in different ways. Given the difference in platforms I’d be required to present the message in slightly different ways. Seems like a low risk of being perceived as overly repetitive. Do I understand your post correctly? If so, I’m really going to take this post to heart. Thanks Becky.

  6. Becky McCray says

    December 7, 2010 at 8:24 pm

    Meilee, you are right to use as many different media as you can and also to customize the message for each medium. While you don’t have to repeat your message seven times in each medium, it’s still good to repeat it more than once.

    While the number seven isn’t the key point, repeating your messages more than you think necessary is the key. We all get tired of hearing our own message long before our audience is even aware of it.

  7. Stacey Acevero says

    August 5, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    The “7 times” rule I believe is a basic psychological principle I learned back in college. For every one negative thing said, you need seven positive things said to erase that one negative thought. So, there’s some sort of truth to this :)

  8. Becky McCray says

    August 5, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    Thanks, Stacey. That’s an interesting parallel.

Trackbacks

  1. How to respond to online flame attacks says:
    March 21, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    […] messages out to the right people through as many channels as possible. Remember, you may have to repeat your message seven times before people will take it […]

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2021 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in