“Consumers are currently purchasing my brand 5 times. If I could increase their buy rate to 6, I could grow sales by…” I’ve heard this theory/thought-process a thousand times. And the fact of the matter is—it doesn’t work. If your goal is to grow your brand, this strategy will never get you there.
I’ve worked with many companies and brands over the years who make significant investments on retention, loyalty, marketing to current consumers, and cross-selling—only to find it never yields the results that they expect. Any marketing strategy that is based on a false premise will never deliver high returns.
A far more effective way to grow your brand is to drive reach and household penetration of consumers who are either light-buyers of your brand or category, or NOT currently buying at all. Once you’ve gained trial, not only have you sold one unit, but you have the potential of that buyer, eventually increasing their buy rate, to 2, 3 or possibly 4-5 units, if they like your product. Do the math. Now you’re growing your franchise, not just driving incremental sales.
Reach is key—far more important than even frequency. Truly effective advertising reaches all potential buyers, not just the ones who are already buying.
Just trying to get existing consumers to buy more frequently—or even heavy category buyers to switch to your brand, could seriously be hindering your brand growth. Instead, focus on—REACH to the millions of consumers who have the potential. There are significantly more light and non-buyers of most brands than there are heavy buyers or regular users.
Another key, in addition to reach, is continuity of advertising. Continual advertising is far more effective than traditional flighting, where you have periods of time in between campaigns. This is an old model. Continuity, even if it’s less frequent, builds that consistent memory structure in consumers, that regularly REMINDS them to buy your brand. And, if your ad is impactful, all you need is one impression. Be “one” all the time if you can.
So, what are the key take-aways in effective advertising to grow your brand? It all comes down to REACH and CONTINUITY. Continually reaching all buyers—but especially impactful reach among light, and non-buyers.
Growing your brand is about growing your franchise, not driving incremental sales.
