The Magic Number of Ad Frequency.

How many times do people see an advertisement before they buy?

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The 'magic number' of times an audience is exposed to a publication, an advertising message/campaign or 'frequency' to create a purchase has long been a matter of debate.

Research has shown that consumers need to see an advertisement around 3 plus times before it becomes effective (can recall product and brand) while other theories suggest 5 or 7 times.

However some think this debate was settled in nineteenth century Britain and still tout this theory today. In 1885, Thomas Smith, a London businessman wrote a guide called Successful Advertising in which he pioneered the concept of frequency and suggested its 20 times before ads are effective! Smith explains the repetition cycle for an ad to get into a prospect’s consciousness:

The first time people look at any given ad, they don’t even see it.
The second time, they don’t notice it.
The third time, they are aware that it is there.
The fourth time, they have a fleeting sense that they’ve seen it somewhere before.
The fifth time, they actually read the ad.
The sixth time, they thumb their nose at it.
The seventh time, they start to get a little irritated with it.
The eighth time, they start to think, "Here’s that confounded ad again."
The ninth time, they start to wonder if they’re missing out on something.
The tenth time, they ask their friends and neighbors if they’ve tried it.
The eleventh time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads.
The twelfth time, they start to think that it must be a good product.
The thirteenth time, they start to feel the product has value.
The fourteenth time, they start to remember wanting a product exactly like this for a long time.
The fifteenth time, they start to yearn for it because they can’t afford to buy it.
The sixteenth time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future.
The seventeenth time, they make a note to buy the product.
The eighteenth time, they curse their poverty for not allowing them to buy this terrific product.
The nineteenth time, they count their money very carefully.
The twentieth time prospects see the ad, they buy what is offering.”

But imagine a car company took out an ad offering a free car, one could guess that the ad would only need to be seen once before action was taken. Right?

So is there a magic number... Well not really, if an ad is not relevant to what an audience needs, wants or is searching for, they likely won't act. So finding the right audience and creating a compelling offer is just as important as the frequency or number of ads bought.

That is where the magic happens.

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