People are busy.
They’re also drowning in information, data, marketing, and fundraising communications. Gaining their attention isn’t easy.
Here are 3 scientific concepts to help you break through the noise: signaling theory, the mere exposure theory, and the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.
All three of these concepts only reinforce what Thomas Smith wrote way back in 1885 in his groundbreaking book, Successful Advertising. It went something like this:
How to use these concepts:
For charities, it isn’t a matter of repeating the same message over and over again. It’s about making your donors feel good over and over. That’s what does the trick.
Repetition costs money, so it’s important to try to do it at low cost – while remembering that no one likes the friend who only calls when he needs money!
Make sure your repetitive messages are focused on making the donor feel good, and you’re not always showing up with your hand out.
Polite, respectful, helpful persistence pays off. Find a balance between being the obliging friend who reaches out every once in a while to provide assistance and the annoying salesperson who won’t stop knocking on their door. Making your messages relevant, personalized, novel, and valuable usually takes care of this.
For example:
At MarketSmart, we find that many people sign up for my blog posts (sent every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), our MajorGiftMotivator (free motivational quotes sent out every Tuesday), and our invitations to take advantage of our webinars and free resources. In some cases, our subscribers might get as many as seven email messages from us in a single week, yet few people unsubscribe.
That’s because our messages provide value.
If you do the same, you can send as many messages as you want yet still be reasonably assured that people will not get annoyed.
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