There is a rule of thumb I use when talking with someone about how long they should run a particular ad or promotion. About the time you absolutely cannot stand looking at your promotion anymore; when it is driving you nuts to look at or listen to the ad/promotion/billboard/poster/website/etc. one more time; when it seems as if every time you turn the page or log onto a site you see the ad...THAT is about the time your target audience is just starting to notice it.
This is, of course, a broad rule of thumb. There are always those customers who are hyper-attuned to your brand who notice ads and posts well before the general public. Because they care.
There are also those who don't give a hoot about your brand or your industry. They could read or view everything you put and not remember it a moment later. Because they don't care.
I think that this same rule of thumb is even more applicable these days. It also now applies to information of all sorts, not just promotional information. Since there are so many sources of information, people who care about a particular subject often know about news related to that subject long before that news makes it in the local paper or on the Yahoo news feed (if it ever does.)
While this makes it easier for someone to solidify their expert status, it also raises a red flag. If you are a interested in local food, for instance, you most likely keep up with what is written about it, current best practices, new or pending legislation, etc. For the local food advocate, monitoring this information across multiple streams of information has never been easier.
The challenge, as an advocate, is to recognize and remember that the general public isn't doing the same. They don't have the same awareness of the topic that you do as someone who cares about the topic and is following it.
The challenge, as a marketer, is to figure out that sweet spot where you are sharing your message frequently enough to reach your target market, but not so frequently that you end up annoying those early adapters of your message.
Years ago, when I was working for a local hospital, I used my wife and daughter as models for an ad I needed to run. It was a print campaign that ran mostly in the local newspaper. Naturally, my whole family was VERY attuned to the ads I ran in the local paper. My wife commented that it seemed like she came across the ad every time she turned the page in the newspaper. I remember at the time the ad was running mentioning her comment to a colleague. Oh, he said, are you running an ad?
If you are an advertiser, or an advocate, don't make the mistake that the general public is as aware of your topic as you are. It is important to remember that in today's "seek it out" environment, those who are passionate about a subject, a product, a company or a cause WILL inform themselves.
Most likely your target audience is more than these passionate few. Most likely most of your audience will need you to repeat yourself a few times.
