The power of repetition for thought leadership

Creating thought-provoking, effective content takes a lot of time and effort.

Yet, not many B2B companies realize the full potential of their content because they overlook one key factor, and that’s repetition.

By repurposing and repeating your content, you not only get more value from your content, you also have a better chance of your audience remembering what you stand for.

Why repetition works in marketing

Most people have heard this advertising adage: A prospect needs to hear or read an advertising message at least seven times before they take action.

While there’s no real magic to the number seven, it’s clear that most people need to encounter something more than once or twice for it to stick.

The best advertising campaigns and slogans have been used for decades.

Nike’s “Just Do It” has been in use since 1988. “I’m lovin’ it” has been used by McDonald’s since 2003. While these brands continue to create new campaigns and content every year, they remain consistent with their taglines.

This discipline has built enormous brand equity for these brands, enhancing the effectiveness of all future marketing campaigns.

Each time I come across content from Nike or McDonald’s, it’s a continuation of what I’ve seen before—like picking up an on-going conversation.

There’s a shared understanding there, and these encounters serve to reinforce my understanding of the brand.

Repetition feels boring, but it’s effective.

Why companies are not using repetition more

Nike has been encouraging people to drop their excuses for not getting fit for nearly as long as I’ve been alive.

That kind of follow-through goes against most of our instincts when it comes to marketing. Here’s why I think so few companies are benefiting from repetition in their marketing:

It feels like cheating

We’re taught that wholly original ideas are what make us creative and strategic professionals. A fresh take on someone else’s idea just doesn’t make us feel as accomplished.

It feels boring

We spend months putting together a new marketing campaign. Spending months or years executing it isn’t as stimulating. We’re eager to get back in creative mode.

It feels risky

We’re told all the time that the world is moving fast. We need to keep on top of the trends, and adopt an agile mindset. Sticking to anything feels like a quick route to irrelevance.

Thought leadership content requires commitment

Establishing a thought leadership position is not the same as investing in an advertising slogan. You probably couldn’t repeat the same thought leadership content for 36 years and expect it will still be considered “leadership.”

But you can—and should—think about sticking to your content themes for at least six to 12 months.

In my experience, this is the minimum amount of time needed to reach your audience and create momentum.

A whitepaper can become multiple blog posts, which can be used to populate your e-newsletter, which becomes the basis for various social media posts.

Collect feedback, fine-tune your message, and update your most popular content.

Launch your insights to the media, write an op-ed on what you think the industry should do, and leverage the exposure to book speaker slots.

Avoid thinking of content repurposing as a cheap way to fill content channels, and start thinking about it as a strategic choice—a choice to focus, and a choice to commit.

Plan content repurposing into all of your campaigns from the outset, with the mindset that it takes at least six months before you know if something is working or not.

In a future blog post, I’ll explain how I did this as an in-house marketing communications manager, and how it changed the way I think about content marketing.