Chapter 50
Frequency

Determining how frequently to run an advertisement.

Frequency describes the number of times an average member of the target audience is exposed to the same ad, commercial, or program over a given period of time. To illustrate, if the five homes reached in the reach example (Chapter 49) saw a company’s ad an average of three times, then the frequency would also be three.

Frequency is determined when considering advertising budget allocations, and the costs within are based on information found in media kits from the chosen media (digital, social, radio, television, Internet, print, etc.). Pricing usually decreases when more advertising exposures are purchased.

For example, popular U.S. broadcast television programs shown during prime time (considered 8–11 p.m. on the East and West coasts and 7–10 p.m. in the Midwest, when families are most likely home watching television) charge premium prices, even with frequency discounts, reflecting the size and characteristics of the target audience viewing the program. This is also true for radio advertising, when peak drive time (either the beginning or end of the typical work day when people are driving to/from work in their cars) commands higher pricing than off-peak time slots. Print publications also vary their pricing based on frequency. An ad that runs once is more expensive on a per-insertion basis than if the ad were run several times in either the same or multiple issues. Furthermore, location within the publication influences price, with locations such as inside covers or the back cover considered more valuable and, therefore, more expensive.

Similar to reach, frequency helps guide the marketing planning and investment process. Marketers have to decide how to split a given budget between reach and frequency. If the objective is merely to create awareness, then a marketer would choose an advertising media that reaches the broadest possible audience. However, reaching a broad audience just once may prove to be a waste or misuse of budget money. Part of marketing’s role is to develop and nurture relationships with the company’s target audiences. It is quite challenging to develop a relationship based on one exposure, even if it has a broad reach. It places disproportionate emphasis on developing a message with widespread and lasting appeal for a world animated by consumers that are unpredictable with their preferences and behaviors. Furthermore, marketers would have significant pressure to select the right media vehicle for this single exposure, with the understandable risk that the message may be completely ignored (recall the difference between exposure and impressions in the chapter on reach).

To maximize limited budget resources, a marketer may instead consider repeating advertising messages to build the potential for lasting memory (see the chapters on brand recall and brand recognition, since they relate to this). But repeating messages is only part of the solution. Marketers must still ensure the message is targeted to the right audience, is relevant to their needs, and is capable of positively affecting consumer perceptions of the product or brand being advertised. While there is no single approach that guarantees an advertising campaign will be successful, many companies test their messages with focus groups (randomly or preselected small groups of consumers). This test usually involves exposing the focus group to the advertising message, then having a trained facilitator from a market research firm who can engage the participants in a discussion about the impact of the message.

The data for frequency is found in the aforementioned media kits and similar materials from media companies. The data almost always includes statistics on the media’s audience (demographics, lifestyle/psychographics, etc.).

iJeffrey Pilcher, Say It Again: Messages Are More Effective When Repeated, The Financial Brand, September 23, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2017 from https://thefinancialbrand.com/42323/advertising-marketing-messages-effective-frequency/;
2. Gian Fulgoni, The Varying Impact of Ad Frequency in the Digital Environment, ComScore, March 31, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2017 from https://www.comscore.com/ita/Insights/Blog/The-Varying-Impact-of-Ad-Frequency-in-the-Digital-Environment