3 Reasons Why It’s Good to Remind Your Readers Who You Are
Repetition is a word most creators avoid. It feels unoriginal, like you’re running out of ideas. But when you’re building a platform, repetition is incredibly valuable.
If you want to make an impact, you need to repeat yourself.
Broken Record Platforms
“Do I have to repeat myself?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?”
You don’t have to be a parent for these phrases to elevate your stress level. No one likes to repeat themselves. Not because it’s hard, but because we all want to be heard—the first time. When we speak, we want to be understood. That’s not ego, that’s just being human.
We also don’t like to be told the same thing over and over again. We have a name for this: “nagging.” And it’s not a positive word by any measurement.
And yet, if you follow any platforms or brands on social media (and we hope you do), you’ve likely seen the same messages over and over again. Some people, be they authors or consultants or business owners, have a way of reusing a favorite phrase over and over again. It’s annoying. We want to say, “We heard you the first 10 times!”
Eventually, we tune them out.
Repetition Works
Some messages need to be repeated. “Eat well and exercise.” “Buckle your seatbelt.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” They make our lives better. They deserve to be repeated.
Consider the humble billboard. These static advertising platforms have the capacity to tell one message at a time, often for months at a time. People pass that same, simple message day after day. And guess what? It works! Nielsen reports that roughly 60% percent of people say billboards raise brand awareness. One in four people has made a purchase based on a billboard (which is actually really good for traditional advertising).
Now, an ineffective (i.e. bad) message is dismissed in an instant and reinforced day after day. Every time someone sees an useless message, it only strengths their resolve to ignore the next message from the same brand.
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Want to give Platform University (your one-stop shop for building an online audience) a spin? Get your first week of Platform University for just $1. Cancel anytime. Try Platform University for Just $1We are not suggesting you rent a billboard. Instead, we are reminding you that repetition is a vital strategy for increasing your brand’s awareness and reach. You need to remind people who you are, what you care about, and most importantly, how you will make your audience’s lives better.
Here are three reasons why repeating yourself is good for your platform:
- Repeat Yourself. Often. Just because you’ve said it before doesn’t mean your audience got it the first time. You likely also have newer readers who weren’t around the first time. Or the second time. And so on. Your audience needs to be reminded of those messages that are close to your platform’s “why” and essential to your business goals.
- Mix It Up. Here’s a little trick. You can repeat yourself without literally repeating yourself. Find new ways to word, phrase, or explain your message. Sometimes a person needs to hear a message a dozen times, a dozen different ways before it sinks in.
- Return to Your Archive. There’s no reason to start from scratch every time you create a blog post. But this doesn’t mean you should just relink to old content. Instead, revisit old blog posts and messaging and update it. Change the illustrations. Insert new information. Make it fresh—and save time while doing it!
Even this blog post has been repurposed—written fresh, but from an idea we shared in our Teach It Forward newsletter.
