How did so many companies become prevalent in every place… but forgotten in most instances?
Brands have optimised their Design and are continually putting out content.
They pay attention to trends.
They are optimising their Format.
And yet… nothing seems to trigger any long-term memory or form of retention.
There is no issue with visibility,
there is no issue with consistency…
there’s an issue with Memory.
And almost no one involved in Digital Marketing has been honest about it.
In Digital Marketing, there is a strong emphasis on exposure.
More Reach.
More Impressions.
More Frequency.
Brands are told that to “stay top of mind, stay visible…”
and, thus, Brands are creating content daily, weekly, and in a relentless manner.
As a result, brands publish continuously – across feeds, dashboards, and content pipelines – without pausing to ask whether any of it is actually remembered.
To illustrate something new, let’s consider a fundamental question:
“What do consumers really remember about your company?”
The answer?
Most companies are confused about the difference between Being Seen and Being Remembered. A company may be seen, but if it can’t be recalled by the consumer’s memory then at best they will be only invisibly present in the consumer’s brain. When companies fail to recognize that there are two parts to creating an impression in the mind of the consumer, they don’t just fail loudly. They fade away silently.
Table of contents
1. The Memory Gap.
2. Why Being Known is not the same as Being Imprinted.
3. How Memory Forms in the Human Brain.
4. The Differences between Repetition and Meaning.
5. Why Most brand Consistency Campaigns Fail.
6. The Toll That Mental Unavailability Costs Brands.
7. The Memory-Based Marketing Model.
8. How Memorable Brands Work Differently Than Other Brands.
9. Conclusion.
1.The Memory Gap
The Memory Gap is defined by how far we can remember something we have previously seen. Most brands spend the majority of their time and money increasing the number of people who see their products rather than creating brand memories with their customers, and to this end they are focused on:
– Reach
– Frequency
– When to post
– Distribution
Memory does not follow the same rules that visibility does, but to create a memory we need to establish an emotional connection, a personal connection, intentional repetition of the same message and to clarify.
Without these elements, content will be seen but will not create a memory. This is referred to as the Memory Gap. The risk of the Memory Gap is this: any brand can have great visibility but is still susceptible to being replaced.
2. Why Being Known is not the same as Being Imprinted.
Companies that measure their success by the number of views, followers and posts have given themselves the false impression of having made significant strides in their business. Visibility provides no true measure of growth or a business’s future. Visibility can provide you with the answer to one question: “Did you see us?”
However, visibility does not provide an answer to the other fundamental question
“Did we matter?”
Impact is measured by how well consumers are able to recall your brand. If a consumer cannot describe your brand’s value in one sentence, your visibility is simply cosmetic.
For example, many people can recognize the Instagram interface instantly, but far fewer remember the last ad they scrolled past inside it. The platform itself is imprinted in memory, while most of the brands advertising on it are merely seen and forgotten. Visibility was achieved, but memory was never formed.
When attention moves away from your brand, that cosmetic growth will be lost.
3. How Memory Forms in the Human Brain.
Humans do not actually remember information; rather they remember associations.
In this association, humans will remember:
a) How a particular item affected them emotionally
b) What belief was reinforced by the experience of that item
c) What experience was relieved by the association to that item
d) The association that was created with the identity of the person
The following types of memory are lost to humans:
• General tips
• Safe messages
• Well-polished, empty content
• Advice without a viewpoint
Most marketing fails because most tries to be “helpful” rather than “meaningful.” People will consume things that are “helpful.” People will remember things that are “meaningful.”
Memory is not formed logically. Memory is based on emotion, bias and selectivity.
When marketers do not recognize these concepts, their marketing becomes “noise.”
4. The Differences between Repetition and Meaning.
This is where brands become trapped:
They hear that: “Repetition builds recall”, therefore they will perform repetition using format, topic and idea at the surface.
This form of repetition is duplication.
The true way of using repetition is:
• To repeat the belief
• To reinforce the world view
• To return to the core idea or theme from different perspectives
Repetition without meaning creates memory fatigue. Repetition with meaning creates familiarity.
No one is going to remember how often a brand posts on social media. They are going to remember what the brand represents.
5. Why Most brand Consistency Campaigns Fail.
Everyone seems to think that they can make their business grow if they just follow a few steps, such as:
– Posting every day
– Making sure that their audience is engaged and active at all times
– Maintaining a consistent flow of information
However, if your content doesn’t stand out from the rest of the crowd, people will quickly train themselves to ignore you. This is because when we see the same thing over and over again, our brains will automatically block out all of that information; unfortunately, this means that old pieces of content will be more memorable than newer pieces of content.
In addition, when you are constantly posting the same type of content (i.e., similar images), this causes people to become so desensitized to seeing your content, they are unable to see it as anything other than what it is (an image).
6. The Toll That Mental Unavailability Costs Brands.
The true cost of being forgotten doesn’t become apparent immediately; rather, it takes time to see the cost of being forgotten:
– Declined trust
– Decreased ability to recall your brand name
– Being more sensitive to price
– Having less emotional loyalty to your brand
In order to find a product or service, individuals who do not remember you will seek out someone, who is lower priced, or closer, or provides quicker responses, faster delivery, etc. The only way to keep from being commoditized or turned into something simply based on price is by being memorable. Without memorability, you will be seen as simply another alternative.
7. The Memory-Based Marketing Model.
What one message do we want to leave with people when they think of us?
Not ten different posts. Not tips. One clear thought that acts as a hook.
Step 1 – Formulate the Core Association
What is it you want the public to remember you for?
Think less about your industry, and instead focus on how you see the world.
Step 2 – Do Less, Do it Better
Do fewer, but more meaningful, posts.
Step 3 – Say the Same, but in Different Ways
Tell different stories that illustrate the same core belief.
Step 4 – Build Your Emotional Consistency
Your tone is more important than how your competitive advantage looks. Your level of honesty and conviction should outweigh your aesthetics.
Memory is created through consistent thought, not creativity.
8. How Memorable Brands Work Differently Than Other Brands.
These brands don’t post “all the time”. They post intentionally.
They:
Post fewer things.
Say them deeply.
Repeat the same idea without being repetitious.
They see what most other brands don’t:
Attention is what gets you seen. Memory is what gets you chosen.
Conclusion
The issue with digital marketing isn’t that we have low reach; it’s that we have low remembrance.
The brands that will be successful for the long haul won’t be the loudest; they’ll be the clearest.
If you want memory to occur in relation to your brand, there needs to be meaning and thoughtfulness behind every piece of content you produce and promote. Volume does not equal memory creation.
