Thu 2 Apr 2009
The 5x theory
Posted by Lisa Hickey under random, social media
photo: mrbill
I’ve heard it said that you need to try a brand new food five times before you really like it. (Try this, it’s a fun experiment!).
And I’ve also heard it said that it takes five impressions for an individual to actually internalize an advertising message.
So I’m wondering if the idea of “5 times” is applicable to how we engage with people in Social Media. If it takes 5 times connecting with other someone else before we trust them, say. Or 5 encounters before we are truly engaged with them. Or 5 times hearing someone’s name before they are “on our radar”.
What do you think? Would that change anything for you if it were true?
4 Responses to “ The 5x theory ”
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Interesting….
I like your site….
I think five is a good average number, but it’s not a constant. The number depends on the content and the context. We’ve all had moments where someone has said something that catches our attention in one interaction.
On the other hand I had a client in the mail order business; for them, the average number of interactions before “conversion” was around seven.
Thus one of the challenges is to look for a way to present your message that lowers the number of impressions required to actually have a prospect “internalize” it.
What is most difficult is to lower this “impression threshold” without distorting the message. For example, in my area there is an insurance company that specializes in selling to people over 50. Their ads make an impression very quickly, unfortunately that impression is so condescending to their target market that the impression is “I will *never* deal with these people, even if they are cheaper.” So there is often a trade off between “message impact” and “message integrity”.
Nice post - I first heard the ‘five times’ theory when learning about sales and I felt like it was ‘If you keep pestering people, they’ll give in after about 5 calls’.
BUT, I try to look at it another way, I use it to encourage myself when I don’t get immediate response, and need impetus to keep up the conversation - I can reassure myself that it’s OK to enquire again, respond again, reach out again.
I abhor pestering sales people, but I like a person who bonds through developing a relationship. 3,5,7 whatever the average number, I think for me the important thing is it’s okay to keep up the convo if at first you don’t get a response.
Thank you both for your comments. Perhaps we don’t even have to think of it as a “sales cycle” but more of stranger to friend or stranger to trust. As an individual, I certainly don’t want to think I have to repeat the same “message” 5 times before I get heard, but perhaps even seeing someones name 5 times is a threshold. Interesting to think about all the implications, thanks again.