How moving from sporadic bursts to a sustainable baseline can lower your costs and improve results.

Consider the analogy of physical training. If you were to train at maximum intensity for one week, then take two months off, the result wouldn’t be fitness; it would be fatigue. To see long-term results, the body requires consistency. Your marketing strategy operates on a similar principle.

In the advertising industry, we often see businesses fall into a ‘flighting’ pattern, running high-budget, high-intensity campaigns for short periods, followed by long pauses to save budget. While this approach might seem prudent for cash flow management, the data suggests it is often the most expensive way to acquire customers.

Here is the business case for why consistency outperforms intensity, and why an ‘always-on’ strategy is essential for maximising your return on investment.

1. Building Trust Through Frequency

In marketing psychology, the ‘Rule of 7’ suggests that a prospect typically needs to encounter a brand message at least seven times before they possess the confidence to make a purchasing decision.

When you run a short-term campaign, you may successfully reach a prospect three or four times. You have built awareness, but perhaps not yet trust. If the campaign ends abruptly, that momentum dissipates.

By the time you re-enter the market months later, you aren’t resuming the conversation; you are restarting it. A consistent presence allows you to accumulate these touchpoints naturally over time, guiding prospects through the decision-making funnel more efficiently.

2. The Cost of Algorithmic Re-Learning

Beyond psychology, there is a technical cost to pausing campaigns. Modern digital advertising platforms, whether you are targeting a niche local demographic or a broad national audience, utilise sophisticated machine learning algorithms to optimise delivery.

When a new campaign launches, these algorithms enter a learning phase. During this period, the system tests various audiences and placements to determine what works best, often resulting in a temporarily higher Cost Per Action (CPA).

• The ‘Stop-Start’ Approach: By frequently pausing and restarting, you force the algorithm to reset its learning. You are effectively paying a new campaign premium every time you launch.
• The Consistent Approach: By maintaining a campaign, even at a modest daily budget, you preserve your historical data. The algorithm continues to refine its targeting, driving down costs and improving efficiency the longer the campaign runs.

3. Defending Your Share of Voice

Your customers’ purchasing cycles rarely align perfectly with your campaign calendar. Whether you are B2B or B2C, buyers are researching and making decisions 365 days a year.
When you go dark for weeks at a time, you are not just saving budget; you are gifting your competitors a share of voice. If a prospect is ready to buy during your off week, the business will inevitably go to the brand that is present and visible.

Maintaining a baseline presence ensures that you are always an option when your customer is ready to say yes.

The Strategic Pivot: The Baseline Budget

Moving to a consistent strategy does not necessarily require increasing your total annual spend; it simply requires allocating it differently.

Instead of reserving your budget for a few high-intensity windows, consider establishing a baseline budget: a sustainable daily or weekly amount that you can maintain indefinitely. This approach keeps your data valid, your brand visible, and your pipeline active.

Ready to stabilise your growth? Whether you need to reach a specific region or a nationwide audience, Reach provides the tools to build a campaign that fits your budget and runs on your schedule.

At Reach, we are ready and waiting to launch your ‘always-on’ campaign. From eye-catching creatives to impactful videos, expertly written sponsored articles, and more, we are here to help you achieve your objectives. Home to well-known, trusted brands such as the Mirror, Liverpool Echo, and the Manchester Evening News, and with over 1 million social media followers, we have the power to share your content with our engaged audience. We support you from the initial idea to the campaign review. Complete the form below to discover how we can help.