A colleague of mine recently shared something with me that I found really interesting: a video from a business strategist named Kerwin Rae .In the video, Kerwin discusses social media and how it’s governed by something called the Mere Exposure Effect--a psychological phenomenon whereby people tend to develop a preference for things once they become familiar with them.In the context of business, what this means is that people need to be exposed to a business/product/service/brand a number of times before they’re familiar enough to have a level of trust and, in turn, to reach out for a conversation.Way back in 2005, this number was 5.4 times.By 2020, this number had jumped to 20 exposures.Back in ‘05, we’d get to 5.4 exposures using advertising.But now, there’s a new challenge: How do you get to 20 exposures without annoying your audience?Think about it: when’s the last time you saw the same ad on the internet or computer so many times that it made you want to lose your mind?Today, the right way to get to 20 exposures isn’t just by advertising. It’s with “utility media”: content that educates, inspires, entertains, informs. Content that people want to consume.And this, to me, really epitomizes why content marketing is so important and why it’s so vital that you don’t solely rely on advertising. Content marketing allows you to be visible, to expand the surface area of your business, to garner more impressions in a way that feels helpful and organic to your audience rather than annoying.It can help you get those 20 exposures in a way that builds real trust between your audience and your brand.Because ultimately, if you annoy your target audience, they won’t want to do business with you.If you’d like to start creating utility media that your target audience actually wants to read, get in touch with me today. I'm here to help out.