German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted famous memory experiments that resulted in discovering a “forgetting curve” that should inform the way we market to an audience.
You’ve probably heard the term “learning curve” but do you know where it came from? And, what about the “forgetting curve?” Both of these factors are critical concepts to understand when executing a successful marketing strategy—and the science came from a pioneering researcher, Hermann Ebbinghaus, who conducted memory studies (using himself as the subject).
So, why is this 19th Century German psychologist important to 21st Century marketing?
Ebbinghaus’s research helps us understand an audience’s ability to retain information—and how long people will remember a message, or lose it (the forgetting curve). He also discovered the overlearning effect: The forgetting curve decreases for overlearned information. This speaks to repetition as a way of helping people remember. Overlearned information is more resistant to loss.
If you want to develop an integrated marketing strategy that will have a lasting impact on your scientific audience, you’ll want to take into account the Ebbinghaus Effect. His “forgetting curve” is scientific evidence that engaging content, delivered frequently and consistently, can make a lasting impact.
The Ebbinghaus Studies
So, who is Ebbinghaus? The German psychologist was born in 1850 in Prussia, and he began studying history and philosophy when he was a teenager. By the time he was 23, he had earned his doctorate and moved on to teaching.
Ebbinghaus began his famous memory studies in 1885 while publishing, Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. He examined recall, recollection ad the concept of savings in relation to re-memorization. By conducting a series of experiments, he explored the human tendency to forget things over time, and to what extent we remember information.
Ebbinghaus believed that remembering something involves forming associations that are strengthened through repetition. To test this, he constructed lists of nonsense syllables (consonant, vowel, consonant) such as CAJ or MOJ (not real words). He’d read the first item, say it to himself, then go on to the next, then repeat. After repeating the list (referred to as a “repetition”), he would attempt to recall each item. The more repetitions he completed, the easier it was for him to remember all of the items on the list. (This is how he discovered learning curve.)
Ebbinghaus also tested memory retention by practicing a list until he could repeat it correctly twice in a row. He waited varying lengths of times before testing himself. (He was the sole subject of his research.) He learned that forgetting happened the most rapidly soon after he read the list. And, as time went on, forgetting slowed down. This is the “forgetting curve.”
As for overlearning, Ebbinghaus would practice a list until he could recall it perfectly twice in a row. For example, if he repeated a list 10 times in order to recall it perfectly, he would continue repeating it 10 times (100% overlearning). Overlearning makes information less receptive to loss. So, you can break that forgetting curve by overlearning.
In marketing, the goals are to expose an audience to information—but most importantly that they retain the information and tie it to your brand. We know from Ebbinghaus that repeating the message reduces the forgetting curve. Therefore, integrated marketing can bridge the memory gap by exposing an audience to the same message in different formats so your brand becomes ingrained in their memory.
Bridge the Memory Gap
Ebbinghaus taught us a lot about how humans retain and recall information. We’re sure he had no idea his research would be so valuable in the marketing field. Ebbinghaus’s research underscores the value of integrated marketing to your scientific audience. Frequency is the key. Integrated marketing uses frequency and multiple media platforms to ultimately convert prospects into customers.
When the time comes to buy, you want your brand / company to come to mind first. Ebbinghaus proved frequent messaging increases this likelihood.
Think long-term: Frequency requires patience and consistency. It takes time to establish a brand and ingrain a message in the minds of your audience. Ebbinghaus research showed that more repetition decreased the forgetting curve. So with your marketing strategy, build time into the plan so you can achieve effective frequency and get the results you want.
Integrate the messaging: If a company’s message is different every time, the human memory stores each message as new information. You lose the compound effect of repetition. Integrated marketing campaigns that emphasize the same message on multiple platforms—email blast, newsletter, video, product listing, webinar—work like Ebbinghaus’s experiments where he repeated the same list of items over and again until the “remembering results” improved. Careful, consistent messaging across all marketing methods will help an audience remember your brand.
Start and End Strong: Ebbinghaus also learned that we remember the first and last “items” on a list better than the information stuck in the middle. So hit your scientific audience with the key message first. End strong with a call to action that prospects will remember. And, keep messages concise to improve the impact (and reduce the forgetting factor) of the information you want to deliver.
Integrated marketing is a proven strategy for building brand identity and getting people to remember a message. Ebbinghaus research backs up what BioCompare knows about making a lasting impact on your scientific audience. Put the Ebbinghaus theory to work in your integrated marketing campaign. Contact your Biocompare account executive to tailor an integrated campaign to help you reach your 2016 goals!