Somebody once said, “Marketing is saying one thing 100 times, not saying 100 things once.” And honestly… they were spot on.
Business owners, there is such massive power in this.
If you could only say ONE THING about your brand, or one thing for a campaign — one message that truly captures who you are and why people should choose you or buy from you — what would that be?
Now pause… and ask yourself: Does your marketing actually say that? Repeatedly? Clearly? Consistently? Or are you trying to say twenty things at once, hoping something sticks?
The Biggest Marketing Mistake Most Businesses Make
We’ve all seen it:
- A mailer trying to squeeze in five different messages.
- A social post that tries to educate, convert, entertain, inspire, announce a promo, AND share a testimonial — all in one go.
- A website homepage crammed with every single selling point the business has ever thought of.
And the result?
Overwhelm. Noise. Confusion.
Your audience doesn’t walk away remembering everything you tried to say…
They walk away remembering nothing.
Because the brain loves simplicity.
Because attention spans are shorter than ever.
Because clarity always beats complexity.
And because marketing — real, effective marketing — is about being remembered.
Repetition Isn’t Boring. It’s Branding.
There’s a misconception that repeating the same message makes your marketing “boring.”
But here’s the truth:
- You get tired of your message LONG before your audience has even noticed it.
- You see your brand every day.
- Your clients don’t.
- You read your website a hundred times.
- Your audience skims it for 20 seconds.
- You think you’ve “said it too much.”
- Your customer is hearing it for the first time.
- Repetition is how people learn.
- Repetition is how people trust.
- Repetition is how people remember.
Think of the world’s strongest brands:
- Nike: Just Do It.
- Coca-Cola: Happiness.
- Apple: Simplicity & Creativity.
- Nando’s: Spicy, cheeky South African wit.
They don’t change their core message every month.
They live out the idea that marketing is saying one thing 100 times — reinforcing it over and over again, in different ways, on different platforms, through different creative executions. But always the same message.
Why “Marketing Is Saying One Thing 100 Times” Matters in the Age of AI and GEO
Here’s the twist no one really talks about: AI search is doing exactly what your customers do — it skims. AI overviews and assistants race through your site, socials, blogs, GMB… and then squeeze everything they find about you into one or two lines. That tiny summary becomes your “first impression” in AI. If your message is scattered, guess what the AI serves up? Something vague. Something generic. Something that doesn’t really sound like you at all.
But when you say one clear thing over and over again, everywhere, the game changes. A consistent message across your website, social feeds, emails and Google Business Profile doesn’t just help humans remember you — it trains the models. You’re quietly teaching AI, “This is what we stand for. This is what we’re known for.” And the clearer that signal is, the more likely those AI summaries are to reflect the one powerful thing you actually want to be remembered for.
If You Confuse Them, You Lose Them
When your marketing tries to be everything to everyone, it becomes nothing to anyone.
- People buy when they feel confident.
- People feel confident when they feel clear.
- People feel clear when your brand message is simple, focused, and repeated consistently.
So ask yourself:
- What is the one message I want my brand to be known for?
- Does my marketing reflect that?
- If a stranger explained my business to someone else, what would they say?
If the answer is fuzzy… it’s time to simplify.
One Message. Many Expressions.
Marketing is saying one thing 100 times, but that doesn’t mean you should be using the exact same sentence everywhere.
It means delivering the same core message in many different formats:
- A story
- A testimonial
- A headline
- A graphic
- A reel
- A blog
- An email
- A tagline
- A client case study
Same heart. Same meaning. Same brand promise. Different expressions.
That’s how you build mental real estate.
That’s how people start associating you with that one powerful thing you stand for – the power of a strong brand identity.
Why Simple Works (Even If You Feel You Have More to Say)
We get it — you’re excited. You’re passionate. You believe in what you offer, and you want your audience to know all of it. But here’s the magic:
- A simple message repeated often creates curiosity.
- Curiosity makes people dig deeper.
- Digging deeper leads them to discover the rest of what you offer — in their own time.
- Your job isn’t to download your entire brain into a single mailer.
- Your job is to make people care enough to want to learn more.
Practical Example: A Social Post
Instead of:
“We offer landscaping, irrigation, clean-ups, tree felling, seasonal planting, turf maintenance, and more…”
Try:
We make outdoor spaces look good. Every day.
Want to see how? (Then showcase one service at a time in future posts.)
One message.
Many touchpoints.
Much more impact.
Practical Example: A Mailer
Instead of five different updates shoved into a single email… send five bite-sized mailers with one clear CTA each.
Your email marketing will get:
- Better open rates
- Better engagement
- Clearer tracking
- A stronger brand message
And yes, email marketing is still effective, in case you were wondering 🙂
How to Find Your One Core Message (The One You’ll Say 100 Times)
If you’re not sure what your “one thing” is yet, don’t stress; most businesses aren’t. Start by asking a few simple questions and look for the common thread in your answers:
- What problem do we solve better than anyone else?
- What do clients thank us for over and over again?
- If a loyal customer had to recommend us in one sentence, what would they say?
- If we could only keep ONE promise to our clients, what would it be?
- How do we want people to feel after they’ve worked with us or bought from us?
Your core message is hiding in the overlap. That’s the thing you want to say 100 times.
So Please… With a Cherry on Top…
Stop trying to say everything at once.
Stop overwhelming your audience with noise.
Stop cramming your marketing full of every detail, every feature, every thought that pops into your strategy session.
Remember that Marketing is saying one thing 100 times, so choose one message:
- Own it.
- Repeat it.
- Live it.
- Let every piece of marketing reinforce it.
Because great marketing is not about speaking louder… It’s about speaking clearly.
And clarity?
Clarity wins every single time. If you’re tired of saying 100 things once and getting nowhere, we’ll help you find – and repeat – the one message your brand should own.
