Why Being A Repetitive Writer Will Win You More Fans [Mere Exposure Effect]

A Snapshot Of Today’s Deep Dive 📷️ 

The mere exposure effect (a.k.a the Zajonc effect) demonstrates that familiarity leads to likeability.

Writers can make their content more effective by weaving familiar (i.e. repetitive) elements within individual pieces, as well as across all of their pieces of content.

In this post, you’ll learn:

• The “7 Rs” - simple ways to make your writing more engaging using the power of repetition and the mere exposure effect.

• The risks to avoid when using these techniques in your writing.

• How we use the 7Rs in our content here at The Pen Pivot.

• How to use ChatGPT to speed things up (if you want to).

Diving Deep Into The Mere Exposure Effect 🧠 

Let’s go back to the ‘60s.

Jimi Hendrix was setting guitars on fire and Neil Armstrong was strolling around on the moon.

Sure, this is cool.

But not quite as cool as psychologist Robert Zajonc quietly demonstrating the mere exposure effect while all this was going on.

Here’s what he found:

Yep, even if they weren’t consciously aware of being exposed to it.

You know how the most annoying songs start to sound catchy after you’ve heard them on the radio a bajillion times?

That’s the mere exposure effect.

Zajonc demonstrated that familiarity leads to likeability with several different experiments:

• Participants were shown a series of meaningless syllables and preferred those they saw more often.

• Non-Chinese speakers were shown Chinese characters and preferred those they were shown more frequently.

• Photographs of unfamiliar faces were rated as more likable when shown more frequently.

But Why The Heck Does This Matter To Writers? 🤔 

It all comes down to that golden principle:

Familiarity leads to likeability.

Establishing familiarity in your content will make it more effective and memorable.

This can be done in two ways:

1. Integrate repetitive elements into individual content pieces.

2. Weave repetitive elements consistently across all of your content pieces.

Let’s dig into the specific ways you can achieve both.

How Writers Should Use The Mere Exposure Effect: The 7 Rs 🖋️ 

Here, I’ll break down the “7Rs”:

• Recurring Themes

• Recurring Language

• Repetitive Visuals

• Revisits and Reminders

• Rigid Formatting

• Recognizable Signature

• Rhythmic Posting

The first four Rs are ways you can use the mere exposure effect within an individual piece of content to make it more engaging.

The last three Rs are ways you can use it across all of your pieces of content to make you a more likable and memorable writer.

Later, I’ll show you how we use these writing techniques in our own content here at The Pen Pivot.

Repetition Within Individual Content Pieces

1. Recurring Themes Or Motifs

Overarching, broad concepts or symbols that are woven into your writing.

For example, in an article about time management, a recurring motif might be the imagery of sand passing through an hourglass.

This imagery or reference could be returned to at various points in the content.

2. Recurring Language

Here, we’re talking about language precision.

If you introduce a concept with a certain term or phrase, stick with that term or phrase.

Using that same time management article as an example, if you refer to “urgent tasks” as opposed to “important tasks”, consistently use that term throughout.

Even better, if the term is especially important to your writing, consider using a more novel one that only you use.

Eg. instead of “urgent tasks”, say you like to call them “priority pulses” or “pressing pursuits” and repeat the term throughout your content.

It keeps the reader anchored and breeds familiarity with the term.

This makes that term or phrase more impactful and memorable.

Just like a song’s chorus seems catchier the third or fourth time you hear it.

3. Repetitive Visuals

If your content contains visual elements, use familiar or recurring imagery whenever possible.

Here’s an example.

One of our favorite newsletters is Stacked Marketer.

Almost all of their images include their quirky little mascot:

Seeing this loveable little rascal scattered several times throughout a post leads to familiarity and likeability.

Check out the link above to see how they do it.

4. Revisits And Reminders

Here we’re talking about hooks and call-backs.

A hook is an attention-grabbing element introduced early in a piece of content.

It could be a provocative statement, a surprising fact, an intriguing question, or an anecdote.

A call-back is a later reference to the hook.

Callbacks capitalize on the reader’s memory of the hook.

In turn, this creates a feeling of familiarity and consistency.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say I started this newsletter with a statistic.

“Only 7% of content creators know what the mere exposure effect is and why it matters”.

(By the way, this is completely made up).

I could then reference the statistic later in the newsletter:

“Bearing this in mind, it isn’t surprising why only 7% seem to know why it matters in the first place.”

Repetition Across Every Piece Of Content

Here are some simple strategies you can use to breed familiarity across all of your pieces of writing.

5. Rigid Formatting And Style

Try to adopt a consistent format.

This could include:

• The number of subheadings you typically use

• The font size of your subheadings

• The font choices

• How you like to break content up (eg. numbered lists vs bullet points)

• The colors used for subheadings, internal links, and buttons.

It offers visual familiarity to readers across your different pieces of content.

6. Recognizable Signature

A consistent beginning or end to each piece of content.

It could be a catchphrase, a question, or any other set of words.

But always starting or finishing your writing in the same way can be powerful.

It’s why Ali Abdaal always starts his YouTube videos with “Hey friends”.

It’s why we like to conclude our newsletters with “And that’s all for today!”.

Consider it a creator’s signature, if you will.

7. Rhythmic Posting Schedule

Being ruthlessly consistent with your posting schedule can lead to habit formation in your audience.

They start to expect content from you at a particular time and build a habit of consuming it at that time.

It’s yet another way of making your content more familiar.

You may be that writer who uses blue subheadings in a size 14 Arial font.

But you also become that writer who sends out content on Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m.

How We Use The Mere Exposure Effect At The Pen Pivot 💪 

We like to practice what we preach.

So here’s a breakdown showing you the ways in which we use the mere exposure effect to (hopefully) make our writing more likable.

Revisits

Let’s take this issue of our newsletter as an example.

To help explain the mere exposure effect, I used the example of annoying songs becoming catchy with repeated listens.

I then revisited the song example when explaining the power of using recurring language.

Callbacks like these inject consistency and familiarity into the post, making it seem more cohesive.

Recurring Language

“Familiarity leads to likeability”.

In this post, I’ve referred to this set of words (or a subtle variation of it) several times.

This was intentional.

It’s catchy and distills the focus of this content so well.

I’ll probably refer to it in future posts too.

Another way we use recurring language is by creating distinctive terms like the “7Rs”.

Sure, using it made teaching the writing techniques clearer and simpler.

But it goes further than that.

It’s a unique, proprietary term that we can refer to and repeat in future posts.

Rigid Formatting

Our posts are always formatted and styled in the same way.

We use the same font size and style for our subheadings and paragraphs across every post.

We also use emojis to punctuate subheadings.

The dashed pink line bordering the text is something our readers have become familiar with and have grown to like.

Using consistent, repetitive formatting across our pieces of content is a simple way to take advantage of the mere exposure effect.

Recognizable Signatures

There’s definitely room for improvement here, but we do sign off our newsletters in the same way each week.

“And that’s all for today”.

I know - it isn’t exactly groundbreaking.

But it’s something.

We also start each issue with our logo at the top, followed by a brief introduction to what our newsletter offers.

This text is usually the same each week too.

It’s just another way of weaving some repetition across each piece of content.

Your Next Steps As An Online Writer 🐾 

OK, that was a lot.

But your next steps should be pretty simple.

Look at your content and see where you could slot in some of the 7Rs.

The ways you do this will depend on the type of writing you do.

So let’s go through some ideas, breaking it down by the type of online writing you might be doing:

📝 BLOG POSTS / EMAIL NEWSLETTERS

Recurring Themes Or Motifs: For each post, try to think of a single piece of imagery you can regularly refer to. For example, if writing about productivity, you could use the metaphor of a steadily ticking clock throughout your post.

Recurring Language: Maintain consistency in the terms or jargon you use. For example, if you introduced a productivity concept called "Power Hours", stick to it throughout your post(s).

Repetitive Visuals: Use a consistent style of images, infographics, or design elements that readers can associate with your blog.

 🎬 VIDEO SCRIPTS

Rhythmic Posting: Release videos on a consistent schedule, letting viewers know when to expect your next piece.

Recurring Themes: Introduce a recurring segment or motif in each video that viewers can expect and look forward to.

Recurring Language: Try using catchphrases or proprietary terms consistently across your videos.

🧵 TWITTER THREADS

Revisits and Reminders: Start your thread with an attention-grabbing statement or question (the hook) and reference it later in the thread (the call-back).

Recurring Language: Use a consistent voice or tone in all of your threads. If you've adopted a casual, conversational style, stick to it.

Recognizable Signature: End your threads with a consistent sign-off or call-to-action that followers can associate with you.

Risks To Watch Out For ❌ 

• Over-repetition leading to reader fatigue or annoyance.

• Becoming too predictable, losing the element of surprise or innovation.

• Alienating new readers or viewers who aren’t familiar with your recurring elements.

• Over-reliance on a single technique, limiting the evolution of your content.

To combat these risks, try to achieve a balance between familiarity and novelty.

Sprinkle repetitive elements into your content tastefully, like an artist or a chef.

Diversify your techniques; don’t rely too much on any single one of the 7Rs.

How To Use ChatGPT To Speed Things Up 💨 

Asking ChatGPT to use repetition and the mere exposure effect to make your writing more engaging" probably won’t achieve very much.

Especially if you’re relying on it to do the writing for you.

But ChatGPT can be used to give you ideas on how to tastefully incorporate repetitive elements into your content.

Here’s a prompt you can copy and paste into ChatGPT (after filling in the bracketed blanks):

ChatGPT, I'm aware that repetition and the mere exposure effect can be used by writers and creators to make their content more engaging and likable. 

Here's what you need to know about me: 

Type of Content: [eg. Blog post, video script, tweet, newsletter, e-book, etc.]

Target Audience: [e.g., Young adults, tech enthusiasts]

Content Niche/Theme: e.g., Sustainable living, technology reviews]

Platform of Publication: [e.g., Blog, YouTube, Medium, Twitter, etc.]

Please give me ideas for the following: 

- Repetitive visual elements I can use across and within my writing

- Recurring themes or motifs I can use in my writing

- A consistent and recognizable format I can use for my pieces of writing 

- A recognizable introductory and finishing "signature" I can use in my pieces of writing 

Here’s an example of what the response to this prompt might look like.

I filled in the prompt using the made-up example of a blogger in the sustainable and eco-friendly startup/entrepreneurship niche.

TL;DR 🔍 

• The mere exposure effect: increased familiarity with something makes it more likable.

• Writers can improve their content by tastefully using repetitive elements within and across their pieces.

• Use the "7 Rs" to leverage this effect in content: Recurring Themes, Recurring Language, Repetitive Visuals, Revisits and Reminders, Rigid Formatting, Recognizable Signature, and Rhythmic Posting.

• These techniques create an engaging audience experience and make the writer's content and style more memorable.

And that’s all for today!

See you next week.

Dilshan and Misya