The Rule of Seven Revisited the Money Version

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The Rule of Seven.

In marketing terms, the rule of seven is the rule to rule them all, if we go to the textbook version, it kind of translates to the effect that a potential customer or client needs to be in contact or contacted seven times before they make a purchase.

This has been tried and tested over a good number of years and is a really good yardstick and there are a gazillion quotes around it rolled out on a daily basis, until they end up losing their meaning.

When the sun comes up and when the sun goes down

It is all about building relationships and trust at the end of the day, in every human endeavor........ it is that we just have this propensity to over complicate things.

When we think in terms of online marketing, someone needs to visit more than once in order to make a purchase, I think that we could all agree on that one, like will it be tomorrow.

Then again once a purchase is made it may occur over and over again.

If I look at my online purchasing patterns I tend to look at and seek out reviews, usually, you can get a really good indication to the level of service or the quality of the product, especially so if we move beyond a price point.

From reading and observing, I am not the only one that does this, we are after all a "monkey see monkey do kind of species ":

It may be just me but from observation, it seems that folks do not read anymore, but rather "think read".

Think Reading

" Think reading " is when you read and then read things into the text because you think that they are there, or you think this is the way it should be, in other words, we carry a biased with us, our individual thinking, that we apply to everything in our eco-environment in a lot of cases we are totally unaware, we still tell everyone that this is the way it is and express our opinions accordingly.

" Give ten folks a copy of an article you have written and get them to read it and then ask them what their take home is, this is a really good tip folk's ".

If it is family they will be grasping to give you the answer that they think you want to hear, be selective try it out you will be surprised and it could give you a really good heads up about your content and how it is perceived.

After all, we are all the best authors that we know on the face of the earth right?

Well switched on marketers are very aware and they make a tidy sum either selling products or services because they understand a little-known truth.

Just think of the biggest brand that you know of and these brands spend a fortune on creating their space in the marketplace are they in your thinking and memory?

Can we create that big brand appeal on a shoestring budget?

We are constantly reminded to place a call to action in our content, that piece of content that asks the reader to make a decision and take some action or to persuade a user to take a specific action.

That is all well and good if they are at the right point of the cycle in that they are ready to commit or make a purchase.

What if they are not?

So what happens on the swing side of things, the outrider when we are just waiting and a praying for something to happen, trying to create those buttons and a bit of whiz-bang wallop, hanging for the favored click and that notification.

We don't have to reinvent the wheel, we don't have to copy, no folks all we need to do is model and create our version of those top brands.

Indeed, there is that call to action but more than that there is that constant call to think and that call to memory, they don't just want one click they want you to get out your card and tap- tap on a daily basis. well every second day or at the minimal, every time that you need that product or service and they work hard out to make sure it is their product or their service.

Which is probably a million miles from where I am sitting, but like someone said in the online world the crumbs off of the table can create a banquet.

So sometimes if we can spike our content with those call to thinking and call to memory one-liners that can become those online branding calls we can indeed create a feast and definitely onboard some fans at the same time as they buy into your " why ".

Most of the things I do are those stumble upon things, in short form not starting out to set the world on fire, but pleasantly surprised at the results and usually, it comes from the mistakes that I make along the way.

I tend to make more mistakes than the national average.

Not a high-flyer but then constantly achieving can be a very good second place.

This is a simple strategy one which you could pay someone clever a mint to create for you.

So in the travel niche that CTA could be,

BOOK NOW.

That call to thinking could be,

Enjoy our place like it is your place.

That call to memory,

We have vacancy, xxxxx, your home away from home.

Thing is it seems to work,

So in your niche, there will be calls to action, and I think there will be calls to thinking and calls to memory.

They do create some good outcomes.

Spike your content.


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Recent Comments

27

Oh Alex... you are a genius! You've just let the genie out of the pot. I am going to ask Dale why he hadn't sold me on this one yet. See you around my friend... sooner if you sniff the African flavor that I shall be unleashing in a little while.

Cheers, good sir!

LCM

Hi Charles, a call to action is asking our readers to make a commitment, there is more to that than meets the eye.

Best wishes

Alex, this is an excellent blog certainly has me rethinking things.
Sandy

Hi Sandy, good to see you, in this game, it is all about putting in that call to action and it is usually buying now or click here, building a brand is about building relationships and a call to thinking and memory is a very good key to doing just that.
Always good to step outside the normal flow, that is where the good stuff happens.

Hey Alex,
Thanks so much for this blog!!! I need to create CTA and was stumped. You have given me some Great ideas!!!

Tried and True

Elaine

Awesome Elaine pleased that this post was helpful for you, we always seem to think in terms of that buy now, there is a lead up to that place.
let us know how you get on.

Hey Alex,
I have bookmarked your blog so I can look at it again if I get stumped on CTA.

Have it under CTA easy!!!

Tried and True

Elaine

I love your post, Alex. It certainly makes me think deeper.

Thank you.
Sharon

Hi Sharon, thank you for your kind words, thinking about things on different levels can be what brings change, glad that you got something from this post.
How is your journey going?

Hi...I've never heard the term "think read" but that idea can be applied to listening too. We hear what we want to hear.
Debbie

Hi new Debbie, how is it going? the term think read is a new one, people don't tend to read anymore with the advent of a mobile riding side saddle with us, everywhere we go folks are tending to scan or as it used to be known to skim read. Watch people consuming content from their screen they scroll using their finger to slide the screen we read in snippets.

Think reading is that action of filling in the gaps, whether right or wrong, they are what suits us or fills our expectations. So we give ten respondents an offer to read or a menu, based on their biases they will create their version of what is written, one of those future shock kind of things. As marketers if we can spike the content then we can create predictable outcomes, hence the call to thinking and the call to memory. They are subtle spikes, that have desired outcomes.

Just an evolving concept at this stage but one that is bringing some very good results.

I have to agree with you Debbie we do tend to hear what we think we heard the Chinese whisper is a classic example, you know the one where we send that statement around the room it morphs into something completely different. Podcasts can be a very viable marketing vector.

Thank you for stopping by much appreciated, think we may be pushing the envelope a bit on this one.



Great post, Alex. 'Spike' our writing with something that will maybe spark a little fire in our customers.
Love it.
C & P

Hi Colette and Philip, that is the one, in this instance, we are looking for ways to add spikes into the content that will create a desire or expectation ion the reader.

So the usual trajectory is to write, write, write, call to action at the end. this way we are adding those calls throughout the content much like what Google is doing with artificial intelligence, they look at the whole content and not just snippets, for want of a word they are key calls.

Nice post. Rule of 7s and CTAs are quite common but never heard/thought of call to thinking or memory. Thanks for the idea.

~Debbi

They are indeed marketing 101, the idea behind a call to thinking is exactly that, folks may not be in buying mode, if the content is spiked to make people think, you are bringing around.
As for a call to memory, emotions are a prime buy in factor.
Good to see you Debbie, how are your travels going.

Love it. Thanks for the insight!

I've been burning UP the highway and I don't even LIKE to drive. LOL

Hope you had a good summer.

That is awesome, love it.

GET YOUR CREDIT CARD. This is a call to purchasing. lol
Thank you for this great share, Alex.

All the Best,
Maxine

Awesome Maxine it certainly is and also that point where a website is changing from being a hobby into a business.

Changing from a hobby to a business smells like growth to me. Learning new techniques assist in creating a web friendly design to increase chances of conversions. Bottom line, the main focus should be on increasing the website's conversion rate.

Maxine

Hi, Alex,
Thank you for sharing this. I shall keep to that rule of 7 for sure. Some grounding needed on my part.
Debs :)

Always good to be grounded, Debs, the rule of seven is just a guideline really, realizing that we need to create engagement to create sales can be the lesson worth its weight in gold. Thank you for commenting much appreciated.

Practice practice practice - the more you hone your skill it will get better and better and better

great post -thanks for sharing

I have to agree with you, Richard, second nature is the thing to strive for, we probably get there without realizing.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts much appreciated. have a great weekend.

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