If you have never heard of “The Marketing Rule of Seven”, it goes a little something like this:
A prospect needs to “hear” the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service.
The movie industry created this theory in the 1930s, when studio bosses discovered that a certain amount of advertising and promotion was required to compel someone to see one of their movies.
It was never 100% accurate of course. There are times when a prospective buyer will see your product or brand 4 times and decide to purchase, or occasions when it will take more than 7 “touches” before they are convinced. But we think that in 2018, the accuracy of this maxim is even less reliable.
We think the new “magic number” of conversion might be closer to 4.
And that’s excellent news! There are two reasons for this.
- We are exposed to advertising through social media a BUNCH more than traditional advertising, and it’s (mostly) filtered to be personally relevant to us.
- And, simply put, Video.
It’s a big claim we’re making here, so let me elaborate.
SOCIAL MEDIA KNOCKS US DOWN TO 6 (better)
We are plugged into our devices like our lives are dependent on it, and no matter how many filters you apply to prevent your feeds from being bombarded with Branded content, it’s impossible to avoid it. This is both good news and bad news for advertisers. It means we’re exposed to more advertising than our parent’s or parents-parent’s generations ever were, BUT it also means that we are exposed to so much that we can become blind to it. We can be so visually overwhelmed that we just stop seeing it. How do our brains decide which ads to take note of? By filtering out the ads that are most relevant to our needs.
This is where social advertising’s PERSONALIZATION features become so very important. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, all of the social platforms allow advertising to target an audience who are in some manner relevant to what they are advertising. This is the saving grace that greatly ups the chances of your sales messaging being seen and registered by your leads.
VIDEO KNOCKS US DOWN TO 4 (MUCH better)
The QUALITY of your messaging is even MORE important. People want to be entertained by advertising, that’s the currency for being disrupted. If we enjoy the ad, we forgive the fact it’s delayed me accessing the content that I really logged in for. Your targets want a story, and more often than not they also demand that the story is both funny and inspiring.
Why does this lower our magic conversion number 2 touches? Because relevant, funny content is MEMORABLE. We retain this kind of advertising at much higher rates than salesy, bland, impersonal messaging.
The most effective way to tell a humorous and inspiring Brand story that sticks? VIDEO!
- Video with a narrative is emotionally engaging and emotions instigate memories (retention).
- Video is the most sought after content by customers who are looking to make a purchasing decision (as it helps to build trust).
- Video, especially funny and inspiring video, is the most welcomed interruption (it’s most social users preferred content).
- Video is the shared more than any other content (increased amplification and all the benefits of word of mouth advertising).
The NEW Social Marketing Rule of Four
Of course this remains an estimate and is not a definitive science, but the new (completely made-up) math goes something like this:
Relevance + engaging story = less touches to achieve conversion.
Need some help developing video content that is relevant to your audience and tells your brand’s story in humerus, heartfelt ways that stick? That’s EXACTLY what we do. In fact it’s ALL we do. And we love doing it! Send us an email (info@frontrunnerfilmsllc.com) to say hi and start a conversation, or head over to our website to see examples of our award-winning work and to meet our team: www.frontrunnerfilmsllc.com
