How often have you stared at a slide deck with so much information crammed into it that you remember almost nothing at best? Or have you found yourself on a website homepage that is so overloaded with all the amazing benefits the company has to offer that you just move on to another more visually soothing site?
When trying to connect with potential customers, compelling content will capture your audience's attention and the Rule of Three is a key device that will help when creating something you want your audience to remember. We have The Three Wise Men, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly for good reason. Grouping information or ideas in sets of three can make your marketing messages more memorable, engaging, and actionable.
1. Memorable
Your brain is designed to help you survive and thrive. It is always trying to conserve calories and therefore has an innate preference for simplicity and patterns. The Rule of Three builds on this preference by presenting information in a concise and structured way. This not only makes your message easier to understand but also more likely to be remembered.
In a marketing context, this means that when you present your main benefits, your audience is more likely to retain and recall that information. The brain does not have to work too hard!
Had the wise men bought four gifts it would start to look like a Christmas shopping list!
2. Engaging
By presenting information in threes, you can create a more resonant message. It allows you to build a story, structure an argument, or highlight benefits in a way that connects with your audience on a deeper level. People tend to perceive information presented in threes as more satisfying and emotionally appealing.
This emotional engagement can be harnessed in marketing messages to evoke feelings of trust, connection, and satisfaction.
Goldilocks's fourth bowl of porridge would have been unpleasantly stodgy by the time she got to try it!
3. Actionable
In today's information-saturated world, people are bombarded with content and messages every day. The Rule of Three helps you cut through the noise by preventing cognitive overload. By limiting the number of key points you present, you ensure that your audience can easily process and absorb the information you're providing.
By adhering to the Rule of Three, you can keep your marketing messages concise and actionable, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Beautiful would have been a completely different movie!
The Rule of Three simplifies your message making it more memorable, engages your audience on an emotional level, and prevents cognitive overload making it more actionable.
By strategically incorporating the Rule of Three in your marketing materials, whether it's listing the main benefits of your business on your website's home page or presenting a three-step plan, you can make your messages more memorable, persuasive, and effective in capturing the hearts and minds of your audience.
Thank goodness Lionel Richie's woman wasn't four or even five times a lady. That chorus would have gone on forever!
If you need help working out how to bring your customers into your story where your business plays the guide and you let them be the hero then visit our website and schedule a call.
At Simple Story Marketing, we help purpose-led businesses create change with simple, story-based marketing that works.
P.S. If you want to make 7 simple changes to your website content so it makes the customer the hero visit the homepage and download the free PDF.
