The Rule of Seven in Marketing: What, Why, and How?

The one thing that undoubtedly works in increasing brand awareness, no matter the marketing channel — LinkedIn, Twitter, referrals, or any other content marketing channel — is The Rule Of Seven.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post on “Why Email Marketing?” wherein, for the first time, I mentioned “The rule of seven.”

Since that blog post got public, I have realized that most of you aren’t aware of the rule of seven in marketing. Therefore, here I am to discuss the “Why?”, “What?”, and “How?” of this so-called “Rule of Seven.”

What is “The Rule of Seven”? Why you should care?

The Rule of 7 is an almost century-old marketing principle developed in the 1930s by the film industry.

It simply means that any product/service needs to come across the Prospect’s eye at least seven times before (s)he really notices the offering and/or takes action.

Marketers like Billy Gene or Tail Lopez practice this rule extensively. You might have come across the “MentorBox” or the “Jordan Belfort’s course” ad several times. If you have, you surely remember the product/service only because it was presented numerous times with proper, persuasive, attention-grabbing copies. That’s the power of “The Rule of 7”.

All in all, if I were Dr. Strange, I would have described the principle as, “It is a simple principle but quite unbreakable.”

If you aren’t already practicing this rule, you should. Here’s how:

Here’s how to boost your brand with “The Rule of 7”:

To implement this 1930s principle in the digital age, there are only two primary tips one should follow:

1. Be consistent.
2. Go Multichannel.

Be Consistent:

The rule of seven is nothing but another way to say “Consistency is the key.”

Being consistent with the quality and publishing of the content is the way to come across prospects more times, and that’s what the rule of seven is all about — appearing in front of a prospect’s eye more than seven times.

With consistent content, from an SEO viewpoint, you’ll:

• Start to become established as an authority and thought leader within your niche.
• Strengthen your brand identity, ensuring it’s immediately recognizable.
• Connect with an audience across all platforms.
• Boost your SEO, as Google favors websites with fresh, relevant, and original content.
• Allow your audience to depend on you for regular content.
• Get not only more organic and repeat traffic, giving visitors a reason to return.

From a social media standpoint,

• You’ll come out as an expert in communities.
• People will start tagging you in posts related to the niche.
• People will start following you for your industry knowledge.
• And eventually, when they need something you provide, they will reach out to you.

Either way, being consistent with value-adding content is what’s going to build a brand for you.

Go Multichannel:

This is important!

Though you might have a good influence on a particular marketing channel, going multichannel opens some fantastic opportunities to be in front of the eyes of your prospects.

Multichannel is effective due to one simple reason: You will be where your customers are.

Providing value-adding content that simplifies the prospect’s buying decision is what you should aim for.

Collect their emails. Target their cookies. Show ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or wherever they spend their time. Create an affiliate program so affiliate marketers promote your products/services.

This way you will surely come across their eyes more than seven times, and eventually, and hopefully, you will see the magic of The Rule of Seven.

All in all

The Rule of Seven is quite obvious to you if you have been in the marketing or branding profession for a long time. You know a single cold email or a single website visit won’t do the job — you need to retarget, follow-up, post consistently, and do whatever’s needed to be in front of the potential customer/client’s eye.