WHO PICKED THREE?
An old concept in today’s world
The Philosopher Aristotle first made the observation that people find it easiest to remember three things in his writing, The Rhetoric. Centuries later and the Rule of Three still prevails, with most scientists, sociologists, and marketers agreeing that people best understand and remember messages that come in a pattern of three.
But why, and what does this mean for your business?
WHY THREE?
There are three reasons (of course!)
According to a recent INC.com article, there are three reasons we can remember things in threes (are you surprised?):
- Most people can remember three things at the same time without taking time to study them.
- Humans innately respond to patterns. A pattern with less than three does not register as a pattern and all; more than three and we begin to overcomplicate the repetition
- We respond to change. By articulating three things, you can create a sort of imbalance that leads to pairing and assimilating items.
SO WHAT?
What does this mean for your business?
How can you apply this principal to your business? When creating messages and content (whether direct mail, social media, or email), focus on three benefits to the customer or main points you want them to walk away with. We all have a lot of great messages we want to share with our customer, but by oversharing, we are actually decreasing how much they can remember about us from a single piece of content.
Next time you are reviewing your marketing materials, count how many “main messages” or benefits you share. Is there room to improve the memorability with your audience?
