The Rule of 7: increasing customer interactions in the digital age

The long-established Rule of 7 tells marketers how they might maintain contact and visibility with clients to earn their trust and business.

When it comes to marketing, persistence pays off. That’s not to say that you should badger your customers, potential or established – gentle reminders are all you need.

Now that people are exposed to so many ideas, brands and products, the rule states that they need to see or hear from your company around seven times before it ‘sticks’ with them.

However, this concept has been around since the 1930s – and things have moved on considerably since then. How relevant is the Rule of 7 now that so much of what potential customers consume is online?

In this article, we’ll take a look at how the Rule of 7 marketing principle has been affected by the digital revolution, and how new businesses can still make it work for them with the right, strategic application

What is the Rule of 7?

The Rule of 7 is a marketing method by which businesses aim to expose consumers to a product, program or service seven times.

Quite simply, the idea is that a certain level of familiarity and trust must be established before a consumer will purchase a product. especially when it comes at a higher price.

The number seven is not set in stone, of course. It’s more of an acknowledgment that serious – and potentially repeat – clients require information, including feedback from other customers, to inspire them sufficiently to part with their money. It’s about exposure and access to information. 

The concept was first conceived of during the early days of the Golden Age of Hollywood, when film execs were trying to lure audiences to cinemas.

Visibility, they discovered, was key – and it’s no different today. Whether customers see an advertisement, a mention on a social media platform, a review on a customer experience website, or a product being used by an influential figure – all of these materials are sending a subliminal message that the brand is worth the customer’s attention. 

Seven seconds is also said to be vital to the length of time a company has to make a first impression on consumers. 

Inevitably, the digital age means that we are exposed to more visuals, more information, more sales pitches and more hype than ever before. Markets are saturated. People, scrolling furiously through their social media feeds, complain of feeling overwhelmed by the amount of mental ‘clutter’ they are exposed to.

All this means that visuals are especially important to the Rule of 7 – you need to win over customers in just seven seconds to be able to stand out from the crowd. 

How has the Rule of 7 adapted to the digital age?

It’s safe to say that, when it comes to numbers, firms now have many more ways to make their brand visible to audiences. 

From old-school magazine advertisements, billboards and TV and radio commercials, there’s now the addition of social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, as well as email campaigns. This means that it’s possible to engage with a customer in multiple ways – and thus many more than seven times.

Digitisation also gives greater access to insights. Marketers are now able to target audiences via SEO (search engine optimisation). They can also measure the success of a campaign via KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), ROI (return on investment) and CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). 

Firms can also take advantage of social media to perform competitor analysis on rivals’ pages, answering questions like: what do your competitors’ social media pages look like? How much customer engagement is there? Is there a correlation between their ‘follower’ numbers and the numbers of likes and comments on their posts, or are their followers largely inactive? 

Tools like Brandwatch enable you to actively monitor social media conversations taking place around certain brands and industries, providing valuable awareness for your own endeavours. 

All this data gives marketers the opportunity to figure out what’s working well, where money can be saved – and where more can be spent.

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, the Rule of 7, despite having been around for almost a century, has continuing relevance in today’s marketing landscape.

The principle can be adapted to just about any marketing strategy in just about any industry. In fact, with the number of channels available to marketers these days – as well as changes in how, why and where customers buy – the opportunities for harnessing the Rule of 7 and making it work for you are almost endless.

And, since the digital age is bound to continue growing and adapting, these opportunities will also expand – meaning even bigger sales numbers, strengthened buyer loyalty, and more valuable customer relationships.