Seven Reasons to Read This

There are Seven Wonders of the World. Snow White has seven dwarfs. Phone numbers have seven digits. See the pattern? While most people feel that seven is a lucky number, there is a scientific reason we use lists of seven.

We live in an information age. More information is available to us on radio, TV, the internet and many other sources in a minute than our brains can possibly handle. Harvard Psychologist Dr. George A. Miller researched this phenomenon and concluded that our brains have such limited capacity that we can only remember a maximum of seven items in any given category or area of interest.

Name as many kinds of toothpaste that you can think of… How about shampoo?

If you’re like most, you had trouble getting past three or four. Can you name all ten of the Ten Commandments?

Why is this important?

When it comes to products or advertising, we have a ladder in our mind for each category, and if your client’s name is not on the ladder, then they won’t get the business. As consumers, we rank products in order of preference or priority on the ladder. This is why we teach that the purpose of advertising is:

Be known before you’re needed.

When people need a product or service, they scan their minds for options and only those they are already familiar with will be considered. This is why long-term, consistent advertising is so critical to long-term business viability. If potential buyers don’t know you before they need you, they will never buy from you.

This is a valuable lesson to share with your advertisers and prospects as we strive to be consultants who help solve business problems and help businesses grow. Now you have the scientific backing to present long-term schedules – because they work.

Tomorrow, we’ll share a concept called “linking,” which is how you help your advertisers get on the ladder in the minds of their potential customers.

Happy Monday!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.