The Rule of 7 and Omni-Channel Marketing

Give yourself a numerical advantage when it comes to attracting and keeping customers. Reaching your consumer is the most important part of any marketing program. Most marketing professionals understand that in order for prospects to get to know, trust and buy their brand, multiple touchpoints and impressions are needed. That’s where an old adage, “The Rule of Seven,” comes into play. Earlier marketing professionals recommended a minimum of 7 impressions. Today, when most consumers are exposed to over 5,000 ads per day, that number has almost doubled to 13.

Touchpoints that target the right person at the right time are key to a successful marketing campaign. They can come from a single marketing channel or many and are more effective when they interact with the different stages of a consumer’s buying journey.

When constructing a marketing plan, ask yourself how many touchpoints this plan can produce. Playing by the numbers is a great way to play to win.

What Are Touchpoints Anyway?

Maintain a touchpoint strategy without offending customers or clients. Digital marketing throws a lot at us. At over 5,000 ads per day per person, the best practice of directing 7 touchpoints to solicit a call to action has been replaced by 13 or more touchpoints. Too many online touchpoints and your prospects start feeling harassed – potentially deciding to distance themselves. Complicating the matter, unlike offline, online provides an unsubscribe button, making it easier for your prospect to say goodbye as you try to say hello.

So, the question is, how can you reach potential customers without alienating them?

Spreading the touches over time and with different online and offline channels offers the solution. Properly structured, this integrated approach can help raise awareness without overdoing and harassing.

Appreciate your customers’ sales journey and plot an approach where offline and online channels complement each other to deliver your sales and branding message. Since every company is different, each needs a different combination of channels and touchpoints to suit its unique needs.

How Multi-Channel and Omni-Channel Marketing Helps

Multi-channel marketing has been around for ages. In fact, people have probably been using this method to sell products and services since the early days of trade. It simply refers to using multiple channels or marketing platforms to get the word out about what your company has to offer.

Though marketing sometimes creates its own vocabulary, here’s a word that isn’t a catchy phrase of the month. For retail advertisers, it’s a word to address and apply into your marketing mix: OMNI-CHANNEL.

Omni-channel shopping is all about creating a seamless and immersive customer experience across all channels. A customer should feel continuity about a company and its brand at all times. The same presentation, personality, voice, display, tone and graphics should flow together generating a common experience for the customer. Does your brand/product offer the same customer experience across these retail dimensions?

When creating a strategy to increase effective touchpoints and satisfy the Rule of 7, consider multi-channel and especially omni-channel marketing. It plays into what consumers expect of their interactions with brands these days.