The Power Of Three In Online Marketing and Promotion
By
There is a strange phenomenon called the “Power Of Three.” It has been recognized by writers, artists, marketers, and mystics that the number three holds particular psychological powers that will engage our attention.
The power of three was not lost to those who wrote early fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Remember the 3 bears, 3 blind mice and the 3 little pigs. The 3 Stooges, and the 3 Musketeers, and Huey, Louie and Dewey showed up in our movie theaters. Was it all an accident? Perhaps…. but most likely not.
I learned about the power of 3 when I was studying art. A page, divided into three sections is the most pleasing format for painting. Primary colors and secondary color, which are in groups of three, are the most pleasing to the eye.
I learned about the power of three when teaching women how to paint. Each week, I faced 30 to 40 women, who were all eager to learn a particular painting skill. It was a specialized area of decorative painting called, folk or stroke painting.
This method of decorative painting takes a great amount of brush handling skill. My beginning students struggled with brush control and technique until I discovered the power of three as a way to teach. I found that it took three repeated demonstrations of the exact same technique, before they could begin to master the technique.
After I demonstrated the technique 3 times consecutively, they picked up their brush and tried the technique. After a time, I invited them back to the demonstration table and showed them the technique again. I followed this pattern three times in a row.
Low and behold… they caught on very quickly. By using the power of three it saved weeks of time in teaching them one simple process.
The Power Of Three In Online Marketing
The magic of three can be used in your online marketing and promotion.
Blogs: You can use this strategy by repeating the same concept in a series of three posts. Perhaps each post taking a different angle of the same idea. It helps to drive your message home. Sheila Atwood, of Newbie Lifeline, is a master of grouping concepts together over several posts.
E-mail Promotion: Send three emails in a row promoting the same product. Of course you word each e-mail differently. Simply select three bullet points that you can expand on to sell your reader on the product. Each e-mail will feature one of the bullet points.
E-mail Messages: In your e-mails, only include one link. If you give your reader too many links, they have a tendency not to click any of them. Instead, use the power of 3 and put the same link in the e-mail 3 times. (Observe your e-mails and see how many marketers observe these rules. it works.)
Try using the the power of three in your online marketing, promotion and coaching… and watch miracles happen.
Til Later,
Kathy Griffiths
P.S. Now that you’re aware of the power of three… watch to see where else this magic number shows up in your life.
Hi Kathy
That is very interesting. When I have an email list I will have to remember that. I agree that Sheila writes excellent posts and I enjoy visiting her site.
Thanks for sharing this with us Kathy. Much appreciated.
Patricia Perth Australia
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Kathryn Reply:
December 23rd, 2010 at
Hi Patrica
I’ve been to your site several times and you have a good amount of comments as well as Re-tweets. You should be building a list right now by putting an opt-in box on your site. You would do really well.
Hi Kathryn,
I have tried most with #1 which is using my blog.
I have not tried with email marketing, because somehow i am afraid i am being spammy.
Thanks for the idea and tip.
Kimi.
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Kathryn Reply:
December 23rd, 2010 at
I can see your point about looking too spammy. However… if you give a lot of free content to your list along with your promotional material, readers don’t seem to mind. It really comes down to building a solid relationship. Thanks so much for coming by.
Yes! I read about this somewhere, the Power of 3. I heard it helps with business cards, too. Keep 3 primarily colors together to limit the distraction. Sell concepts and ideas in threes.
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Kathryn Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at
Yes Gina, I also have seen business card layouts that use the power of three concept. I come from an art back ground and the power of three is considered often. Thanks for your comment.
The number, “3″, is definitely powerful and prevalent in the world!
Let’s take obstetrics as an example (been in the business of babies for 3 decades now).
There are 3 stages of labor and 3 phases of Stage One. I teach 3 reasons for having an I.V. and 3 ways to approach labor and birth. There are 3 different scenarios regarding the mucous plug. The list goes on and on. I tell my students, “If I ever ask you a question that requires a number for an answer, just say “3″, and you’ll be correct!”
Home decorators oftentimes group paintings, photos, and other pieces of artwork in 3′s.
Anybody old enough to remember a band from the 70″s called the “Three Dog Night”?
Cool post, Kathy! I’d give this one 3 thumbs up … but I only have two.
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I’ve never heard of that concept before but it seems like it could work. Essentially is it just reinforcing your message to your readers by showing them through 3 different methods what you are saying. – Third time lucky as they say.
“Perhaps each post taking a different angle of the same idea.”
Huh. That’s interesting, and I’ve never heard that before. Have you done that? Or can you point me to some of Sheila’s posts if she’s done that?
And you know, you’re right about the three links in one email! Now that I think about it, I see that a lot! Very cool.
Thanks for the great article, Kathryn!
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As a graphic designer I know about the power of 3, but I never thought to apply it to my marketing strategy. I’m going to give this some serious thought and see what I can do to improve my web ranks.
Keep up the great work here! I love your blog.
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What an interesting and fun post! I already knew of the power of three, or at least things always happen in threes BUT someone clued me in on the power of the 3′s in my e-mail marketing and it made all the difference. People don’t seem to want the product until promoted for the third time! Fascinating stuff!
BTW, I’m not a painter, so had never heard of the 3 parts of the canvass. Learn something every day!
Hi Kathryn,
Well I’m a first time visitor to your blog and I have to admit, I found this post pretty interesting. I never really gave it much thought about the power of 3 until you pointed it out. Wow, that definitely makes sense.
I have also broken up some of my posts but depending on what the topic is and how much I have to cover, sometimes the information is covered in more than 3 posts. But will have to keep that in mind the next time I venture into breaking mine out like that. Also haven’t tried emailing my list like you suggested but you made some good points. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. And, I’m glad I came across your blog.
Will look forward to returning.
Adrienne
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Hi Kathryn,
I hadn’t thought of all the fairy tales (etc) with three characters before. How interesting and funny to think about it that way! I have always felt the urge to use three adjectives when describing something though. It’s always a “strong,” “overpowering,” and “curious” conviction that it just HAD to be three, though! LOL.
Your tips on embracing the power of three are awesome! Appreciate your sharing them with us. I’ll definitely give it a go.
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Hi Kathryn,
You made a fantastic nice point here.I performed a search on the issue and discovered almost all people agree with your blog.
Keep posting:)
Hi Kathryn
I am just starting out in this business and am truly grateful for all your snippets and nuggets of information! I am trialling the Traffic Dashboard for example and will go and visit all the companies you include as links as I am very eager to learn all there is out there! I love the power of three concept and keep seeing it everywhere since I read your blog! I am going to use it for my logo SBS and I am building packs of three e mails in hopeful anticipation of having a list to send them to!
I live in the UK and over here only 49% of business has a website, how terrible is that? It is quite a scary process for many, and I figured if I documented all my steps and the good and not so good resources I came across it might help a few more people to develop websites and online marketing. Is it ok to include your blog as a link? I’m not sure of the etiquette in this area…keep posting great stuff, I am an avid reader and looking forward to more.
Regards
Sarah
Hi Kathryn,
Nice points there.I just love to watch how concepts from different fields with no connections tend to be similar in nature.I mean there’s certainly a reason behind the power of three.As if it has been decided earlier.
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Hi Kathryn,
It is a very nice and intereting post.I enjoy reading it.All three tips are very useful for online marketing and promotion.
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Hello Kathryn,
I loved this article. I have always believed that things happen in 3′s. However, I never thought to apply it to MAKING things happen in 3′s….brilliant!
I also got a kick out the fairytale reference. Instill that in our kids early on
Thank you,
Kathy
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