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EDITORS NOTE: This blog was originally published on 31st January 2024 but has since been updated with fresh new insights. 🔥
We’ve all heard the saying “consistency is key”, haven’t we? But have you ever considered the importance of consistent marketing in L&D? No? Well this blog will change that.
Consistent marketing can quite simply transform your learning function, it ensures we stay front-of-mind and that our audience is aware of the phenomenal learning we’ve made available for them. But sometimes consistency can be a little hard, you might feel like you’re simply adding to organisational noise, or that you’re repeating yourself too much. But thankfully, marketers have a solution that we can ‘borrow’ to ensure consistent marketing in L&D, and it’s called the rule of seven.
WHAT IS THE RULE OF SEVEN?
The rule of seven states that it takes an average of seven interactions with your brand before a purchase will take place. And although in many L&D instances your audience will not be ‘purchasing’ from you in the traditional sense, they will be undertaking a transaction with you: they’re giving you their time, in return for learning something new! So we can translate this to: it’ll take somebody an average of seven interactions with your learning brand before getting involved with the learning on offer. And this is why consistent marketing in L&D is so important.
HOW DOES THE RULE OF SEVEN WORK?
Okay let’s look at an example for someone purchasing a new phone from a new, unknown brand.
They stumble upon your brand through a TV advert (interaction one).
They then see a social media post (interaction two).
And then a friend recommends the brand (interaction three).
They’re still not fully convinced about the brand, so they explore its website (interaction four).
And then they sign up for the brand’s newsletter (interaction five).
Now they’re quite intrigued, so they search YouTube for review videos (interaction six).
And then they’re almost ready to make a purchase, so they check out the brand’s reviews on Google (interaction seven).
And there you have it… seven simple interactions that ensured this new, unknown brand built trust with its target audience. Each interaction is a building block for the next, reinforcing brand presence and communicating the organisation’s value proposition.
HOW DOES THE RULE OF SEVEN HELP CREATE CONSISTENT MARKETING IN L&D?
Let’s look at a hypothetical company, ABC Consulting, who are running a marketing campaign about building a culture of learning; encouraging people to prioritise their personal and professional development.
So ABC Consulting’s seven interactions might be:
An email to their target audience (personalised for their wants and needs based on the learner persona work ABC have already done!)
A range of social media posts on their internal Facebook for Business platform – about the importance of personal and professional development.
Influencer marketing with their star learners – sharing their stories about how ABC’s learning offering has helped them grow.
Posters in the office canteen, which will be changed on a monthly basis to avoid banner blindness.
Digital banner adverts on internal platforms, including the intranet and help pages.
A launch event – complete with free pizza – to kick-start the campaign and highlight the benefits in a fun, informal and human way
Case study articles about the impact of ABC’s learning offering on the company intranet – highlight a human story of the learning offering.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but you can see how the seven interactions build upon one another to persuade and influence employees to get involved with learning – and prioritise their personal and professional growth.
Oftentimes, learning professionals worry about their marketing becoming too repetitive when implementing the rule of 7, but we’ve been in this space a long while now, so trust us when we say consistent marketing in L&D is critical if you want meaningful engagement with your audience.
WHY IS 7 THE MAGIC NUMBER? 🪄
As much as it may break the hearts of those of you that love a mathematical formula… the rule of seven is not that.
The rule of seven is actually an average – the reality may be that it’ll take some people 15 interactions, and others just three. But on average, it takes seven interactions, so it’s a great rule of thumb to follow, and keeps us on track when planning out our marketing for learning initiatives.
HOW DO WE ENSURE OUR PEOPLE FOLLOW EACH STEP?
You don't.
The rule of seven is not a linear process. Your audience will not see the first touchpoint, then the second, then the third. Instead, they will go on their own journey and interact with your marketing in any order they see fit. They might not read your emails, or they might not come to your event – but they will have the opportunity to interact with your brand numerous times until they choose to engage. The power is in their hands!
The rule of seven is about more than repetition. It also highlights the importance of variety in your marketing, and relevancy of your messages. From attention-grabbing emails, eye-catching videos and fun events, the range of marketing tactics utilised ensure you cater to the different preferences of your target audience. We live in an attention economy. There is so much vying for the attention of your target audience – and if you want your marketing for learning initiatives to work, you have to be persistent and break the norms. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all.
READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR LEARNING FUNCTION WITH CONSISTENT MARKETING?
One email, one time will never get your audience moving. It will never get you the learner engagement you’re praying for. And it’ll never create the performance change needed in your organisation. The rule of seven is a great way to ensure you’re not falling into old-habits, and ensure consistent marketing in L&D is happening in your organisation.
