Humans have a tendency to think in threes. Psychologists have discovered that we can remember points or ideas best when presented in groups of 3. Usability testing and eye tracking studies show we can scan visual elements easier when they are in groups of 3.

Even in comedy it is widely known that things that come in threes are funnier. The first two parts in the comedic structure set up the pattern, creating tension and the third part breaks the pattern, releasing the tension (producing a twist or surprise that results in laughter.)

During my own online testing I’ve found that copywriting elements, such as bullets or questions often convert the best when presented in threes.

For upsells, often having 3 “packages”, Silver, Gold and Platinum, work best.

I’ve even seen price testing (for high ticket products) were a 3 payment option was tested against a 4 payment option and the 3 payment option won, even though the payment amount in the 4 payment option was lower.

A few copy ideas that can help you harness the power of “The Rule of Three” in your own marketing are:

• Before buying another “blue left handed widget” make sure it can do these 3 things…
• Don’t hire ANYONE to service your widgets unless they can answer these 3 questions…
• Why should you listen to me? (Here are 3 good reasons…)
• Let me ask you 3 important questions…
• I can promise you 3 things…
• If you order today, you will instantly get the following 3 bonuses — gifts worth more than 3 times the price of your widget!

Well… You get the idea!

Test it for yourself and I’ll bet you’ll find it’s true, a group of three nearly always works better than a group of four or two.

Hey… That kinda’ rhymed!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Related Posts:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Conversion Rate Improvement, Copywriting, Landing Page Conversion, Marketing, Multivariate Testing, Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Split Testing, Testing and Tracking, Website Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Print This Article | Email This Article