Have you ever wondered why so many articles, blogs, videos and newsletters feature lists?
The simple answer is because they are very popular. But why?
One of my recent blogs was titled ‘9 Top Tips to Creating a Great Advert’. Someone reading that phrase is not going to expect an in depth article delving onto the intricacies of how advertising strategies work. They expect a list of nine straight forward bite-sized ideas that they can easily take on board. Quickly.
Lists attract people because they can be read fast and may provide a simple solution or answer to a problem.
Additionally, they have the advantage of being very easy to share. This makes them ideal for marketing by email or social media. Messages that include a list in the subject line are proved to be opened more often than those without.
So should you use lists exclusively for all your posts and messages? No! And here’s a brief list of reasons why not!
– Some topics need more substance than a list can provide
– There could be a single important issue affecting your readers that needs to be addressed
– There might be a single useful idea that cannot be broken down into a list
The answer seems to be to make lists a key component of your marketing toolkit, but not the only one.
