By John Sisson and Colin Heward
Different is not necessarily better or worse, but it is memorable.
This is the theory of the Von Restorff Effect.
Particularly, when we have a group of things that fit together, the one that stands out is going to be more memorable. We value this in marketing because with our audience being bombarded with messages on a daily basis, if we can make your message stand out, you’ll get noticed.
A simple example of leveraging this behavioral science principle is by using holidays as a trigger for our communication. Holidays are different than regular days, so they stick out. And some holidays stick more than others. Take, for instance, National Peanut Butter Day.
(Yes, there is such a day. In fact, it’s January 24th. Seriously, go look it up.)
Sending your communication to coincide with and acknowledge National Peanut Butter Day will stand out and be remembered.
Best if it fits with your strategy of course, but there are more than enough interesting “different” holidays to make the Von Restorff Effect work for you. For more on the effect — and how we can help — please watch the latest installment of our “By The Numbers” video series below:
Wilde Agency is an award-winning integrated marketing agency that specializes in understanding and utilizing the science of human behavior to drive superior results for our clients.
If you’re interested in learning how we can help make your marketing communications more memorable, please contact John Sisson, President of Wilde Agency at 781-251-2745 or john.sisson@wildeagency.com.
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