Are you looking to create a sustainable competitive advantage and unlock your business’ full potential? The Rule of One may be the answer. This powerful marketing rule has been embraced by some of the world’s most successful companies, and can help provide a much-needed boost to any business. In this blog post, we’ll explore what the Rule of One is, how it works, and why it could make all the difference for your organisation.
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What is the rule of one?
Three words describe this rule of one: Simple, Mighty and Effective.
Simple because it actually makes your marketing much easier, rather than harder.
Mighty because this one small change produces massive results.
And effective because when applied correctly, the conversions are typically nothing short of phenomenal. In fact, I’ve seen this rule turn a losing campaign into a healthy profit and a profitable campaign into an empire.
The Rule of One states: Your marketing should focus on ONE big idea, ONE prospect, ONE main benefit, ONE core emotion and ONE call to action.
One big idea presented in a clear and convincing manner is more powerful than a string of mediocre ideas. And it’s far more memorable, too.
If you offer reason after reason on why your prospect should buy, they will often end up confused and the sale will be lost. A multitude of points weakens each point in turn because it seems none of them are strong enough to stand on their own.
Your one idea must be something your prospect can immediately understand and believe. It’s got to be powerful to invoke action.
You might have a list of 7 benefits that your product provides. Choose just one for your headline, your introduction and as the driving force of your copy. You may touch on the other six later in the copy and even bring attention to them through testimonials.
Here’s how to put the marketing rule of one into practice:
One Big Idea
As you might guess, finding your one big idea is harder than it sounds. Few marketers are going to know their one big idea from the start, no matter how well they know their market and their product. The Rule of One is all about focusing on one big idea that resonates with your audience and drives conversions.
Here’s how to find the one big idea:
List all of your benefits. Not the features, just the benefits.
If you don’t know your benefits, write down your features and then ask yourself, “So what?” for each one. Keep digging.
“My product helps middle aged women lose weight.”
So what?
“They feel better about themselves and look better, too.”
So what?
“They have more energy, feel better, think better, have better sex and relationships, get more done, get more promotions, make more money.”
So what?
“They have a much higher quality of life with fewer regrets and far better experiences.”
Now you’re on the right track. You only get one life and no one wants that life to suck.
One Prospect
New marketers want to speak to everyone. What they don’t realise is that they are speaking to no one because they are focused on no one person.
Place your ideal prospect across from you at your kitchen table. Use your imagination if your ideal prospect won’t come to your house. Now have a conversation with them as though they are your friend.
Don’t know who your idea prospect is?
Then it’s time to do research.
Just who is it that you want to target?
How old are they? What gender?
What are their hobbies and interests?
Where do they live and what kind of work do they do?
Most of all, where do you find them online?
Create a buyer persona that is ONE person.
Give them a name.
Then write your material as though you are speaking just to this one person.
When applying the Rule of One, it’s important to create a detailed buyer persona that represents your ideal prospect and speaks directly to their needs and interests.
Let’s say you own a fitness studio that specializes in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts. Your ideal prospect might be a busy professional in their 30s or 40s who is looking to improve their fitness and health, but struggles to find time to work out due to their busy schedule.
To create a buyer persona for this prospect, you might give them a name like “Busy Bob” and imagine them as a successful executive who is passionate about their career but wants to prioritize their health and wellness. You might identify their hobbies as things like golfing or hiking, and note that they live in a suburban area and work in a nearby city. You might also identify their pain points as being time constraints, stress, and a desire to improve their overall health and fitness.
Using this buyer persona, you can create marketing messages that speak directly to Busy Bob’s needs and interests. For example, you might use messaging that emphasizes the time efficiency of your HIIT workouts and the benefits they provide for busy professionals. You might also use imagery and language that speaks to Busy Bob’s interests, such as featuring photos of golfers or hikers in your marketing materials. By focusing on one ideal prospect and tailoring your messages to their specific needs and interests, you can make your marketing more effective and drive greater conversions.
One Main Benefit
By identifying the one main benefit of your product or service, you can create marketing messages that are more impactful and resonate more strongly with your target audience, in line with the Rule of One.
Copy is best when it focuses on one main benefit, and I’ll be the first to admit that the “big idea” and the “big benefit” can sometimes blur together.
In our previous example, the feature is weight loss, the big benefit is feeling better and the big idea is a much better life.
Whatever your choice and however you decipher this, your biggest and strongest benefit of your product or service is the one to use for most of your copy. You can also use the other benefits later in the copy, but they will be in small supporting roles and your big benefit will be the headlining star of the show.
Let’s continue with the fitness studio example from the previous section. If you were applying the Rule of One to your marketing, you might identify the one main benefit of your HIIT workouts as increased energy and productivity. This benefit is closely related to Busy Bob’s pain points, as he likely experiences fatigue and stress due to his busy schedule.
To emphasize this main benefit in your marketing, you might use messaging that speaks to the ways in which your HIIT workouts can help Busy Bob feel more energized and productive throughout the day. For example, you might use messaging like:
“Transform Your Energy and Productivity with Our HIIT Workouts”
“Unlock Your Full Potential: Increase Energy and Productivity with Our HIIT Workouts”
“Revitalize Your Day with Our HIIT Workouts: Boost Energy and Productivity for Busy Professionals”
By focusing on this one main benefit and using messaging that speaks directly to Busy Bob’s needs and interests, you can create more compelling marketing messages and drive greater conversions.
One Core Emotion
To apply the Rule of One effectively, you need to tap into your audience’s core emotions and create marketing messages that speak to their deepest needs and desires.
Think about a time when you were suffering from the exact same problem for which your product is a solution.
What was the main emotion you felt?
Fear? Embarrassment?
Frustration?
Anger?
This is the emotion to focus on in your copy, not just to get your prospect to feel that emotion, but also how they will feel when they are finally rid of it, too.
Continuing with the fitness studio example, let’s say that you’ve identified the core emotion associated with Busy Bob’s pain points as stress. Busy Bob is likely juggling a lot of responsibilities and feeling overwhelmed by the demands of his busy schedule. Your HIIT workouts can help him manage his stress levels and feel more balanced and centered.
To emphasize this core emotion in your marketing, you might use messaging that speaks to the ways in which your HIIT workouts can help Busy Bob feel more relaxed, centered, and empowered. For example, you might use messaging like:
“Transform Your Stress into Strength: Find Balance with Our HIIT Workouts”
“Release Your Stress and Unlock Your Potential with Our HIIT Workouts”
“Find Your Inner Power: Overcome Stress with Our HIIT Workouts for Busy Professionals”
By tapping into Busy Bob’s core emotion of stress and using messaging that speaks to his desire to feel more relaxed and empowered, you can create more impactful marketing messages and drive greater conversions.
One Call to Action
Everything – your landing page, webpage, advertisement, sales page and so forth should have just one call to action. This is one clear and easy action for the prospect to take.
For example, your squeeze page has one call to action to join your list.
The follow-up page has one call to action to get your low-priced product.
If there is an upsell, then that page has one call to action to buy the big product.
No matter what type of page you are creating, it will have only one call to action on it to make it direct, clear and actionable.
The Rule of One emphasizes the importance of having one clear and actionable call to action that guides your audience towards the desired outcome, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or taking some other desired action.
And yes, that call to action can be repeated multiple times on the same page, but it will be the same call to action each time.
Time to Take Action of Your Own
Choose a piece of your own copy and go through it, removing extraneous stuff and sharpening it to focus on just one big idea, prospect, benefit, emotion and call to action.
You’ll be making your copy stronger, clearer and far more effective when you do this.
Use the Rule of One in all of your future marketing to remove confusion and make your messages clear, and you’ll likely see a significant increase in conversions as well as happier customers who become repeat buyers.
Additional Insights
In addition to the insights provided in the blog post, here are some other key insights that businesses can use to improve their marketing efforts:
- Focus on creating value for your customers. The more value you provide, the more likely they are to become repeat customers and recommend your business to others.
- Use social proof to build trust with your audience. This can include customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of your product or service.
- Stay up to date with the latest marketing trends and best practices. Attend industry conferences, read industry publications, and network with other professionals to stay informed and learn new strategies.
- Use data to inform your marketing decisions. Analyze metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, and customer feedback to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.
- Build a strong brand identity that reflects your values and resonates with your target audience. This can include developing a unique brand voice, visual identity, and messaging that differentiates your business from competitors.
- Continuously test and optimize your marketing campaigns. Use A/B testing and other methods to experiment with different strategies and tactics, and use data to identify what works best for your business.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Rule of One is a powerful marketing rule that can help businesses achieve sustainable competitive advantage and unlock their full potential. By focusing on one big idea, one prospect, one main benefit, one core emotion, and one call to action, businesses can simplify their marketing messages and make them more effective. Additionally, by following other key insights such as creating value for customers, using social proof, staying up to date with marketing trends, using data to inform decisions, building a strong brand identity, and continuously testing and optimizing campaigns, businesses can further improve their marketing efforts and achieve even greater success. By implementing these strategies, businesses can connect more effectively with their target audience, drive conversions, and ultimately grow their bottom line.
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