Humans behave in patterns. We organized our things in our own way, curate our reading lists, and dress according to our tastes.
The same goes for your customers. There’s a pattern if you observe carefully.
When something turns out a little different than usual, it’ll cause a break in the pattern. We pay more attention to what’s breaking the pattern.
That’s what we call a pattern interrupt.
Why pattern interrupt work so well
Our brain is lazy. It operates in an autonomous pattern to prevent us from information overload.
The brain is like a supercomputer. With an interconnected network that could span infinitely, it’s understandable to filter what is not needed to keep things organized inside our heads.
So, we develop patterns in our lives to keep important things in check. These patterns only show us what’s important. Anything that doesn’t benefit us is removed for our sake.
That explains why some content doesn’t seem as interesting as it is.
Pattern interrupt in marketing
Not sure if you know this, an average person is bombarded by approximately 3,000 ~ 5,000 advertisements per day. That’s a really big number.
Ten to twenty times more than 30 years ago. And the number is increasing over time.
Our brains will disregard anything that’s irrelevant at this point. If you see an ad over and over again for the whole week, even if you didn’t block it, your brain will do it for you.
Blocking that ad becomes your new pattern.
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How to do an effective pattern interrupt
The first thing is to be aware of the current situation of your audience. They are sick of ads. They want something different.
Something that can bring them entertainment instead of being sold to. You can break these patterns.
Know the trends and content patterns inside out
People love trends but they also get bored pretty fast. That’s how trends work.
Everybody will jump on the train and talk about it. But, one can only consume so much of the same content in a day. Trends cause the audience to develop ‘blocking’ patterns.
Once you know what people are talking about over and over again, you can use it to your advantage. Instead of saying,
“10 types of content that can help you build your personal brand online”
“How to create content to build your online personal brand”
“You can build your personal brand through content marketing”
Say something like,
“Here are 5 other ways you can build your personal brand besides content marketing”
Do you see the pattern interrupt? If you publish that pattern interrupting content, you’re guaranteed to get clicks. But, this will require research.
Apply polarization
In simple terms, choose a side. There are always two opposites to everything in the digital space.
One group will say passive income is real and they can prove it. The others will say passive income is a hoax and tell you all the reasons why there’s no such thing as passive income.
If you want to be polarizing, it means you have to choose either one side of the two opposites. You will have haters, of course.
But, it makes you stand out because you break the pattern. They’ll either hate you or love you. Haters gonna hate anyway, so choose a side.
Whether they hate you or love you, it helps in your marketing as more people talk about the “debate”. You’ll get tons of free exposure by standing your ground.
Conclusion
A pattern interrupt is a good way to market your business in this noisy digital world. The best advice to effectively apply this technique is to know the trends and stand your ground. Nothing beats a confident marketer who stands his or her ground.
How are you breaking the pattern?
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