Every Thursday, I break down one marketing framework, persuasion technique, or psychology effect so you can apply it in your content.
We’ll play a quick game.
I listed the sports played at the Olympics.
Read them: Archery, Cycling, Diving, Badminton, Fencing, Athletics, Football, Hockey, Golf, Surfing, Trampoline, Volleyball, Handball, Rowing, Judo, Boxing.
Now…
Without looking back at the list, write down all the sports you remember from the list.
Your list most likely includes one of Archery, Cycling, Badminton, Rowing, Judo, and Boxing.
This is because of a Cognitive Bias called the Serial Position Effect.
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What is the Serial Position Effect
Apparently, this German science guy called Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted a ‘free recall’ test in 1885.
He showed people a random list of words and asked them to recall them in any order.
Turns out the words at the beginning and the end were recalled more. Most people forgot the words in the middle.
Based on Hermann’s experiments, he coined the term “The Serial Position Effect.”
…and it has two parts to it. In Layman's terms:
The Primacy Effect: People remember what’s at the start
The Recency Effect: People remember what’s at the end
Today, we will only talk about the Recency Effect.
I will keep this short.
Why should you care about the Recency Effect?
Recent information is fresh in the short-term memory. Science guys call it working memory.
On a surface level, Information is fresh → Your mind remembers most of it → Your mind processes info, filters what’s not important → You only remember a few things.
“Information is fresh” is where you need to focus as a content marketer.
Your audience scrolls millions of posts every day. You have a tiny portion of their attention.
Assuming they’re consuming your content with complete concentration without distractions like second screen, texting, music, fatigue, etc., is a huge mistake.
Always assume your audience is distracted.
In such distracted environments, they don’t remember your entire content, but only the information they have read recently, which is why you need to have your strongest value points and CTA at the end. Basically the information you want your audience to remember or the action you want them to take.
Apple makes a good case study for the recency effect.
Their camera ads end with “Shot on iPhone” because they want you to remember you can capture killer images and videos on iPhone.
With working memory and a distracted audience, the recency effect assures you, “Even if your ICP don’t recall your complete content, you can still make them remember a part of it.”
If your last 10-15% of the content is just ‘conclusion’, think again.
How can you apply the recency effect in your content?
Some use cases on top of my mind:
Presentations. My friend Samyak told me, “There is an emptiness after a presentation, like the emptiness after binge-watching a show. If you share action points at the end of presentations, it will help the audience kill this emptiness.” In the last 10 minutes, I’ll make sure to remind my audience of the most important concepts they’ve learned and their next steps.
CTAs of social content. Add a PS, and readers will remember plus pay attention.
Emails. I follow the anchor and action framework for my emails. I start with an anchor (reason why I am emailing you) and end with action (what do I want you to do).
Create acronyms if you want your audience to remember more than one thing. Like the popular AIDA or PAS framework.
Think
Audit: List your last 5 pieces of content (posts/emails/decks). Screenshot the final 10-15% of each.
Diagnose: Rate on questions like ‘Does it contain your core value prop?’ or ‘Does it have a clear CTA?’
Optimize: Rewrite one ending using the recency effect. A/B test it.
Write to me with your insights.
Love,
Vikra.