If you want to make your messaging more impactful, use numbers.
Numerous studies confirm that using numbers makes messaging more believable, compelling and memorable.
An article from the Wharton School refers to this phenomenon as “Quantification Fixation.” The author explains that “people have a strong preference for numbers over words or graphical representations of the same information in decision-making.”
The article reported that, based on 21 experiments involving 23,000 randomly selected participants, quantitative attributes consistently outperformed qualitative ones like star ratings, bar charts, and verbal descriptions.
A Scientific American article suggests that using specific numbers signals expertise to readers. It reports on an experiment to see if numbers caused people to think and feel differently about climate science. 212 participants were each presented with 20 Tweets about climate science to review. The result? “Participants reported that they would be more likely to share and want to learn more about messages with precise numeric information on climate change consequences. They also trusted the messages more and thought the message sender was more likely to be an expert.”
Business communication expert Terri Loner says, “The most powerful words in marketing aren’t adjectives — they’re numbers.” Why is that? Because “Specific numbers transform fuzzy claims into compelling evidence that sticks in your audience’s mind.”
However, she says that numbers need to be used in particular ways to be persuasive. For example, she advocates for using precise numbers rather than rounded numbers. As she contends, stating that you have 4,847 subscribers is way more persuasive than 5,000, which sounds (and, most likely, is) estimated.
While numbers add authority, numbers alone aren’t necessarily persuasive. It’s when numbers are added to a story that the real magic happens.
The Wharton School article concluded that if you really want to change someone’s mind, and that person is weighing trade-offs, it might be most effective to tell a persuasive story paired with an impressive score.
In fact, Terri Loner’s premise is that numbers which tell a story are more effective. She compares “I have 15 years of experience” with “I’ve helped 273 clients transform their presentation skills from nervous to natural.” You can clearly see the difference.
So, let’s look at how you can apply all of this to school messaging.
First, you need to know the numbers. If you are developing messaging about any aspect of your school, do the research to find relevant data.
Remember that numbers create an effective introduction and capture attention. However, to maintain that attention, you need to tell a compelling story. This is especially true for your parent ambassadors. The power of numbers does not diminish the fact that storytelling is the currency of ambassadorship.
Data needs to be meaningful and have context. For example, promoting the number of courses a school offers requires the reader to have a point of comparison for it to be meaningful. Or the amount of tuition assistance a school provides is only impressive if someone knows something about the school’s budget or can put it in the context of other schools. And, borrowing from Terri Loner’s advice, if you are going to present the amount of tuition assistance, don’t use a rounded number. Use the exact number.
When talking about time spent, whether in students’ lives or the career of an educator, borrow from the example above and let the number tell a story. For example, congratulating a teacher on 10 years of inspiring students and allowing them to reach heights they never thought possible is much more impactful than just the number of years.
Topics like graduate outcomes, athletics, and resources are naturally suited to using numbers. But what if you apply numbers to topics like social-emotional learning or emergent curriculum. There could be the opportunity to make them even more meaningful to parents.
Numbers and stories are the yin and yang of school messaging; they represent synergy in action. If you want to supercharge your messaging, make sure you have some numbers to capture people’s attention and the stories to maintain it.
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