From the famous Dave Letterman nightly segment to the random Top 10 G.I. Joe Vehicles of the 1980's, the Top 10 List has become one of the most overused methods to deliver content over the last century.
Yet you can barely turnaround before you stumble across another one. In fact, Google 'top 10 list' and you'll find more than 558 million hits on the web. So why do they continue to proliferate? What better way to answer that question than in our own:
Top 10 Reasons You Should Still Consider Using Top 10 Lists
10. In theory, people want to read what you have to say, but in practice they never have the time. A Top 10 list will just about cover your reader's 15-sec attention span.
9. If it worked for Dick Clark, Dave Letterman, Roger Ebert and People magazine, who's to argue?
8. Whether it's the Top 10 Greatest Sporting Moments of all time or the Top 10 Songs of the Hair band era, we all have an opinion and we all want it to be heard.
7. Everyone likes a good laugh. Even if you can't remember a joke to save your life, you can probably come up with a least a couple of list items that will crack a smile on someone's face. (That was shameless begging by the way!)
6. They actually don't have to be a top 10 list, if you think your readers are really lazy, try a Top 7 or even a Top 3.
5. Who doesn't want to know what the Top 10 cities most comfortable with Public Displays of Affection (PDA) are? Look out the next time you're in Charleston, West Virginia.
4. On a serious note, we all judge ourselves against the competition. When your company makes any list, you're the first one to brag about it.
3. Ask Whitey Bulger if being on the FBI's Top 10 List mattered.
2. If you're still reading this one, we've proven our point!
1. We'll spare you the drum roll. If you can engage a customer or potential customer for more than a few seconds, you're that much closer to the sale.
Are they a little gimmicky? Some are and some aren't (how's that for being definitive) but they if they get a customer or potential customer engaged in what you have to say, they've done their job.
So try it out in your next Email and see what happens.