One simplistic technique?

I was visiting a marketing website today and was struck by the number of articles that had numbers attached. 7 Secrets, 5 lessons, etc. While I am sure that quantifying and making lists of things does help to get attention, it seems to me this particular trick is being overused.

Forcing your messages into boxes may be necessary in this cluttered world but once you get beyond a small number, do you really expect people to remember all of them? And if they can't remember all of them, perhaps you need to simplify your message?