24 Aug Using Psychology to Make Your Email Marketing More Effective
Your email marketing campaign isn’t just about your business or your products. At the most basic level, it’s meant to connect with people.
And to do that most effectively you need to appeal to your audience’s state of mind. That’s where knowledge of psychology can give you a huge advantage.
The good news: You don’t need to be Freud to do this in your email messaging.
Here are three examples:
1. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
None of us want to feel like we’re missing out on something. That’s why messaging that employs scarcity and unavailability are such reliable triggers — especially when used effectively for your subject lines.
Data suggests that FOMO is especially effective among millennials. According to Strategy Online, 60% of millennials make reactive purchases because of FOMO. In other words, they’ll buy something just because they feel they might miss out.
For example: Make something limited or only available for a certain time. “Summer sale only lasts for another 2 days!” and “Act now while supplies last” are the most explicit examples.
Or you can offer limited free shipping. Who wants to miss out on that? In many ways, we’re all still in high school.
2. The Foot in the Door Technique
Humans crave consistency: once we take an initial action, our subsequent actions will remain consistent with that first action.
It’s called “human nature” — it’s why baseball pitchers rely on data that reveals a batter’s tendencies — and for business owners it can yield impressive conversion rates.
For example: Asking someone to watch a video is a smaller ask than asking for their email, but once they’ve engaged with your brand in a small way, they’re more likely to continue that momentum by further engaging.
While the foot in the door technique does appear to add more work for the visitor or email subscriber — and making things as easy as possible is a virtue — it will help you trigger consistency, loyalty, and, yes, conversions.
3. Use the Power of 3
We humans also love patterns because they’re much easier to remember than an odd sequence of events or facts. Information presented in threes — the smallest number required to create a pattern — can easily be digested, processed, and memorized by the brain.
For example: When creating your email messaging, organize it in three sections — “Shop Now, Learn More, and Our Products.” (See how this post uses 3 points?)
When highlighting points — customer’s pain points or product benefits, for example — call out the three main ones. Anything more than that might create a jumble of confusion.
Interested in discussing how to get more from your email marketing efforts and your overall digital strategy and goals?