Well, you\u2019re right. These pieces of tech are for you to execute actions in a better manner than you can do manually. The secret sauce of email marketing success is this 3 step formula:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Understand your understanding of your target audience\u2019s psyche.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Use this insight to define each step of your email marketing campaign.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Leverage all the gizmos you can to automate, measure, and optimize.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Of course, I\u2019m just getting started here. In this guide, you\u2019ll accompany me as I take you through the most dependable psychological hacks that will make your emails perform like superstars.<\/p>\n
Instead of peppering you with 25+ hacks (most of which will be repetitive and impractical), I have decided to keep it real. I will cover 5 hacks and will make sure you don\u2019t need to know anything else about them once you are done reading this post.<\/span><\/p>\n
Hack #1: Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Think of FOMO as that gut-wrenching feeling you get when you see your best friends posting groupfies on social media. More technically, it\u2019s the apprehension of being excluded from an experience of perceived value.<\/span><\/p>\n
The Psychology Behind it:<\/strong><\/p>\n
As explained by John M. Grohol<\/span> of Psych Central, FOMO as the urge to take an action, caused by the fear of losing out on a \u2018different\u2019 connection, which may be better or worse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
It\u2019s the timeless human proclivity to ensure they\u2019re \u2018getting the best deal\u2019 that causes them to act to also ensure \u201cthey\u2019re not missing out on what could be a better deal\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
This behavior is manifested primarily on social media, by the millennial audience. It\u2019s estimated that <\/span>69% of millennials experience FOMO<\/span><\/a> on a daily basis. So, for any email marketer tasked with a campaign aimed at a millennial audience, FOMO is the golden rule to remember.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Besides, FOMO is highly recommended to reach Gen Z audiences which currently consists of <\/span>22% of the US population<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
How To Make It Work In Your Email Marketing Campaigns?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s alright, let your creativity run wild. Remember, it\u2019s a psychological hack after all. Here are some clever examples of marketing messages that exploit FOMO. Trust yourself to create emails in a similar vein.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
1 – Show stats proving how \u201cmost people have acted already\u201d and \u201cyou could miss out\u201d. Bookings.com does it perfectly.<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-1.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-2.png\")
<\/p>\n2 – Create a limited time discount\/offer. Here\u2019s an example of an email that motivates users to take action to ensure they get the maximum discount:<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-3.png\")
<\/p>\n3 – Be direct. Say it out loud. Here\u2019s how on-demand grocery service Mercato<\/a> uses this tactic. The email motivates users to order from the convenience of their homes and not miss out on their much-awaited entertainment.<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-4.png\")
<\/p>\nThis technique can significantly boost your email campaign\u2019s response rates and conversions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Hack #2: Personalize. Personalize. Personalize.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Long story short: people love their names, so give them what they love.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
What\u2019s the sweetest sound ever? Your name. Time after time, legends of sales training have highlighted the importance of remembering a prospect\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Still not convinced? Wait till you get an email that starts with \u201cHello reader\u201d. It\u2019s as exciting for a recipient to read the email as chatting with a bot can be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The Psychology Behind it:<\/strong><\/p>\n
When you address someone by their name, you align yourself with them. That\u2019s because you\u2019re using tangible cues of their existence, according to what they mean to them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The better you personalize your communication with your email recipient, the higher the chances of conversions. After all:<\/span><\/p>\n
- \n
- 74% of marketers<\/span> believe that targeted personalization can significantly improve customer engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Emails with personalized subject lines are <\/span>26% likelier<\/span> to be opened as compared to emails with generic subject lines.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Birthday emails generate <\/span>342% more revenue\/email<\/span><\/a> as compared to standard email marketing campaigns.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How To Make It Work In Your Email Marketing Campaigns?<\/strong><\/p>\n
1 – Personalization is not merely about your recipient\u2019s name.<\/strong> Deeper your personalization, the better your email campaign results will be. Consider variables such as:<\/span><\/p>\n
- \n
- Name<\/span><\/li>\n
- Brand name<\/span><\/li>\n
- Last transaction\/exchange between the user and your company<\/span><\/li>\n
- Their designation<\/span><\/li>\n
- A blog they liked<\/span><\/li>\n
- A Facebook comment they left<\/span><\/li>\n
- A product they abandoned<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here\u2019s an email that uses the recipient\u2019s music listening behavior to deliver a personalized message, from the persona of the listener\u2019s favorite artist, promoting the artist\u2019s upcoming tour :<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-5.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
2 – Instead of another example, I\u2019m sharing a trick here.<\/strong> Measure your email campaign\u2019s performance on key KPIs and optimize them. Try different personalization variables, and see which works best. You can automate your A\/B testing for email marketing campaigns by using a solution such as <\/span>MailRelay<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
For instance, consider you have a list of 100 subscribers and wish to try an email with two different subject lines. MailRelay allows you to set up an A\/B test campaign. Send the same email with different subjects to, let\u2019s say, two groups of 10 recipients each. The subject line of the email that gets the higher open rate can then be used while emailing to the other 80 recipients.<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-6.png\")
<\/p>\nApart from A\/B testing, MailRelay offers superb email templates, an HTML email creator, and dozens of features such as autoresponders, schedulers, mail merge, analytics, and more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
3 – Here\u2019s the worse email you\u2019d ever send:<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-7.png\")
<\/p>\nThis can happen to you too. If you\u2019re <\/span>using an email finder tool<\/span> to create your list of prospects, followed by a mail merge or email campaign management tool for bulk personalized emailing, such bloopers can happen. The best practice is to always send a test email to yourself before activating a full-fledged campaign. So that your email looks like this:<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-8.png\")
<\/p>\nHack #3: Keep It Short, Sweetie (KISS)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
While I\u2019m certain you\u2019ve heard of the KISS acronym many times in the past, this time we\u2019re going to use it to explain the <\/span>\u2018focusing effect\u2019.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
We tend to base our decisions on the information that remains in our working memory. This piece of information may not be the one that\u2019s necessary to make the right decision.<\/span><\/p>\n
As a marketer, it\u2019s your job to make sure that your emails always introduce the desired information in the working memory of the recipient, to elicit a desirable response.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The Psychology Behind it:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Bombard your readers with as much information as you want; they\u2019ll always ascribe more importance to one specific piece of information. You can\u2019t change their behavior, but you can use this understanding of primordial human behavior to get your audiences to remember what you want.<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-9.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe next time you design an email marketing campaign, remind yourself to stop before you send a 500-worder with a list of benefits of your products. Instead, find the one piece of information that\u2019s supposed to push the reader to take action. Make this info the superstar of your email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
How To Make It Work In Your Email Marketing Campaigns?<\/span><\/h3>\n
1 – Here\u2019s an example of how an otherwise well-crafted email gets it wrong on the KISS front. While it looks appealing, it\u2019s messaging is completely muddled up.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-11.png\")
<\/p>\nThis email tells me:<\/span><\/p>\n
- \n
- What I donated<\/span><\/li>\n
- What the future of this transaction is going to be<\/span><\/li>\n
- The background of how this started<\/span><\/li>\n
- What the non-profit is doing with the money<\/span><\/li>\n
- To leave feedback<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but if I were the donor, I\u2019d feel it this non-profit could do me a favor by not bombarding me with information in a single email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
2 – Here\u2019s a great example. This email is so special, I won\u2019t even describe what it\u2019s doing. Check it out:<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-12.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThere\u2019s hardly anything other than the one core message in this email. It\u2019s the perfect example of leveraging the focusing effect to ensure the email gets the right outcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
3 – And here\u2019s another. Decide the outcome, and direct each word towards getting your reader to bring that outcome for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-12.png\")
<\/p>\nObserve that the only possible user action in this email is precisely what this email is aimed at.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Hack #4: Price Anchoring<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Quiz time. What\u2019s the best way to sell a handbag for $300?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Answer: Put it next to a handbag priced at $1,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
If you understand why, you understand price anchoring already!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The Psychology Behind it:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Numerous psychological studies have demonstrated that our perception of price is not dependent on the \u2018value\u2019 we assign to a product, but governed by many external factors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Ordinarily, the first \u2018offer\u2019 a user is introduced to help in creating an anchor in his\/her mind. Any subsequent offers are then evaluated with reference to the price versus value impression created by the first offer.<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-13.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYou\u2019ll find this pricing psychology trick in action every time you visit a retail store. You\u2019ve paid premiums for products many times because your brain is hard-wired to act this way. Time to use this trick to elevate your email marketing campaign performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
How To Make It Work In Your Email Marketing Campaigns?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
1 – Selling a product in your email. Remember the golden rule followed by every SaaS company in creating their pricing page.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-14.png\")
<\/p>\nObserve how the MAX plan makes the GROW plan appear a great bargain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
2 – Which product among these three appears to be the best value for money?<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gallery_1076x1556_monicavinader-1076x1556-3.gif\")
<\/p>\nObserve how the middle product creates the perfect impression on the reader\u2019s mind:<\/span><\/p>\n
- \n
- Has the biggest stone<\/span><\/li>\n
- Has the lowest price<\/span><\/li>\n
- Is almost 50% cheaper than the next best option<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
3 – You can use the same psychology hack to sell an item whose base price can be repeatedly established at a much higher price than what it actually is. Then, throw in a mega discount, and let \u2018price anchoring\u2019 do its magic.<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Best-Email-Marketing-Psychology-15.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHack #5: Foot In The Door (FITD) \/Yes-Yes Technique<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Foot in the door is a time tested compliance tactic that aims at getting someone to agree to a considerable request by first getting them to agree to a modest request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an example:<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/610112-5249-10.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe core idea is:<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Build a bond based on an initial transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Leverage that bond to maximize the chances of success for the second (more considerable) transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Psychology Behind it:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Daryl Bem, a social psychologist from Cornell University, is believed to have been the proponent of the <\/span>self-perception theory<\/span><\/a>, which also explains why the FITD technique works. Without making myself sound like a psychologist, here\u2019s the breakdown of why it works:<\/span><\/p>\n
- \n
- Humans inherently want to be agreeable and find it easier to agree to a proposal than say \u2018no\u2019.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Agreeing to something that doesn\u2019t require any effort is easy enough. The result: most people will agree to let you send them a free ebook.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Humans are also wired to conform to their past behaviors and don\u2019t want to break patterns.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- A subsequent request, though considerable (a \u2018better\u2019 ebook for $5, let\u2019s say) is likelier to elicit a \u2018yes\u2019 response.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How To Make It Work In Your Email Marketing Campaigns?<\/span><\/p>\n
Ask yourself, what do you eventually want to sell via the emails? If it\u2019s a product or idea that\u2019s unlikely to be sold easily, the FITD technique is for you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Here are some of the several ways you can execute it:<\/span><\/p>\n
1 – Get your audience to say \u2018yes\u2019 to a no-brainer proposition. Here\u2019s an example.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ConversionXL-screengrab-commitment-consistency-referralcandy-940x520-3.png\")
<\/p>\n2 –<\/strong> Appeal to the \u2018goodness\u2019 in humans to be a part of something that doesn\u2019t demand a lot of effort from them, and follow it up with the bigger request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/b2b-email-marketing-example.png\")
<\/p>\n3 –<\/strong> Keep it basic, offer something for free. Here\u2019s an example of HubSpot keeping audiences engaged by offering them a free guide with exclusive data.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpstaging.mailrelay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/03-hubspot.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to Measure The Performance of Your Email Campaigns?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Now that you have started leveraging the tips mentioned above, it\u2019s time to measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns. This helps in determining which strategies are working best and which are not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Here are four key things you should be tracking for each email campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n
- \n
- Open rate:<\/strong> What percentage of people read your email?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Click-through rate:<\/strong> What percentage of people clicked on the link or CTA inside the email?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Conversion rate<\/strong>: What percentage of people completed your desired action (such as purchase a product)?<\/span><\/li>\n
- Unsubscribe rate:<\/strong> How many people click on the unsubscribe button?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
While most email service providers offer analytics, you can also use tools like <\/span>
- Click-through rate:<\/strong> What percentage of people clicked on the link or CTA inside the email?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Agreeing to something that doesn\u2019t require any effort is easy enough. The result: most people will agree to let you send them a free ebook.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Leverage that bond to maximize the chances of success for the second (more considerable) transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Has the lowest price<\/span><\/li>\n
- What the future of this transaction is going to be<\/span><\/li>\n
- Brand name<\/span><\/li>\n
- Emails with personalized subject lines are <\/span>26% likelier<\/span> to be opened as compared to emails with generic subject lines.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Use this insight to define each step of your email marketing campaign.<\/span><\/li>\n