The art of persuasion 7 keys to leveraging psychology within email

The Art of Persuasion: 7 keys to leveraging psychology within email Kath Pay | @kathpay eCRM & Email MarkeCng Consultant

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•  13+ years of experience in Email markeCng & eCRM

•  Digital MarkeCng Consultant, Trainer, Blogger & Speaker

•  Lead Tutor in Email MarkeCng for Econsultancy, The IDM & the DMI.

Your speaker is: Kath Pay

@KathPay


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“The ra(onal mind is the humble servant, the intui(ve mind the faithful gi7. We have created a society that honors the servant, and has forgo<en the gi7.”

Albert Einstein

The reality is that we tend to make choices based on our ‘gut’ and only turn to our cogniCve faculCes a\er the fact, for a nice bit of post-‐raConalisaCon

#1. Leverage EmoCon

“Influence is born by appealing to the emoCons while overcoming raConal restraints”

Douglas van Praet


Engage their emoCons -‐ A Tale of 2 Chickens Plump Chicken Skinny Chicken


The Study •  Audience was told that plump chicken was a natural chicken and that the skinny chicken was geneCcally engineered

•  Half the audience was told that natural chickens were healthy but less tasty and that the geneCcally engineered chickens were tasty

•  The other half of the audience were told the opposite


The results •  Both sets expressed a preference for the natural chicken but their jusCficaCons were different….

•  The first group claimed it was because they valued health above taste

•  The second group said it was because taste was more important.

•  Neither group seemed to jusCfy their choice based on how they felt about the chicken's looks. They felt compelled to jusCfy their emoConal choices with non-‐emoConal reasons,


Engage their emoCons first • We make decisions based upon emoCons •  But we try and raConalise our jusCficaCon for the decision

•  Therefore, engage their emoCons first, then they will come up with a raConal jusCficaCon to support their decision.

•  Once they’ve made a decision (based upon emoCon) it’s harder for them to backpedal.

•  Their thinking falls in line with their emoCons.

#2. Be Persuasive

“As consumers, we make choices without understanding their founda(ons, and as marketers, we sell and brand products without understanding how to truly connect them with people”

Douglas van Praet


Leverage the Rule of 3


Visually appealing


3 bullet points…


Shampoo AdverCsment Study Imagine that you are reading one of your favorite magazines and an ad for a new brand of shampoo catches your alenCon. You decide to read the ad carefully to see if it is worth switching to this new product. The ad says that this new shampoo does the following:

Suzanne Shu & Kurt Carlson


The blank space was then filled with one, two, three, four, five or six posiCve claims about the shampoo object. For example parCcipants who were shown all six claims read :

“Makes hair cleaner, stronger, healthier, so\er, shinier, and fuller”.


Results?

The results clearly demonstrated that those who had read three claims rated all the items significantly more posiCvely than parCcipants who had read adverts with one, two, four, five, or six claims.


Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion 1.  Reciprocity -‐ Cialdini’s first principle of persuasion states that we human

beings are wired to basically want to return favors and pay back our debts. In short… to treat others as they’ve treated us.

2.  Commitment and Consistency -‐ The principle of commitment declares that we human beings have a deep need to be seen as consistent. As such, once we have publicly commiled to something or someone, then we are so much more likely to go through and deliver on that commitment…hence consistency.

3.  Social Proof -‐ Cialdini defined social proof as people doing what they observe other people doing. It’s a principle that’s based upon the idea of safety in numbers.

4.  Authority – We naturally have a tendency to obey figures of authority. Quotes, reports, figures of authority can all influence us.

5.  Likeability -‐ Liking is based on sharing something similar with people you like. This principle can be applied to conversions in the following way: A company that wants to boost its conversion rates simply has to focus on creaCng a very well-‐executed “About Us” page.

6.  Scarcity – Scarcity is defined as the percepCon of products seeming to become more alracCve when their perceived availability is rather limited.


Use reciprocaCon

One mint with bill: Cp rises 3.3%

Two mints with bill: Cp rises 14%

One mint + personal mint: Cp rises 23%

No mints = control


Value Exchange


Rhyme as Reason

“Financial success makes people healthier”

VS

“Wealth makes health”


•  Example of commitment •  Removed requirement for registraCon or password before the checkout

•  QuesConed & tested exisCng pracCces

•  Increased purchases by 45%

•  AddiConal $300,000,000 for first year

Commitment


Curiosity / Gap Theory

“The first and simplest emo(on which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.”

Edmund Burke


Some Subject Lines for thought… •  Your Career is Making Your Kids Fat – And You Don’t Even Know It

•  You’re Worried About Money – As If You Don’t Realise You’re Siyng on a Goldmine

•  Isn’t it great when two things work? •  Did you think we’d forgolen?


Scarcity


Animated gif to assist you


Bezairs case Study

VisualWebsiteOpCmizer


Reciprocity


Scarcity


Socialproof – 7% upli\ in CTR

96% StaCsCcal Confidence

#3. Know Your Customer


4 types of web users Jakob Nielsen 2007


4 very different approaches A: Search Dominant/CompeCCve B: NavigaCon Dominant/Methodical C: Tool Dominant/Spontaneous D: Successful/HumanisCc


Methodical – HOW-‐type Ques6ons Humanis6c – WHO-‐type Ques6ons

What's the fine print? How does this work? How can I plan ahead? What proof do you have? Can you guarantee that?

How will your product or service make me feel? Who uses your products/service? Who are you? Tell me who is on your staff, and let me see bios What will it feel like to work with you? What experience have others had with you? Can I trust you? What are your values?

Spontaneous – WHY & WHEN Compe66ve – WHAT-‐type Ques6ons

How can you get me to what I need quickly? Do you offer superior service? Can I customize your product or service? Can you help me narrow down my choices? How quickly can I take acCon and achieve my goals? Why will this let me enjoy life more?

What are your compeCCve advantages? What makes you the superior choice? What makes you a credible company? What can you do to help make me look cuyng edge? What are your credenCals? What can you do to help me achieve my goals?

hlp://www.bryaneisenberg.com


Spontaneous

HumanisCc

Methodical

CompeCCve

Design for Personalities

Courtesy of Screwfix

#4. Be the Director!

Research shows that more than 90% of our decisions are unconscious

Unconscious Branding -‐ Douglas Van Praet


Guide them – use design, copy, imagery….


Set your customers a task


But don’t overwhelm them….


Hicks Law -‐ Choice is demoCvaCng.

Professor Lyengar -‐ author of The Art of Choosing


Use visual guides


And in email?


Help them to make a decision


Images can be powerful

Source: NeuromarkeCng


Use images to support your objecCve

Source: NeuromarkeCng


Front-‐loading is imperaCve


Effec6ve Subject Lines Rule of 2: Front-‐Load your Subject Lines


AcCon words persuade your readers to act

Hubspot


Hook them with short lines

#5. Make it easy

#6. Involve Storytelling

“Telling isn’t selling.”

Bill Bernbach


Hook them in with storytelling


This is how we communicate….


Stories are easier to recall….

• They resonate within us • They’re packaged in a meaningful context, enabling us to beler understand the depth & relevance of the content

• Stories sCmulate both the logical & creaCve parts of our brains

• Meaning that we understand the informaCon factually, visually & emoConally

#7. Be Customer-‐Centric

We LOVE Customer Service


Your goals are the same


• Dress up your markeCng messages as customer service

• Customers have a high tolerance for messages which are helpful

• Leverage this tolerance but be genuine and helpful

Change your mindset

Thank you! Kath Pay @kathpay [email protected] www.linked.com/in/kathpay

“Brands are like people. The value you assign to someone is based largely on how the individual makes you feel.”

Douglas van Praet

The art of persuasion 7 keys to leveraging psychology within email

Marketing

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