Using Psychology to Create
High-Performance Emails
Jonathan Pay
Consultant, Holistic Email Marketing
@jonathanpay
@HolisticEmail
jonathan@holisticemail.com
www.holisticemail.com
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
Helpful marketing
First, change YOUR mindset
67% of brands with campaigns that were above their own
average score achieved higher read rates than those
campaigns that scored lower than the average for that brand.
Of the 67% of brands that were found to have an increased
read-rate, we found it could increase from between 102%
and 468%.
Be helpful, not manipulative
Customer-centric
Helpful Marketing
“If you’re trying to persuade people to do
something, or buy something, it seems to
me you should use their language, the
language they use every day, the language
in which they think”
David Ogilvy
Why be customer-centric?
“What’s in it for me?” Features to benefits.
400% uplift CRT
marketingexperiments.com
Personalities
By addressing the following, you’re personalising your emails without
complex segmentation or dynamic content.
4 basic web users
Hippocrates’s humours:
sanguine (spontaneous)
choleric (competitive)
melancholic (methodical)
phlegmatic (humanistic)
Jakob Nielsen:
tool dominant
search dominant
navigation dominant
successful
Competitive Spontaneous
Methodical Humanistic
Fast
Slow
Logical Emotional
WHAT type questions
What are your competitive advantages?
What makes you the superior choice?
What makes you a credible company?
What can you do to help make me look cutting edge?
What are your credentials?
What can you do to help me achieve my goals?
WHY/WHEN type questions
How can you get me to what I need quickly?
Do you offer superior service?
Can I customise your product or service?
Can you help me narrow down my choices?
How quickly can I take action and achieve my goals?
Why will this let me enjoy life more?
HOW type questions
What's the fine print?
How does this work?
How can I plan ahead?
What proof do you have?
Can you guarantee that?
WHO type questions
How will your product or service make me feel?
Who uses your products/services?
Who are you? 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?
Design for personalities
Cognitive Biases &
Heuristics
Helping your customer make their decision by leveraging the
unconscious decision-making shortcuts we all innately create.
“By associating the feelings of pain and pleasure
with people, places, and events, we learn to
safely make our way in the world.”
Trevor van Gorp, Edie Adams, Design for
Emotion
”The rational mind is the humble servant, the intuitive
mind is the faithful gift. We have created a society that
honours the servant, and has forgotten the gift.”
Albert Einstein
”Research shows 95% of purchasing decisions are
subconscious.”
Gerald Zaltman, How Customers Think: Essential
Insights into the Mind of the Market
Persuasion Architecture
Help by providing a clearly signposted pathway for customers
to follow.
Think about the psychological cues that prompt action.
Consider the entire customer journey, from email to landing
page to sale.
Cognitive Ease
“A general “law of least effort” applies to cognitive as well as
physical exertion. The law asserts that if there are several ways
of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to
the least demanding course of action…

Laziness is built deep into our nature”
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
Status quo/default bias
Primacy & Recency
Primacy:
Things that happen first are
typically the most important
because they influence what
comes next. This results in
greater recall.
Recency:
Things that just happened are
relevant because they’re the
most accurate representation of
“now”.
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
Distinctiveness - von Restorff Effect
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
Social Proof
People will follow the Wisdom of the crowd. This can take
many forms:
• Reviews/Testimonials.
• Share your numbers (as long as they’re worth sharing!).
• Ratings.
• Name dropping.
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
NakedWines.com
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
Reciprocity
Use as a part of the sign up process. Give something to get
something.
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails
Scarcity, Loss Aversion, Urgency
Scarcity: The more difficult it is to acquire an item, the more
value it is perceived to have.
Loss Aversion: There are two main drivers in us all; to gain
pleasure, and to avoid pain. We strongly prefer to avoid losses
than to acquire gains.
Urgency: This can tie both scarcity and loss aversion together.
edatasource.com
Test, test, test!
www.holisticemail.com
hello@holisticemail.com
@holisticemail

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Using Psychology to Create High Performance Emails

  • 1. Using Psychology to Create High-Performance Emails
  • 2. Jonathan Pay Consultant, Holistic Email Marketing @jonathanpay @HolisticEmail jonathan@holisticemail.com www.holisticemail.com
  • 6. 67% of brands with campaigns that were above their own average score achieved higher read rates than those campaigns that scored lower than the average for that brand. Of the 67% of brands that were found to have an increased read-rate, we found it could increase from between 102% and 468%.
  • 7. Be helpful, not manipulative
  • 9. “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think” David Ogilvy
  • 10. Why be customer-centric? “What’s in it for me?” Features to benefits. 400% uplift CRT marketingexperiments.com
  • 11. Personalities By addressing the following, you’re personalising your emails without complex segmentation or dynamic content.
  • 12. 4 basic web users Hippocrates’s humours: sanguine (spontaneous) choleric (competitive) melancholic (methodical) phlegmatic (humanistic) Jakob Nielsen: tool dominant search dominant navigation dominant successful
  • 14. WHAT type questions What are your competitive advantages? What makes you the superior choice? What makes you a credible company? What can you do to help make me look cutting edge? What are your credentials? What can you do to help me achieve my goals? WHY/WHEN type questions How can you get me to what I need quickly? Do you offer superior service? Can I customise your product or service? Can you help me narrow down my choices? How quickly can I take action and achieve my goals? Why will this let me enjoy life more? HOW type questions What's the fine print? How does this work? How can I plan ahead? What proof do you have? Can you guarantee that? WHO type questions How will your product or service make me feel? Who uses your products/services? Who are you? 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?
  • 16. Cognitive Biases & Heuristics Helping your customer make their decision by leveraging the unconscious decision-making shortcuts we all innately create.
  • 17. “By associating the feelings of pain and pleasure with people, places, and events, we learn to safely make our way in the world.” Trevor van Gorp, Edie Adams, Design for Emotion
  • 18. ”The rational mind is the humble servant, the intuitive mind is the faithful gift. We have created a society that honours the servant, and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein ”Research shows 95% of purchasing decisions are subconscious.” Gerald Zaltman, How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market
  • 19. Persuasion Architecture Help by providing a clearly signposted pathway for customers to follow. Think about the psychological cues that prompt action. Consider the entire customer journey, from email to landing page to sale.
  • 20. Cognitive Ease “A general “law of least effort” applies to cognitive as well as physical exertion. The law asserts that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action…
 Laziness is built deep into our nature” Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
  • 22. Primacy & Recency Primacy: Things that happen first are typically the most important because they influence what comes next. This results in greater recall. Recency: Things that just happened are relevant because they’re the most accurate representation of “now”.
  • 24. Distinctiveness - von Restorff Effect
  • 26. Social Proof People will follow the Wisdom of the crowd. This can take many forms: • Reviews/Testimonials. • Share your numbers (as long as they’re worth sharing!). • Ratings. • Name dropping.
  • 30. Reciprocity Use as a part of the sign up process. Give something to get something.
  • 33. Scarcity, Loss Aversion, Urgency Scarcity: The more difficult it is to acquire an item, the more value it is perceived to have. Loss Aversion: There are two main drivers in us all; to gain pleasure, and to avoid pain. We strongly prefer to avoid losses than to acquire gains. Urgency: This can tie both scarcity and loss aversion together.