Marketing is all about persuasion, and email marketing is even more so. Ever since the first set of unsolicited bulk emails was sent to about 400 potential clients in 1978, resulting in $13 million in sales, business leaders and marketing managers around the globe have had their eyes set on influencing customer behavior via their inboxes.
But present-day numbers show that email marketing is harder than expected. The average open rate across industries is less than 25%; worse, that is ten times more than the average click-through rate. This underscores the critical challenge of designing effective email marketing campaigns that truly capture audience attention.
What, then, is the hope for email marketing persuasion? This is an especially crucial question because, as anyone who has worked in email marketing knows, a campaign strategy that worked once can fail the next time, and success is often unpredictable.
Regardless, you can lower your odds of achieving success by mastering the art of email marketing persuasion. In this article, we aim to provide five essential and practical customer engagement techniques to help you achieve this.
1. Speak as a Real Person
Something about being human draws people in and makes them perceive authenticity while attributing a lack of genuineness to things that sound robotic.
To make your emails more effective, you need to show your recipients that you value them as individuals rather than just sales targets (certainly, people know they are sales targets already; you don’t need to rub it in), employing customer engagement techniques that feel personal and authentic.
At the same time, you need to look at this beyond just using the recipient’s name. Some brand emails simply use the recipient’s name in the greeting (which is automated anyway), and the rest of the message sounds nothing personal.
Speaking as a real person means using a conversational tone and showing empathy and understanding. Consider sharing personal anecdotes, and very importantly, sign off with a specific person’s name, photo, or signature, not just the company name.
2. Make “No” Feel Risk-Free
We are all familiar with sales agents and emails that use hard-sell tactics. It almost feels like you are being bullied or harassed into buying whatever is on sale, regardless of whether it is valuable to you or not.
As a business leader, you need to think about ethical email marketing persuasion; this means influencing decisions in a way that respects the recipient’s autonomy and aligns with their values. So, that entails avoiding misleading information, pressure tactics, and any other tactics that could be considered manipulative, however subtle.
For instance, one way to make a “no” feel risk-free in email marketing is by offering easy opt-outs. Statements like “If this isn’t for you, feel free to unsubscribe anytime—no hard feelings” or “If now’s not the right time, no worries—we’re always here when you’re ready” show recipients that you respect their time and attention.
It’s okay and normal to use scarcity and urgency to persuade recipients, but you don’t want to pressure them with fear-based tactics that make them instinctively resist. So, paradoxically, by making the ‘no’ feel risk-free, your email marketing persuasion is actually more effective.
3. Simplify your CTA
Effective email marketing campaigns require that you guide recipients toward the desired action without overwhelming or confusing them. Therefore, excessive emphasis—like all-caps, multiple exclamation marks, or over-the-top phrases like “FREE FREE FREE”—can backfire, leading to indecision, skepticism, or outright disengagement.
On the other hand, simple CTAs are easier to understand and require minimal cognitive effort from the reader. A straightforward CTA also prevents distractions and keeps the reader focused on the action you want them to take.
In addition, aggressive CTAs can create pressure and anxiety, and as mentioned in the previous section, these can make recipients even less likely to act. And don’t forget you need to limit visual noise (multiple fonts, colors, and distracting design elements) around your CTA.
For the most effective results, each email should have one primary CTA, and they should not use ambiguous or overly complex wording. Instead of “CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING DEAL!!!!” consider using “Get Your Free Guide.”
4. Reward Opening Your Emails
You have to face the reality that not everyone who opens your emails will perform the expected CTA. In fact, the majority of people won’t. However, even if someone does not find your CTA useful or relevant to them at that point, you don’t want to make them feel like opening your email was a waste of time.
That’s the logic behind rewarding recipients for simply opening your emails. It creates a positive feedback look that makes them more likely to open and engage over time, which would eventually translate into a successful conversion. Plus, it also buys you goodwill, which helps when running retargeting campaigns.
Remember that the majority of people already have their inboxes overflowing with promotional content. If your email offers real value without strings attached, it’ll stand out by implementing innovative customer engagement techniques, and this low-pressure approach reduces resistance to future calls to action.
More so, these rewards don’t have to be over the top. They may be exclusive insights or tips, free resources, an inspiring story or quote, unexpected surprises, interactive content, personalized curated content, and so on. It all depends on the kind of audience you’re targeting.
5. Be Transparent and Authentic
Last but not least, regardless of how terrible the world might be, human beings value authenticity and transparency, and those two values play a crucial role in developing effective email marketing campaigns. You actually have to follow through on things you promise in your email if you want your recipients to trust you.
People are naturally cautious about exaggerated claims or hidden agendas, as they should. But transparent messaging, powered by sophisticated customer engagement techniques, to a great extent, dispels doubts and allows recipients to focus on the value you are offering. This connection increases loyalty and the likelihood of engagement.
This means you must be honest about your intentions. If you are promoting a sale, say so upfront; don’t disguise it as something else. If something goes wrong (e.g., a pricing error or a delay), own up to it in your email and offer a solution; don’t just gloss over it.
Another practical way to showcase transparency is by sharing behind-the-scenes content that tells the story of how your processes, team, and values work. It’s a great way to establish credibility and reputation.
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