EMAIL MARKETING SECRETS: MASTERING EMOTION FOR BETTER ENGAGEMENT & CONVERSION

Karen Talavera, Synchronicity Marketing April 26, 2013

•  Nationally-recognized email marketing expert, educator, writer, speaker and consultant

•  The DMA’s email marketing training instructor since 1999

•  Member Email Experience Council, Only Influencers

•  Top 100 Women in Ecommerce 2012 by WE magazine

•  President and Founder, Synchronicity Marketing

–  Founded 2003

–  Email Marketing Strategy, Training & Consulting

–  Based in south Florida serving clients worldwide

Today’s Presenter: Karen Talavera

Agenda

¨  THEORY

¤ Understanding Basic Human Motivation

¤ Creating Resonance; evoking emotion

¨  FRAMEWORK: 3 Essential C’s for Email Response

¨  PRACTICE

¤  Practical real-world application of theory to email

¤  Tactics, component parts, and examples that provoke response

Marketing is Changing

The Old Model

¨  One-way progression ¨  Single or limited channels ¨  Greater interest in being

heard than listening ¨  Creating demand

trumped creating value ¨  Sell vs. Serve

The New Way

¨  Two-way dialog ¨  Multi-channel ¨  Conversation vs. broadcast ¨  Creating short and long-term

value equally important ¨  Sell by way of Serving

(“Serve to Sell”)

Why Now?

Marketing Fusion

Implications

Consumer Time & Attention

Span

Email Volume & Frequency

In Case You Didn’t Realize . . .

Customer

Control Interests,

Prefs, Frequency

Listen & Respond

Deepen Trust

Surprise & Delight

We Can’t Do Email Like Before

The Psychology Behind Why We Want What We Want

Human Motivation Theory

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

¨  Abraham Maslow was and American psychologist best known for creating the “hierarchy of needs” theory of self-actualization

¨  Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs basically states “Humans need to satisfy their most basic needs before attempting to satisfy more sophisticated needs"

¨  Based on Humanistic Psychology ¤  belief that every person has a strong desire to realize

his/her full potential ¤  People not just blindly reacting to situations, but striving

to improve themselves or accomplish something greater than what they’d done so far

Abraham Maslow 1908-1970

Maslow’s Pyramid

¨  Which level of need does your product/service satisfy from both practical and emotional standpoints?

Key Take-aways

¨  You can’t CONTROL a person’s level on the pyramid ¤  But your product/service may be able to influence it

¨  Try to LEARN the level of your ideal clients ¤  Keep in mind, not all target audience members at same level at same

time, if ever

¨  Pyramid is bi-directional ¤  Ideally people move upward, but distinct events can cause regression

(temporary or permanent) n  Natural Disasters n  Economic Crisis n  “Life Events” such as moving, birth of baby, death of spouse, etc.

Creating Resonance Making Human Connections That Motivate Response

Why Do You Need Resonance?

¨  Because if people can’t connect, they’re indifferent. If they’re indifferent, they won’t respond ¤ Hate is not the opposite of love, indifference is

¨  Connections can be emotionally positive or negative ¤ Resonance is a feeling of alignment, harmony and

empathy, but can be in a positive or negative context

How? Two Ways

•  Authenticity •  Transparency •  Personality •  Community

Emotionally

•  Facts (Information) •  Education (Learning) •  Curiosity (Q&A) •  Proof

Intellectually

Emotion Trumps Intellect

¨  We may think we use our superior intellects to make buying decisions, yet the reality is:

People Buy from Emotion

Why?

¨  Emotions are innate and instinctive, existing before the brain, mind and ego develop

¨  In a reality where we’re faced with hundreds of decisions per day, emotions serve as a sort of built-in “guidance system” that kicks in before intellect has a chance ¤ When making decisions we’ve made before, we may draw

on memory and intellect

¤  In the absence of memory or prior learning, we call on our feelings for guidance

The Wheel of Emotions

¨  Robert Plutchik (1927-2006) was a psychologist that created this Wheel of Emotions

¨  Any emotion can be expressed with varying degrees of intensity

POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

Ingredients of Long-term Emotional Connections

Resonance or

Dissonance

Authenticity

Transparency/Vulnerability Personality

Community

Emotional Email - Positive

¨  Oprah Thought for Today newsletter frequently takes an emotional approach

¨  Dominant Emotion: ¤  Joy

Emotional Email - Positive

¨  Disney Family sweepstakes applies an emotional appeal to the need of mothers to be pampered

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Serenity ¤  Anticipation

Emotional Email - Negative

¨  Defenders of Wildlife uses a strong negative emotional appeal to raise donations for sea turtle conservation

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Anger ¤  Disgust

Emotional Email – Negative Turn

¨  Motley Fool investment advice uses a weak negative approach to provoke followed by the promise of a solution

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Annoyance ¤  Anticipation

1. Positioning

2. Pain

4. Promise

3. Proof

5. Plan

Tips for Evoking Emotion via Email

•  Favor those that create the feeling of desire fulfilled vs. practical descriptions

Subject Line and Headlines

•  Present visuals to support the desired emotion Images

•  Adds detailed description to support creation of emotion Copy

•  States the “transformational outcome” to be delivered from the emotional experience Call to Action

Emotional Element Breakdown

¨  Feeling and visualization of the desire fulfilled

¨  Emotionally-triggering words/ideas: ¤  Dream come true

¤  Lush

¤  Fill of adventure

¤  Rest

¤  Escape

¤  Excitement

¤  Wanderlust

¤  Luxury

Positive vs. Negative: Which Wins?

¨  When tested head-to-head a negative emotional approach usually produces higher response than a positive emotional approach

n Why? Humans have a strong built-in negative bias, the results of thousands of years of survival instinct and evolutionary behavior

n  We paid more attention to negative than positive stimuli in order to stay alive

¨  Caution! ¤ However, “going negative” repeatedly will turn off

your subscribers and customers, suppressing engagement and response in the long-run

Strike a Balance

¨  Adopt an unpredictable pattern or interrupt a usually positive pattern with a negative or neutral approach

Positive

Negative

Positive

Positive

Positive

Positive

Negative

Negative

Negative

Negative

Positive

Remember Intellect

¨  It still plays a role in distilling content and rationalizing our emotionally-driven decisions

¨  After emotionally motivating interest, provide supporting content to clinch response in the form of ¤  FAQs ¤  Specs, fact, figures ¤  Social proof, testimonial ¤ Cost and/or feature comparisons

Often placed on site/landing page vs. in email

Three Response Essentials

Three Essential C’s of Email Response

¨  Now that you know what motivates people, your email marketing must recognize and address these three essentials:

Context Clarity Call to Action

Context

¨  Definition: The physical circumstances, intellectual mindset, and emotional state of your prospect or customer ¤  At which level of the pyramid is the email subscriber who is seeing your

messages? ¤  What is the person’s emotional state? ¤  What are they thinking at the time?

¨  You can INFLUENCE the context of your audience members

¨  In your own places/spaces, you can CREATE context

¨  Your brand, marketing, site and specific email messages all play a role

Creating Context

¨  Both emotional and intellectual components go into it

¨  Creative is key ¤ Design ¤ Color ¤  Images ¤ Headlines ¤ Layout ¤ Email-to-landing page consistency

Which Context Feels More Luxurious?

Clear, Consistent Brand Context

¨  Tiffany ¤  Signature color ¤  Show vs. tell ¤  Elegant Font ¤  “Legendary” ¤ Classy ¤  Timeless ¤  Rich

Inconsistent Context

¨  Zen Massage ¤ Nothing relaxing

about red ¤ More tell than

show ¤ White text on red

strains the eyes ¤ Mis-matched

emotional feeling ¤  Busy ¤ Cluttered

Is Response/Action Context Clear?

¨  Is it clear from contextual clues in the email what you want subscribers to do?

Educational Context

Buying Context

Clarity

¨  The confused mind doesn’t buy! ¨  Several elements enhance clarity within a message:

¤ Subject line ¤ Reinforcing headlines, sub-headlines ¤ Uncluttered layout ¤  Images that support copy ¤  Instructional buttons, arrows, icons ¤ Color ¤ Call to action text ¤ Call to action links

Example

¨  1-800 Flowers ¤ Could it be any clearer

that I can buy 30 Tulips for $30? n  Subject line

n  Reinforcing headlines, sub-headlines

n  Uncluttered layout

n  Images that support copy n  Instructional buttons, arrows,

icons n  Color

n  Call to action text

n  Call to action links

Call to Action

¨  Is there at least one? ¤ Ask, and ask more than once!

¨  Is it clear? ¨  How many steps involved?

¤  If complex, break it down

¨  Approaches ¤  Invite ¤ Approve/authorize ¤ Compel ¤ Command

Soft

Strong

Example

¨  National Geographic Annual Photo Contest 2012 call for entries

¨  Let’s run through our checklist: ¤  Is there at least one? ¤  Is it clear? ¤  Instructions?

Provoking Response Engagement and purchase-inducing tactics, components and examples

Traditional Advertising Model: AIDA

¨  The traditional psychology of advertising and how it translates to email marketing

•  From line •  Subject line •  Preview

Attention

•  Pre-header text •  Headlines and subheads •  Images, especially VIDEO

Interest

•  Subject line •  Images, especially VIDEO •  Body copy

Desire

•  Button shape, color, copy •  Linked text •  Directional/nav cues, arrows, etc.

Action

9 Ways to Provoke Emotional Response

1.  Alarm (fear) 2.  Limiters (time or quantity) 3.  Interruption 4.  Curiosity 5.  Safety (trust) 6.  Anticipation 7.  Story 8.  Social Proof 9.  Exclusivity

Positive

Negative

Alarm

¨  Motley Fool uses alarm and surprise to grab attention and stimulate interest

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Surprise ¤  Apprehension (fear)

Limiters

¨  Vail Resorts Uses deadlines to drive sales of its ski season pass – subject line and headline grabs attention

¨  Types of limiters ¤  Time ¤  Quantity ¤  Price

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Urgency ¤  Scarcity(fear of being

left out)

Interruption

¨  Bonefish Grill Restaurants employ interruption in the subject line to grab attention, then sustain interest with headline. Image creates desire

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Distraction ¤  Anticipation

Curiosity/Mystery

¨  Red Envelope relies on secrecy and mystery to provoke curiosity, grab attention and stimulate desire for the answer ¤  Also use exclusivity as a

secondary motivator and a time limiter as as third

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Surprise ¤  Anticipation ¤  Urgency

Safety

¨  Ideeli, a daily deal site creates confidence, comfort, and minimizes holiday shopping risk to stimulate desire and action

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Trust ¤  Admiration

Anticipation

¨  Vail Resorts uses a countdown subject line, strong headline and video to build anticipation for the start of the ski season

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Joy ¤  Anticipation

Story

¨  Obama Campaign uses the power of story to draw readers into this donation appeal ¤  Subject line conveys

emotion, hints at video ¤  Copy tells emotional

story ¤  Sent on Father’s Day

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Pride ¤  Anticipation

Social Proof

¨  Sephora Beauty uses actual user product reviews in email ¤  Subject line hints at social

proof/ratings ¤  Quotes and testimonials

paired with each product featured

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Trust ¤  Interest

Exclusivity

¨  Radio City Music Hall and Chase Credit pair to provide an exclusive offer to Chase card-members only ¤  Subject line and sub-headline

communicate exclusivity ¤  Promise of preferred

treatment inspires action

¨  Dominant Emotions: ¤  Trust ¤  Appreciation

Exclusive Offers For You

¨  Free 2013 Email Performance Breakthrough Session ¤  Serious takers only! ¤ Must have existing email marketing program or list ¤  Fill out form and return to me today

¨  “Kick-Starter” Email Coaching Program ¤ One-month to better email! ¤  3 live, private phone/Skype coaching sessions ¤  1 hour offline support ¤  $997/month, month-to-month, no long-term commitment ¤  See me or call if interested

In Summary

•  Know your audience •  Know at what level you deliver

Understand Basic Human Motivators

•  Emotion trumps intellect •  Positive or negative Evoke Emotion

•  Emotional connections are weak or ineffective without a clear context and call to action

Remember the 3 C’s

•  Tactics that leverage emotions most effectively inspire response Provoke Response

Site and Blog www.synchronicitymarketing.com

Email: karen@synchronicitymarketing.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SynchronicityMarketing LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/KarenTalavera

Twitter: @SyncMarketing Phone: 561.967.9665

THANK YOU! QUESTIONS?