As we all know, how something is phrased is often more important than what is actually being said. If you leverage blogger outreach emails as part of link building tactics, chances are you’ve repeatedly tested phrasing to uncover the best subject lines and attention getting pitches. Words jump out at us for various reasons and play on our most primitive instincts and hard-wired responses revolving around emotion. With a better understanding of the power specific words have on human psychology, marketers can use persuasive writing techniques to create new opportunities while having fun testing out key words and phrases in our outreaches.
In this article I will present a few techniques for making your email marketing copy more persuasive and interesting to read.
Using 4 Effective Words
With only a short amount of time and text to capture the attention of a busy reader skimming through emails, it is important to carefully select the words used in a pitch and subject line. Even the most simple words can have a profound effect on our interest in a topic. Below are 4 basic words impacting psychology that you should include in your outreach.
You
Humans are rather narcissistic by nature, so it is easy to understand the importance of this word. We love to read topics that are centered around ourselves or addressed to us specifically. As opposed to making a message seem vague or generic by writing in third person, the use of “you” helps draw the reader in and make it more about them.
Because
Studies have shown that using the word “because” in email correspondence is over 31% more effective when seeking compliance, compared to leaving the word out. “Because” provides a sense of reason and ethos. You are not only telling a person about what it is you are trying to convey, but also why it is important while providing a reason to believe you. In the case of link building, it provides a more persuasive request and adds to the credibility of the pitch.
New & Free
These two words are addressed together because they both speak to the concept of loss aversion. In email outreach we may not necessarily be selling something, so leveraging this word targets the drive in people to acquire something new and for little to no cost. Using words like “new and free” are important because, for lack of better words, it creates a sense of fear of missing out (FOMO) and pushes people to take advantage of what you are requesting, i.e. sharing you link.
The Use of Sensory Words
Research shows that words related to texture activated areas of the brain were more likely to be impactful, even if their use was not related to any actual physical sensation. With our inboxes full of messages to filter through, we are likely to only respond to the ones that strike us as important or appear more memorable.
Using language that taps into any of the 5 senses: taste, touch, sight, sound or smell is likely to help the description of your message seem more tangible and realistic. Sensory words used in email pitches creates a more impressionable experience for the reader.
Storytelling and Striking an Emotional Chord
Incorporating short stories in your email pitch helps make your message more interesting and emotionally accessible, but more importantly, it makes the reader feel as though they can relate to the situation. This helps foster a sense of connection between the reader and the sender while breaking down barriers we create from being bombarded by pointless emails on a regular basis. Since there isn’t a great deal of time to impress the reader, you don’t want to lose their attention, so keep it short and sweet. Incorporate this storytelling method in an area that seems credible, perhaps like a statistic.
Let’s take a look at this example from a pitch aimed to create awareness about the rising cost of high school athletics:
“High school sports participation is at an all time high, but so is the cost, with some parents paying over $650 per child to participate in interscholastic athletics. High school sports offer a variety of long term benefits for kids, from scholastic performance to successful workplace skills later in life. With many families unable to afford the rising costs of athletics, our youth are at risk for a variety of negative impacts.”
While this aims to strike an emotional chord with parents, coaches and teachers, it also works for readers as a whole. No one wants to see youth negatively affected and it make even the average reader feel a sense of emotion and urgency to help by painting a picture of what is at risk for youth.
Our tendency as educated humans is to interact with one another using our “new brains” or more sophisticated language, however, it is in our “old brains” where the majority of our decisions are made. This part of the brain can be triggered using some of the most basic, yet powerful words and phrases for a more persuasive outreach.
Keilah is a graduate of the University of Idaho. Working as an intern with Archer Education, she has gained experience in SEO and higher education content marketing while cultivating her creative skills. Keilah strives to become a future influencer in the digital marketing world.
