7 persuasion techniques to use in your emails

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products or services that I recommend. I may receive a commission should you sign up through my link (but at no additional cost to you). I only suggest products and services that I wholeheartedly support and believe in and have either used myself or have used on behalf of a private client.

If you’re now convinced that an email strategy is worthwhile, you might be wondering how you can write emails that convert. If you want your customers to buy by using some clever persuasion tactics, then look no further.

7 persuasion techniques to use in your emails

I’m sure you already know why you should be harnessing the power of an effective email strategy to sell your products or services. If you're not yet convinced, go read this article: Why Use Email Marketing.

But now you might ask “how do I write emails that connect and convert?”. 

Well, it just so happens that since the dawn of advertising, copywriters and marketers have been using psychology to help move people towards a buying decision. Of course, these persuasion tactics can be used for good or they can be used for evil. But of course the method in which you apply them is up to you.

If you need a few tips on how to market your products more ethically, then check out this post: What is Ethical Marketing?

Since you’re here reading this post on MY site, I’m going to assume you’re at least a little bit like me and value ethics and morals. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use tried and tested methods to sell your products. After all, your products do good in the world and the more people that use them, the better future there is for humanity.

So, I’m now going to reveal 7 different persuasion techniques that you can use in your emails to help your customers make the decision to buy.

How to use psychology for emails that result in sales

1. Reciprocity

Reciprocity is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit. It’s also the tactic that EVERY online business marketer harnesses when offering a free opt-in offer or discount on first purchase.

It’s the ol’ “let me give you something of value, which will buy me favour with you, and then you at some point will want to return the favour by buying one of my products”.

At first it sounds a little sleazy, but have you ever had a friend offer to help you out with something, then when they need help you’re more than willing to help out too (I’m assuming you’d help out anyway, because that’s what people like us do, but you get what I mean?).

And in our case of reciprocity for marketing, the response of “let me help you out too” is your customer saying “I’d like to buy your product” but it’s not because they’re helping you out… they actually get benefit from purchasing your product too (or at least they should!).

In the words of Hannibal Lecter “quid pro quo”... reciprocity is the psychological tactic of offering value and then asking for the sale. Just like Gary Vaynerchuk talks about in his book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook”.

2. Social proof

I have no doubt you know the power of social proof, and I’m assuming you have a product review app set up for your e-commerce store, because there’s nothing better than using your own customers words to help sell your products.

You can repurpose these reviews in your emails to showcase the benefits of your products. However, they also have a powerful underlying tactic to them. 

As Robert Cialdini talks about in his book “Influence”, using social proof can help change people's beliefs. Even beliefs that have had them running scared for years.  An example in the book talks about a study of children who were afraid of dogs, not just afraid but petrified. They used scenarios where they showed them other children, of the same age, petting and playing with dogs of all types. 

Over the time of consistently being exposed to seeing children playing with dogs without any terrible consequences, the group of control kids (those afraid of dogs) started feeling more confident around dogs because they’d seen proof that it was possible to not get attacked by dogs. 

And this tactic is the same with your products. As your customers have exposure to more and more proof about how and why your products get great results, this will stir the desire for them to want the same results themselves, even if they’ve been skeptical before.

3. Scarcity

Scarcity harnesses the emotional state of “the fear of missing out”. If you’ve positioned your products correctly you’ll have already poked at the desire already hidden in the hearts of your customers but when all of a sudden there’s a possibility that they may NOT have the option to buy your product, then there’s a more urgent need to buy there and then.

Of course, like all persuasion techniques if you want to do “scarcity” in a way that is ethical, then you must make sure your scarcity is authentic.

Perhaps you’re running out of stock of a particular product and it will be a while before the next batch is ready, you can notify your customers of this and use scarcity in a way that is truthful and honest.

Or perhaps you are releasing a limited edition of one of your products, you’ll only have a certain number available so “quick hurry, before they’re all gone” can be said with genuine scarcity in mind. 

This was a technique that one of my podcast guests talked about in Episode 12 of The Business of Universal Kindness Podcast. Fiona from Tots Bots told me about a time when they released a limited edition cloth nappy to commemorate the birth of Prince George. They sold like hot cakes and even ended up being a prized collectors item, re-selling for three or four times the retail price on eBay.

4. Price anchoring

No matter how you price your products, it’s a good idea to show the value of it by comparing the price to something else your customer most likely buys – something that they don’t have to make a tough decision on.

For example you could compare your $35 organic hair shampoo to the same price as two weeks of their favorite Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks.

Another price anchoring technique is setting your customers expectations to think that your product is more expensive than it is. By talking about the benefits of your product and then hinting that your customer might expect it to cost $35, you can then show them that it’s a bargain at the actual price of $10.

5. Belonging

As much as we think we like to have our own space, humans are communal and they like to be part of the crowd, not to be conformist but to have a sense of belonging.

I’m sure you have a memory from when you were at school when you were excluded from an activity or a group of people. It was probably devastating. When you’re finally accepted into a community you feel welcomed and valued.

Using this technique of “belonging” you can set your customer up to want to be part of your gang. You can mention how many other people have found value in your product, or how many others are part of your community.  

Apple positions their products very well because their latest iPhone is the latest “must-have”.  By owning it, their customers feel special and part of an elite group.

The technique of belonging can marry very nicely with social proof to help people believe in your products and want to be part of a community by owning it. As well as matching well with scarcity too, so that your customer will feel excited to have been able to purchase one of a limited edition or one of the last in stock.

6. Fork in the road

By offering the image of a fork in the road, you are placing your customer at the point where they need to make their decision. It helps get them off the fence of trying to decide if they should buy or not.

You create an image of what life will look like if they continue on the path they’re on, and what it could look like once they purchase your product.

As an example of a previous fake product I’ve used “No Sweat-Ness”, my natural deodorant line, I could say something like this:

“So, you could continue putting up with stinky pits and embarrassing patches day in and day out, or you COULD get your own No Sweat-Ness stick today and feel fresh as a daisy forevermore – starting tomorrow (place your order by 9pm to get delivery by 9am tomorrow)”

7. Affirmation

It can be a little too easy to continue to focus on getting your customers to buy, when in fact you should also consider making sure the customers who have bought are happy with their products. 

Most people make purchasing decisions based on emotion backed by logic, so once they buy what often happens is that the logical takes over and puts them in a position to fall prey to “buyers remorse” where they start to forget about the emotional reason why they bought and start analysing why they bought.

To counter this it’s a good idea to keep their emotions in play and affirm that they’ve made a great decision in buying your product while they wait for delivery, and as they start to use it.

Keeping the connection to their emotions and continuing to highlight the benefits of using your product will make for much happier customers who are less likely to request refunds AND will want to come back for more!

This tactic is probably obvious to use in a post purchase sequence to get them excited about receiving their product and remind them why they bought.

Put these tactics to use in your emails

When planning your emails, remember these techniques so you can use them ethically to help you sell more of your products. The more emails you write, the easier it becomes to naturally use persuasion tactics in your copy, then you’ll be rocking emails that sell without having to do the “hard sell”!

If you have any questions about this, you’re more than welcome to get in touch with me through my contact form here.