While attending Google’s sales Masterclass last year, I was introduced to a term called influence factor. These influence factors were taken from Professor Robert Cialdini (who is an expert at Psychology and has advised former Presidents and candidates). According to Cialdini, there are 6 factors of persuasion (recently the 7^th factor was also proposed/added, but we will keep it out of our discussion). So let’s dive straight into these expert techniques & tips on how to write a persuasive email:

1. Reciprocity (Returning a favor)

Try to provide free samples, people generally do return favors. But do ensure your free sample or free service that you provide does add value to the current offering the reader/user has. Reciprocity will be an initial step towards writing a persuasive email.

For example, link to a lecture, training video, useful piece of information or plain simple fun. But do ensure that you provide something worthy in the eyes of the user/subscriber. This free & valuable information drill down your leads into the persuasive email marketing campaign.

2. Commitment (Follow through with promise)

 If you are able to provide a guarantee or commit to a promise then it is likely that more people would go through your emailer/article and respond. Irrespective of the fact whether that promise is followed through later or not, you will get the attention you want. (That does not mean that you back out of your promises, be long-term greedy, not short term – you will find a lot of information around “long-term greedy” online).

 3. Social Proof (Follow the crowd)

 The internet does allow people to discuss and have their own opinions, but unfortunately, these are still biased or “partially knowledgeable” (which is more dangerous in today’s time) people. We still have the herd mentality and if you are able to show that you (your offering) are accepted by someone similar to the user then the chances of your campaign being a success go up.

 4. Authority (We know our stuff)

 People follow leaders, you need to show your leadership skills along with subject matter expertise. Chances are people who read about you, your offering, your product. So, you have to ensure that you have maintained an authoritative/leadership like position across the different mediums.

5. Liking (We prefer to do business with those we like)

You have to ensure that the other person likes you. It could be challenging when you are not actually meeting the person face to face, keeping your content relevant, short, honest and transparent would help build a good first impression. Good grammar will get you those extra brownie points for sure.

6. Scarcity (Limited Supply)

 Only 5 items remaining, 30 minutes left – these terms create a sense of urgency. People like the be owners of limited edition items (take the example of cars). But draw the line as you do not want your article/emailer to become to salesy in nature. Your persuasive email format should be neutral in nature to give the user a sense of being a part of the community.

 7. Unity (Not going to be discussed)

HERE’S A PERSUASIVE EMAIL EXAMPLE:

Dear (Name of the Person)

Thank you for reaching out to us for your Digital Marketing requirements. My Name is (Name of the Contacting Person) and I am the Business Development Manager at (Company Name).

Our Company is a leader in software development and Digital Marketing. We have worked with a plethora of clients including Fortune 100 Companies for their software and digital requirements.

We did an in-depth study of your brand, website, social media and competitors using various tools, and observed the following:

(List of observations)

We believe that with our solutions, you would become the first-in mind brand for the services you provide. We have handled several projects in your domain and are confident of bringing in more business for your brand.

Here is a presentation outlining our services, our previous and present clients and our accomplishments.

We would love to tell you more and discuss how we could work together. Would you have time for a call at some point this week or the next?

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Regards,

(Name)

(Signature)

 

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