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Is this technique effective? You bet. In many tests, I've doubled response -- sometimes by adding just one sentence that conveys a good satisfaction conviction.
I received an e-mail from a company, a subsidiary of eBay, requesting my advice. They had an e-mail solicitation that wasn't drawing response that they had expected. What was wrong?
Looking over what they had created, I saw several mistakes, many of which would have been avoided if they knew psychological triggers that cause people to buy. Let me give you just one example.
In subject line of most e-mails that have solicited me, I have been able to tell, at a glance, that solicitation was for a specific service or an offer of something that I was clearly able to determine. Examples such as "Reduce your CD and DVD costs 50%," Or "Lose weight quickly," pretty much told me what they were selling. Was this good or bad?
The problem with those subject lines is that reader was able to quickly determine: 1) that it was an advertisement; and 2) that it was for some specific product or service.
Most people don't like advertising. And most people won't make effort to open their e-mail solicitation if they think they are getting an advertising message -- unless they are sincerely interested in buying something that advertisement offers.
The subject line of an e-mail is similar to headline of a mail order ad, or copy on an envelope, or first few minutes of an infomercial. You've got to grab somebody's attention and then get them to take next step. In case of envelope, you want them to open it. In case of an infomercial, you want them to keep watching, and in case of an e-mail, you want them open up e-mail and read your message.
The key, therefore, is to get a person to want to open your message by putting something into subject area of your e-mail that does not appear to be an advertising message -- one that would compel them to take next step. And best trigger to use for this is trigger of curiosity.
There are a number of ways you can use curiosity to literally force a person to take next step. You can then use this valuable tool to put a reader in correct frame of mind to buy what you have to offer.
Once again, all principles apply to every form of communication -- whether it be advertising, marketing or personal selling. And to know these triggers is key to more effective communication and most importantly, avoidance of costly errors that waste time and money.
Joe Sugarman, the best-selling author and top copywriter who has achieved legendary fame in direct marketing, is best known for his highly successful mail-order catalog company, JS&A. Joe's new breakthrough book, "Triggers," cracks the human psychological code by identifying 30 triggers that influence people to buy. http://www.roibot.com/tk_psy.cgi?ptyg1