Email marketing, like all marketing processes, is about persuasion.
Maybe you don’t have a product you’re selling. Maybe you are selling a way of life. Maybe you’re selling a concept, like living “greener” or doing more with less, or promoting your favorite political candidate. Whatever your email message, if you’re in email marketing and communication, your goal is to persuade.
The art of persuasion is as old as humanity itself… or at least as old as its stories. If you go back in time and review the stories of persuasion, you will find that they have not changed… since the beginning.
You’ll find the same three elements of persuasion… used over and over again. They are the same three elements that are as necessary to the success of your email marketing campaign as they have been since Aristotle first defined rhetoric. shakespeare google julia caesar and you will find, in the speeches of Brutus and Marc Anthony, how the art of persuasion works.
In their speeches following the assassination of Julius Caesar, both Brutus and Marc Anthony first establish their credibility and build a bond with the audience. Each one then stirs up the excitement of the crowd and ultimately leads them towards the conclusion they want the audience to come to. While they both ask the audience to come to a different conclusion, they both use elements of persuasion.
In your email marketing efforts, regardless of your end goal, make sure you have these three elements in place:
- Establish credibility…what Aristotle called distinctive character. Before you consider taking action, your prospects must trust you. They should feel comfortable and in control. All of your communication should tie together, in a step-by-step method, to guide your prospect through the process. Let prospects search for more information via web page links if they’re not ready to buy… or make a decision. Let the information contain the following items.
- Arouse the emotion towards action.…what Aristotle called pathos…the motivating factor. Demonstrate, with emotional language, the benefits that are available. “Do you want your children to grow up without the opportunity to find the freedom to choose their own path? Do you want them to grow up without the freedom of choice…or do you want them to have the same opportunities to find health, wealth, and happiness that you have enjoyed? ”
- Establish reasons and arguments to create action.. This is what Aristotle called logos or the ordering of reasons. “I love my freedom to choose. I know you do too. By electing Bob Jones to Congress this session, we can ensure that our rights and privileges remain intact so that our children… and our children’s children… Enjoy them. Pledge your support for freedom by casting your vote for Bob Jones next Tuesday.”
Your target market has given you permission to talk to them via email for a reason. They think you speak the same language as them. They have determined that you are credible.
Your emails should reinforce this credibility by speaking their language. Your emails should anticipate the questions your prospects may have, establishing an emotional connection that reinforces their decision to trust you without distracting them from the persuasion process.
Next, your emails need to take your prospect to a final decision step, and then make sure that step is solid…solidly easy to navigate to the final conclusion…whatever conclusion you want them to reach. arrive.
