Use Emotional Triggers in Your Email Copy

Use Emotional Triggers in Your Email Copy

written by Houston Golden
February 24th, 2017
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How many emotional triggers do you include in your outbound emails? Do you even know?

If not, you could be writing better emails. An emotional trigger is something your recipients have an affinity towards. This is often their job title, company name, hobbies, relevant social validation, and more.

Here’s an example email I’ve sent out:

Triggers, Use Emotional Triggers in Your Email Copy

This copy receives a 20% join rate into my Facebook Group when I email C-level executives. It’s a long email too! Here’s the trick. Every line of copy is perfectly formulated to get them to take action. In the first line, I pull five emotional triggers.

  1. Refer to a friend
  2. Focus on them by using the word “you”
  3. Mention the city they live in
  4. I include what they do for work (marketer or a founder)
  5. I provide social validation with the number “600”
 What Else?

In the second sentence, I add another three emotional triggers:

  1. I refer to the area they live in, Silicon Valley
  2. And I provide social validation with my Meetup of 2,000+ members
  3. And I also provide even more social validation with the Facebook Group of 4,600+ members

In the third sentence, I ensure they know it’s an exclusive invite to make them feel special. Next, I include three lines of social validation by pointing out the influencers who moderate the group. Then, I include a bolded call-to-action.

I end the body copy on a friendly note by telling them I’m open to discussion. I get hundreds of replies! For the signature, I include my prominent title and a link to our website page where we list our community’s influencers. Now that’s a lot of emotional triggers!

Here’s another example email I send out:

Triggers, Use Emotional Triggers in Your Email Copy

This email receives close to a 40% reply rate! In this email, I refer to the person’s department (growth) and the company name. In the second line, I include a ton of social validation from community numbers to prominent publications. This is why it’s so important to create an excellent personal brand with guest posting and community building; otherwise, you couldn’t include these emotional triggers.

The fourth sentence works wonders. I explain how I’ve already done an interview with a prominent figure in growth at a well-known company. Moreover, the post received many shares! Who doesn’t want that?

I end with a very specific call to action that doesn’t give them a lot of room to think (which is good!). Thinking enables them to give a quick response such as “sure” or “sounds good.” That’s all I need to start a conversation.

The Gist

Email copy is an often overlooked growth tactic because people think it’s easy. That’s far from the truth. I rarely see emails with excellent copy. When I do, it gives me a sign that the person sending the email did his due diligence when researching me. That alone will increase my response rate. Plus, this tactic doesn’t require a single tool. It only requires you to write better. And the skill translates to better ad and blog post copy, too.

Now, go back and look through your email copy. See if you can add emotional triggers while keeping a clear and succinct message. If you can, then your recipients will be more likely respond and click through on your call to action. So, the next time you want to write an email, ask yourself how many emotional triggers are you pulling?

 

About the Author

The name's Houston Golden. I'm the Founder & CEO of BAMF — a company I've grown from $0 (yes, really) to well over $5M+ in revenue over a span of 5 years.

How did I do it? Well, it's quite simple, really. I've helped hundreds of business owners and executives get major traction (because when they win, we win), I tell all on this blog.

Growth hacking is a state of mind. Follow along as I explore and expose the unknown growth strategies and tactics that will change the way you think about marketing.
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