In this post,

1. Authority Bias - the tendency to believe and get influenced by an authority figure or an expert.

2. Scarcity Principle - if it is difficult to find, it is more desirable to own it or be a part of it.

3. Autonomy Bias - the need to be in control of your decisions and actions

4. Social Proof - when faced with an ambiguous decision, you would look at what other people similar to you did and then, do the same.

How do you write an email to register for an event?

How do you write an email that will get a response?

The email marketing team at Semrush answered the above questions beautifully by crafting a persuasive event registration email.

The email was GUARANTEED to get an open. With a high chance of converting.

How?

How to write email subject lines that get opened?

Last week, I received an email from Semrush for the Global Marketing Day 2023.

The subject line was “How do Adobe, Adidas and Hubspot do marketing?”

Semrush leveraged 2 human biases to persuade YOU, the reader.

The goal: email open because of the subject line.

Not ignore and not delete. But then, which marketer wants their email to get ignored or deleted?

Authority Bias

The tendency to get influenced by an 'authority' figure or an expert, unrelated to what they may be talking about.

So, you get curious and motivated to open the email.

Because a well-known company like Semrush has written about how other big companies like Adobe, Adidas and Hubspot do their marketing. Even if the actual email copy is for event registration.

Social Proof

The tendency to assume that because other people took a decision, it must be correct and less risky. They know something that we do not.

You are curious.

You want to know what are the marketing strategies and tactics of these bigger companies. These companies seem to be more knowledgeable about marketing within their industries.

It would be less risky for you and your business to adopt and follow their strategies. If they have done it, they learnt and know something that you do not.

Semrush also called out to the innate human desire for ‘more knowledge’, in their subject line. "How do" immediately triggers an emotional reaction to learning more about a topic.

Additionally,

Adobe is a software company.

Adidas is a retail company.

Hubspot is a CRM company.

They are different from each other. Their products and industry domains are different.

So, their marketing channels, content and communication should be different from each other.

Semrush is addressing marketers from various industries in one go. They did this by naming 3 different unrelated companies within the subject line.

How to write an engaging email body copy?

The first thing that you see when you open the email - Global Marketing Day 2023, February 16-17, 2023.

You feel that confusion creeping up. You double-check the subject line. Didn’t it say something about Adobe, Adidas and Hubspot?

The email body copy goes on to ask a question that you wouldn’t know for sure, as of today.

They want you to think about your schedule on a Thursday of 2023. But, that's next year - is what you think.

Your confusion becomes stronger.

You are uncertain and confused with where this is going. You are not comfortable right now.

The email copy lists down two options.

Option A

You will be doing the same thing that you are doing right now as you are reading their email. Business as usual. It is a working day. You would be at your desk wherever you work from and working away.

This is activating the Availability Bias.

You do know for certain about Thursday 2023 in October 2022. While you read option A, your brain is working to resolve the confusion and uncertainty that you feel.

Option A answers the questions Semrush asked before. You will be doing the same thing on Thursday 2023 as you are doing right now. Your brain immediately accepts this readily available information. A working day means the usual routine for you even in 2023.

BUT.

Option B says that on a Thursday in 2023, you can learn about Adidas doing SEO and Vimeo creating content.

Now,

1. You and most other marketers have some relationship with both SEO and content. So, you and most other marketers will be super-interested after reading option B.

   Your (and most other marketers’) attention has been captured.

2. You want to learn. You want answers. You want to know how these giants tackle SEO and content which is a struggle for many of us.
   

But,

Option B risks getting the Status Quo bias activated. It is the preference to maintain the current status and not change anything.

You may not want to change anything on that Thursday in 2023 and want it to be the same as usual.

Semrush overrode it by

1. appealing to your strong desire for knowledge, and

2. by activating authority bias by naming Adidas and Vimeo.

Next, they introduce the event and give details. The behavioral science magic in three lines of event details :

1. Make option B your reality

Semrush is handing you control. This is called Autonomy Bias where you want to be in control of your actions. Or at least, be made to think that you are.

2. Unique 24-hour online event

You do not want to miss out on an event that is unusual and different.

This is the Scarcity Principle. Anything that is less available is more desirable.

So, unique signifies that there is no other event like the Global Marketing Day 2023. Instant desire to be a part of the event.

3. Speakers from the world’s most notable brands

What are your chances of hearing Hubspot’s senior marketing manager talk about marketing strategies for Hubspot? Or the SEO manager for Adidas discuss SEO growh strategies? Or Vimeo’s content head explain the process to create viral content?

Less than average. Unless you know them in some capacity. Or if they share this knowledge on a public platform like LinkedIn.

When you read ‘the world’s most notable brands’, your authority bias kicks in again. Because everyone wants to hear the expert.

And these experts are exclusive.

Your mind is already made up. You want to be an attendee.

4. Join the event anytime, from anywhere

You will not miss out and you are in control. You can join whenever you want and from wherever you want to.

Semrush activates your autonomy bias where you think that you are in control. AT the same time, their copy removes the fear of missing out.

Beautiful play of words and emotions.

By this time, you are all set to click on the CTA button to register yourself.

How to write a call-to-action button that converts?

The beauty of this email is the CTA button.

By the time you reach the end of the email, you are ready to register.

The CTA is simple - confirm your registration.

The text is confirming your decision to become an attendee. You click to register for the event.

These behind-the-scenes persuasive activities took less than a minute to happen.

This is the magic of persuasive content writing. Words backed by Behavioural Science.

Are you crafting an event registration email? Remember to include some of the following:

1. Authority Bias - the tendency to believe and get influenced by an authority figure or an expert. This is critical for any conference or speaker event

2. Scarcity Principle - if it is difficult to find, it is more desirable to own it or be a part of it

3. Autonomy Bias - you are in control of if you want to be a part and how you want to be a part of the event

4. Social Proof - Convey that the attendees will learn something that is new and was tried and proven by people similar to them.

When you are ready and willing, I can help you craft persuasive content for your business.