Writing A Seductive Email

Let’s get to the most important point of this post: everything you say has a massive impact on your success in-person and online.

Words are powerful.

Emails and cold calls are an entrepreneur’s worst nightmare, but they work.

Leagues of vested entrepreneurs will tell you that making sales, getting funded, or gaining publicity, is a numbers game. And it is.

But there are a few things you can do to optimize your conversion — AND conversation— skills.

Neuromarketing Tactics

In neuromarketing, we study cognitive triggers.

We look at the finer details in human interaction to determine the specific moment a customer is ready to buy a product or service.

We work with cognitive biases like the “authority bias” and “consistency bias” — the framing, bandwagon, humor, and decoy effects also play an important role in consumer seduction.

The goal is to trigger mirror neurons and communicate with a user’s subconscious, compelling them to sell themselves without any active persuasion on our part.

Emailing provides a unique opportunity to approach your target customer, in an intimate setting, and get your message across.

Through emails, you won’t be able to generate immediate feedback or trigger the receiver’s defenses.

The downside: You get one shot to make an impression.

Emailing is an excellent way to approach someone — but it must be done with tact and creativity.

Email Marketing Sucks

I absolutely hate the “cold” approach.

It’s so awkward, there’s a lot of rejection involved, and the sale is rarely made on the first touch.

However, the first touch has to be made at some point and it’s usually not a comfortable experience.

You may have to make seven touches before your target is ready to buy from you. This means you’ll have to leave with nothing, sacrifice your time, answer uncomfortable questions, and schmooze them before getting anything in return.

But avoiding or prolonging the process can cost you more than you’d imagine.

Why do we avoid conversations with the people we want to talk to most?

We talk to the cashiers at Trader Joe’s, our neighbors, and pets — so WHY do we avoid conversing with the people who hold the keys to our success?

FEAR.

According to a study conducted by Chapman University, Americans experience the most fear when it comes to:

1. Public speaking
2. Heights
3. Bugs, snakes, and other “dangerous” animals
4. Drowning/large bodies of water
5. Blood/needles

Although minimally dangerous, these fears set the tone from where we travel to what we eat. Cold calling and emailing tend to trigger the same fears, but we’re still learning exactly why that is.

Perhaps the potential of closing a big deal is akin to climbing a mountain.

Perhaps the sales process resembles public speaking because you’re pitching something you’d like to sell or do to a complete stranger to receive judgment.

Perhaps, the possibility of rejection is akin to being pricked or bitten and causes immense suffering.

Who knows…

But one thing we’re certain about is that fear is embedded in the subconscious mind of entrepreneurs, and it’s the only thing that’s stopping you from growing your business.

Here’s How We Work Around This Fear

Our average email open rate is around 40%.

That’s not perfect, but it tells us that something we’re doing is working. These are some of the neuromarketing tactics we use:

1. Be direct. Time is more valuable than money and you can’t get it back. Don’t beat around the bush and waste your prospect’s time. They won’t like you very much.
2. Don’t say too much about yourself. Avoid asking for an appointment or sale. Don’t share an hour-long saga about your life. Be direct in your approach, but mysterious with your intention.
3. Earn trust. What you say should help the prospect feel the urge to tell you what is most important to them right now. A cold email should be centered around adding value to the prospect’s life. Don’t worry about your needs or goals at this point. The first few touches are all about learning & listening. But how can you “listen” in a one-way conversation?
4. Spark the buyers’ curiosity about what you do. They should begin to wonder how you might help them. If you’ve done your research, you know why you reached out to them, and how you can help them. Now it’s their job to figure it out (avoid talking about your solution until they ask — Trust me they will ask).
5. Avoid telling the prospect how you can help. Be short and use biases to trigger curiosity about having a conversation with you (not a meeting).
6. Use dating tactics. You wouldn’t go up to a stranger and say “you’re really hot, let’s get married.” Maybe you would be 9/10 it won’t be an effective approach. Instead, you might try to appear interesting and approach someone you’re attracted to in a coy, seductive manner. The most effective strategy is to get the other person to ask you on the next date.

The Confirmation Bias

If you can get someone you’re attracted to — to ask you on the next date, that request confirms their attraction to you.

Once they’ve said yes to you, they’ll say yes again and again.

This is because humans like to be consistent when it comes to decision-making — ie, the consistency bias.

Then once they’ve been consistent for a while, and decided to buy from you — we have the post-purchase rationalization bias.

Have you ever bought something or dated someone, and continued your pursuit even though it clearly wasn’t working out?

We all want to feel smart, and confident in our decision-making abilities — and it’s human nature to remain consistent for a long, long time.

End-users will continue selling themselves on why they decided to work with you.

The process is systematic & strategic.

With email marketing, the ball is very much in your court.

The key is to shift your mindset away from sales & meetings, toward provoking.

It’s basically the art of seduction.

Here are a few phrases that will help you provoke your prospect.

Forget the meeting

Asking for calls and meetings, especially when you’ve just met someone, usually fails.

When you begin by attempting to schedule an appointment, you‘re scaring people away. Most people aren’t ready for a solution yet, hence why you’re contacting them and not the other way around.

Often, they’re unaware they have a problem — or unaware of just what that problem is.

This is why it’s so important that they come to the conclusion they should meet with you ON THEIR OWN.

Get Them Talking

Your only goal in email marketing is to create a subconscious urge within the receiver that gets them to reply.

Ask neutral questions, ideally, you want to get them talking about their family life, hobbies, and passion that led them into their career. Ask questions that won’t make them feel vulnerable to a sales pitch, keeping the focus on their own life, without making them defensive.

Do not talk about your products or services, even if they ask.

Redirect all questions to information-gathering and fact-finding.

Everything you learn in the beginning will help you to understand the customer and help them to trust you.

These tactics effectively earn further response and keep the conversation going.

Eventually, they may catch onto this conversational volley, they’ll research you, and your expertise will speak for itself.