Know your audience
Okay, so this isn’t exactly a writing tip. But it’s the foundation upon which your email’s effectiveness is built. If you don’t understand your audience you won’t be able to write persuasively. Consider looking into Generational Archetypes and tailor your email language, layout and intent based on your learns.
Social proof
Social proof describes the tendency to make choices based on other people’s decisions, because we believe those decisions reflect the right choices.
Marketing teams already leverage the concept of social proof through customer case studies and displaying customer or social share counts.
Reference high-profile successes you've had with customers or the satisfaction rating you hold.
Example: The McDonald’s slogan “Billions and billions served” calls out the company’s giant customer base.
Include a headshot in your email signature
When we make eye contact with people, we feel a subconscious sense of connection. In one Cornell University study, researchers edited images of the Trix rabbit mascot, then asked adults to pick between several cereal boxes bearing different versions of the image. Participants most often chose the box where the rabbit was directly looking at them.
You can’t make actual eye contact through email, and by no means should you include a massive photo of yourself in the body of an email!
It can be easy to forget that there’s a person on the other end of your emails.
Including a small headshot of yourself in an email signature is a subtle way to remind prospects that you’re human too.
Include a reason why
Giving people a reason why you need something -- no matter how ridiculous -- makes it far more likely they’ll do what you ask.
Psychologists conducted a study in which experimenters asked to skip ahead in line at a Xerox machine.
When they asked, “I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”, they were allowed to skip the line 60% of the time -- not a bad outcome.
But when they asked, “I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?”, 93% were allowed to skip the line.
Despite the fact that everyone else in the Xerox machine line needed to make copies, they complied with the request simply because the experimenters provided a reason.
I wouldn’t recommend making up ridiculous excuses to get your prospects to sign documents, but even providing a simple explanation can pay huge dividends.
Its only obvious that it needs doing to you...explain yourself.
Remind clients it’s their choice
Nobody likes to be told what to do -- especially when the person telling them to do something is a salesperson.
And even if you’re not being pushy or aggressive, many clients will still hate the suggestion that you know what’s best for them.
A simple reassurance that you’re not attempting to push your preferences or worldview onto your client is powerful. Across 42 psychology studies involving 22,000 subjects, it’s been demonstrated that using a phrase like “But the decision is yours” could double the chances that someone would say yes to a request.
Be careful: tempering every recommendation you make by reminding clients they have no obligation to listen to you isn’t a great idea.
But when you’re asking for a larger commitment or are dealing with a jumpy client, dropping in a reminder that you’re not here to force them into anything can be a powerful technique.
Use assertive language
If you sound sure of something, you actually MAKE people who hear you more sure.
The amplification hypothesis provides the science behind this phenomenon.
Researchers found that increased "attitude certainty," or the sureness with which you express a belief, can actually change other people's attitudes toward that value.
You should never be evasive about objections that require a legitimate response or guarantee a result you know isn't certain. But remove qualifiers or weak language where they don't serve any purpose, and ensure your writing is crisp and assertive so certainty permeates your emails.
Use "ultimate terms."
Certain words carry good or bad connotations powerful enough to influence action.
According to Changing Minds, ultimate terms fall into three categories: "God words," which have positive connotations, "Devil words," which have negative ones, and "Charismatic terms," which fall under neither good or bad but are words associated with intangible, observable phenomena (like "progress.").
Also known as "power words," these terms invoke basic needs in either a positive or negative way to appeal to the reader. Find a full list at Changing Minds.
Use power words sparingly before or in a request where it'll pack the most punch.