Presentation from Action Design Chicago meetup on 02/17/2016.
Do you use email marketing to communicate with your clients and customers? Do you expect them to read and engage with those emails? Of course you do.
However, the reality is that clients often fail to engage with the communications, or don't follow through and take action on them.
How do you create communications that are effective and engaging for people? In this presentation, Erik Johnson from Morningstar will cover how to identify & overcome behavioral obstacles that stop people from engaging with your communications. He’ll walk through the psychology that prevents people from opening and taking action all the way through to the technology platform that you'll need to develop to target specific obstacles and find out what really works.
9. 9
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capturing Attention
/Creating Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
11. Leading provider of independent investment advice
serving millions of people everyday, around the world
12. 12
• A new team of behavioral scientists and experts at Morningstar
• Behavioral scientists study the quirks of the mind: how people often act
“irrationally” and how small interventions can help people change their
behavior.
• At Morningstar, we apply behavioral science to better understand, and help,
everyday investors and their ecosystem.
Steve Wendel Head of
Behavioral Science
Sarah Newcomb
Behavioral Scientist
Amna Kanoun
Program Manager
Merve Akbas
Behavioral Scientist
Erik Johnson
Marketing Optimization
Manager
About the Behavioral Insights Team
15. 15
Hundreds of experiments
“...If you sign up by
7PM today,
you are eligible to
win a free iPad mini!”
“...If you are one of
the first 100 people
to sign up, you are
eligible to win a free
iPad mini!”
18. 18
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capturing Attention
/Create Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
22. gThe current moods we feel, the options we have
at the time, past experiences, and any other
data affect our decisions.
gAs much as 95% of our decisions are driven by
the intuition and emotion of the moment
22
Context matters
Our decision making is largely dependent on the context of when we are making the choice
Getting the Timing Right
Zaltman, Mani Babbar Photography
23. 23
Danziger et al. 2011
What would cause radical changes in parole rates over time?
Getting the Timing Right
24. 24
Danziger et al. 2011
The answer is as simple as hunger
Getting the Timing Right
26. The Fogg Behavior Model
26
Getting the Timing Right
Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Trigger
gTrigger = receiving your communication
gWhen is their motivation high?
/When do they have the time to complete the action?
gWhen is their ability high?
/When are they at the computer to open?
/When is their focus high and distractions low?
gBefore sending, think, “when would I most want to read and react to this?”
Behaviormodel.org
29. gTuesday and Thursday mornings are generally the best times for email.
gSaturday and Sunday for longer form content or complicated actions
29
Timing best practices
Timing examples you can use now
Getting the Timing Right
30. 30
When should you tell employees about a new program?
Getting the Timing Right
10:30am Saturday 5:00pm Saturday 10:30am Sunday 5:00pm Sunday
11:00am Thursday 10:30am Thursday 10:30am Friday 8:00am Friday
31. 31
When should you tell employees about a new program?
Getting the Timing Right
10:30am Saturday 5:00pm Saturday 10:30am Sunday 5:00pm Sunday
6.4% clicked 7.2% clicked4.7% clicked 5.7% clicked
11:00am Thursday 10:30am Thursday 10:30am Friday 8:00am Friday
4.1% clicked 5% clicked4.5% clicked 5.9% clicked
33. 33
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Get the Timing Right
/Capture Attention
/Create Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
38. 38
Convince and Convert
It starts with the subject line
35% of emails are opened based on subject line alone
Capture Attention
39. 39
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capture Attention
/The elements of a good subject line
– Specificity
– Personalization
– Start strong
/Creating Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
40. gClearly tell what it’s about
gState what it’s about and why it’s interesting
to them
40
Chris Potter
The elements of a good subject line
Specificity
Capture Attention
42. 42
The elements of a good subject line
Capture Attention
62% increase in
leads
WhichTestWon
43. 43
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capture Attention
/The elements of a good subject line
– Specificity
– Personalization
– Start strong
/Creating Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
44. gPersonalize the message
gShow that it’s actually relevant to them by
including their name or other information like
job title
44
The elements of a good subject line
Personalization
Capture Attention
46. gHaving just the first name personalization increases your click-through-rate from about 5.8% to 7%
gEmails with “You” in the subject line are opened 5% more than those without
g4 out of 10 marketing emails are marked as spam because readers think they are irrelevant
46
Quicksprout; HubSpot; 2014 Science of Email
The elements of a good subject line
Personalization pays
Capture Attention
47. 47
The elements of a good subject line
Capture Attention
Subject Line: Introducing
a new tool from your
401(k) plan!
Subject Line: [Employer]
Associates, Introducing
a new tool from your
401(k) plan!
48. 48
34% opened 38% opened
The elements of a good subject line
Capture Attention
Subject Line: Introducing
a new tool from your
401(k) plan!
Subject Line: [Employer]
Associates, Introducing
a new tool from your
401(k) plan!
49. gMake the sender a person’s name rather than
a company
gMake it official and trustworthy
49
The elements of a good subject line
Send from a real person
Capture Attention
53. 53
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capture Attention
/The elements of a good subject line
– Specificity
– Personalization
– Start strong
/Creating Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
54. gStart strong: length doesn’t matter, but the
first 30 characters do
gWith more opens on mobile, the first
characters of the subject line are more
important
gIn research, the overall length is irrelevant
54
Sebastian Mary
The elements of a good subject line
Start strong
Capture Attention
58. 58
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Get the Timing Right
/Get their Attention
/Create Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
64. 64
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capturing Attention
/Create Action
/Make the action easy
– Make it clear
– Get to the point
– Make it easy to read
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
65. 65
Make the action easy
Create Action
otama
Make it clear
gASK the reader
gMake it clear what they should do
66. gTell the reader why they should click
gIt can be a short phrase
/“Get your free delivery”
/“Secure my investments”
66
Make the action easy
Make it clear
Create Action
Fitocracy
69. 69
Make the action easy
From vague to actionable language
Create Action
200% increase
70. 70
Make the action easy
Create Action
Make it clear
gVisually separate the CTA from the rest of the
content
gIt should be clear and easy to find
CrazyEgg
72. 72
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capturing Attention
/Create Action
/Make the action easy
– Make it clear
– Get to the point
– Make it easy to read
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
73. gThe necessary action and its benefits should
be clear right away
gReaders will only see the first few lines before
having to scroll down. Make them count.
gFor many readers, the subject line or summary
is enough, so let them take the next step
quickly
73
Make the action easy
Get to the point
Creating Action
Capital One 360
74. 74
Make the action easy
Create Action
Get to the point
gPlace it above the fold so they can take action
without scrolling
UserTesting
75. 75
Agenda
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capturing Attention
/Create Action
/Make the action easy
– Make it clear
– Get to the point
– Make it easy to read
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
76. gUse subheadings and short paragraphs
gPeople skim from the left in an “F” pattern
/Subheadings make it easy to jump to
content they are most interested in
76
Make the action easy
Creating Action
Make it easy to read
Bri Williams
77. 77
Make it easy to read
Creating Action
Make it easy to read
gUse images and white space
gImages catch the eye
/Especially ones of people
/Breaks up blocks of text
gWhite spaces make it easier to read
78. Agenda
78
What’s this about?
What we’ll cover
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Get the Timing Right
/Capture Attention
/Create Action
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
93. gIsn’t it bad I don’t have the right answer?
g“Won’t my ideas be proven wrong?”
gIt’s new and different, so unsafe.
93
GotCredit
Isn’t it risky?
Optimization
94. 94
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can
ever achieve greatly.”
- Robert F. Kennedy
95. gVet ideas cheaply, before devoting significant
resources
gLearn what drives users to develop new ideas
95
Alan Levine
Fail fast and learn cheaply
Optimization
96. 96
Fast Company; The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Fail fast and learn cheaply
Optimization
99. 99
Wrapping up
gThe psychology behind good communications and best practices to implement
/Getting the Timing Right
/Capturing Attention
/The elements of a good subject line
– Specificity
– Personalization
– Start strong
/Creating Action
/Make the action easy
– Make it clear
– Get to the point
– Make it easy to read
gOptimization: how and why to test and iterate for the best results
100. gContext determines our decisions
gOur attention is limited
gAction is hard
100
dierk schaefer
Know the psychology
Wrapping up
101. gSend on Tuesday or Thursday mornings
gThe elements of a good subject line
/Specificity
/Personalization
/Start strong
gMake the action easy
/Make it clear
/Get to the point
/Make it easy to read
101
namestartswithj89
Best practices are a starting point
Wrapping up
102. gBest practices aren’t infallible
gWe never truly know until we test it
102
Matthias Ripp
Experimentation is the real key
Wrapping up
103. 103
Where to learn more
gOptimizely Resource Library
gConversionXL A/B Testing Mastery: From Beginner To Pro in a Blog Post
gHBR: Why the Future of Social Science Is with Private Companies
gNaked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data
gField Experiments: Design, Analysis, and Interpretation