INBOUND 2016 5-Minute Sessions: Nancy Harhut

So, hi, Nancy Harhut here. Welcome to 10 Human Behavior Hacks that will change the way you create email. Now, of course, this is the abbreviated version, so we're just going to focus on one creative hack. However, there's something you should know before we get there, and that something is people rely on decision making shortcuts. Everybody does. What are decision making shortcuts? There are certain automatic, instinctive, reflexive responses. Humans have developed these over, over the millennia as a way to conserve mental energy because we couldn't possibly weigh every bit of information before making a decision, or we'd never get around to making any. So we've developed these hardwired decision defaults. We kind of cruise along on autopilot through life. We encounter a certain situation or a stimulus, and we just default to these hardwired behaviors, giving them little to no thought. Social scientists have documented dozens and dozens and dozens of these, and some of them control what we read, when we buy, who we trust. And that's why they're so important to email marketers. Now, I want to share one of them with you. And that hack is words that work like magic in subject lines. And the words that work like magic in subject lines are eye magnet words. An imagnet word has the power to reach out and pull the human eye in. It attracts it. Think about this. When we write, we write in a very linear fashion. One word followed by the next, followed by the next. But that's not how we read. When we read, we skim and scan, and certain words jump out and pull us in. Those are the words you want in your subject lines. Let me share a few of them with you. The word new. According to Copyblogger, new is one of the top five most persuasive words in the English language. And for very good reason. The human brain craves novelty. In fact, when we find something that's new, it activates the pleasure center in our brains. So we're constantly looking for the next new thing so we can get that reward. So in your subject lines, you use the word new. Now, introducing, announcing. Finally, soon discover the whole family of new words. Second eye magnet word free. Now, there was a time when you absolutely didn't want free in your subject line, but that has changed. In fact, free was one of the top performing subject line words the last two years, according to world data. And according to Sidekick, you can get a 10% lift in your opening rate just by using the word free. Why, you ask? Well, for that answer, we turn to Dan Ariely, who noted behavioral economist and New York Times best selling author of the book Predictably Irrational. In it, he devotes an entire chapter to the pulling power of the word free. He explains that free gives us such an emotional charge that we place far more value on free items than they're really worth. So free is a great word. Last tip I'm going to give you ImagNetWord, your name, my name, and most importantly, your target's name. We all love our names, and here at the conference you'll be chatting with someone. There'll be nothing but background noise in the background until someone mentions your name. What happens? Your ear perks right up. Same thing when you're reading, skimming, scanning. You see your name, go right to it. Social scientists explain it as the principle of liking. We feel more positive and more drawn to things that remind us of ourselves. And what reminds us of ourselves more than our names? Our names are very dear to us. So if you can personalize your subject lines according to Experian, you can get a 29.3% lift in your opening rates when you do so. Those are just a few of the hacks. Check out the full 10 human behavior hacks to change the way you create email marketing. Catch me when you can. Nancy Harha, Wild Agency See you around.