This article was originally posted in July 2020 and has been updated to reflect new insights and data.

As a marketer, persuasion is our profession. Our whole job boils down to “get people interested in our product or aware of our brand” and that extends to email marketing as well, of course.

It can be challenging. If you’ve ever created a campaign you thought was going to knock it out of the park, only to watch it flop, you know what I mean.

That’s okay. We’re here to teach you some persuasive email marketing techniques to take your campaigns from good to great.

Dial In Your Audience

The most important factor isn’t your subject line, email body, or anything else like that. It’s your audience. No matter how amazing your email and your product, if you’re sending your campaigns to the wrong people, you’ll fail.

Make sure your audience targeting is on point, and that your list matches that audience.

Add Social Proof

It’s always a good idea to back up your claims of “My product is absolutely awesome and you need it right now” with some data. Including social proof is a great way to add legitimacy to your marketing angle.

First of all, try adding a customer testimonial to your email. All the important bits, like your body and CTA, should come before it, but it’s a great way to reinforce your message.

If a testimonial doesn’t seem to be making a big difference, try including a case study instead, especially if you have one that involves a company that’s similar to your contact’s business.

“Company X achieved 322% revenue growth using our product, and I believe we can help you achieve similar results. Here’s the case study.” You’ve got a bold, impressive claim and a study to back it up. That’s a much more persuasive email already.

Make Eye Contact

Eye contact is a great way to convey earnestness and convince people that you’re serious. You’re probably wondering just how to make eye contact with someone via email, though.

It’s easy: include a nice headshot in your email signature, where you’re making direct eye contact with the camera. Smile, too!

This is a bit of subliminal psychology that can actually be pretty impactful. That’s because you’re automatically building a baseline connection with your contacts. This reinforces the fact that there’s an actual person at the other end of the email.

Craft Compelling Copy

Cold email copywriting is a deep topic on its own, but you can quickly make your emails more persuasive by reminding the reader of a problem they have that you’re about to solve.

One of the opening sentences of your email should highlight the problem that your contact is having and you can solve for them. If your campaign goal is to generate opt-ins via an eBook about sales techniques, ask the reader if they’re having trouble meeting higher sales quotas. Then introduce your eBook.

That way, the issue is at the front of their mind when you introduce your solution to it.

Dial Back Your Pitch

At the end of the day, no matter how awesome your campaign is, it’s still a marketing campaign and people will recognize that. People can get very annoyed by the same old tricks and phrases, so try dialing it back a bit.

Even if you’re already not being particularly pushy, some people will inevitably be predisposed to ignore you just because you’re trying to sell them something – if not now, then later.

Try reminding people that it’s up to them. This can be as simple as “it’s up to you” or “the decision is yours” – your goal with this trick is just to remind people that it’s their choice, and you’re not trying to force them to do what you want.