We intelligent business-owner-types can smell a scam a mile away. And yet, how many times did you STILL go ahead and click that button? The one that said, “Did you see this nasty picture of you on twitter?” or “How Rachel Ray lost 30 pounds in a month” or “Look who just unfriended you on FB”. How can seemy scammers get people to open mail, when we experts can’t?
How Do They Do It?
Aside from a lack of morals and taste (which accounts for some of it) in their strategies, they employ techniques that appeal to one of our basest behaviors – curiosity. Evidently, our curiosity overrides our common sense and knowledge, because we often go ahead and open that ad or email because it just might….have valuable information in it.
How Can WE Do It?
But THIS information IS useful. Curiosity gets things opened! We can use that information when designing our email subject lines, voicemail or email messages, initial conversations and sales presentations.
But WE Have Morals!
We don’t want to use Rachel Ray to get them to open one of our emails, however, so we need to put a little more thought into this….what are our customers or potential customers, curious about? For example, you could address industry-specific issues that similar businesses have in common. Then share it in a way that the title, subject line, presentation caption does not give the content away. They have to read it or stay tuned, to find out the answer!
If You Build It, They Will Come!
No, not the ghostly baseball team from field of dreams, but you get the idea. Think about the things that you are induced to open. Notice it from now on as you look through Twitter, your email inbox, your mail – and the ideas will come and ultimately, the sales.