Understanding how to capture and maintain users’ attention is more crucial than ever.
Behavioral design combines elements of psychology, neuromarketing and user experience to create more effective and engaging emails.
Behavioral design isn’t just about making emails visually appealing.
It goes much further.
It seeks to understand and use patterns of human behavior to influence recipients’ decisions and actions.
By applying these principles to email marketing, we can design campaigns that don’t just inform, but also motivate and encourage meaningful interaction.
What is behavioral design?
Behavioral design is a discipline that sits at the intersection of psychology and design.
It focuses on how design elements can influence people’s decisions and behaviors.
In the context of email marketing, behavioral design uses insights into human behavior to create emails that not only grab attention, but also motivate recipients to take specific actions.
This approach is based on the understanding that our decisions are influenced by a range of cognitive and emotional factors.
Many of which occur unconsciously.
By applying behavioral psychology principles, such as:
- The mere-exposure effect
- The principle of reciprocity
- Or the commitment and consistency theory
It’s possible to design emails that have a deeper impact on audiences.
Next, we’ll see how to apply these concepts practically.
Email subject lines and behavioral design
Applying behavioral design to the email subject line is crucial.
It helps you stand out among the many emails in a user’s inbox and increase your open rate.
Some key aspects you should consider include:
- Personalization: Start by personalizing the subject line. Including the recipient’s name or a reference to their personal interests can grab their attention immediately.
- Clarity and relevance: The subject line should be clear and relevant to the recipient.
- Create urgency or scarcity: Use the subject line to create a sense of urgency or scarcity.
- Spark curiosity: Subject lines that spark curiosity can be very effective.
✅ Using emojis in subject lines
Using emojis in email subject lines can have a significant impact.
From a behavioral design perspective:
- Increase visibility: Emojis can make an email subject line stand out in a crowded inbox.
- Convey emotions: Emojis are an effective way to convey emotions or set the tone for the message.
- Improve understanding: In some cases, emojis can help quickly communicate an idea or feeling, complementing or even replacing words.
💡 Benefits of using short subject lines that include an emoji
Combining a short subject line with an eye-catching emoji in email marketing can influence human psychology in several interesting ways.
This approach draws on the principles of behavioral design and cognitive psychology to capture attention and encourage people to open the email.
Why?
1) Attention economy:
A short subject line is mentally easy to process.
This makes it appealing in an environment where users’ attention is limited.
Brevity respects the recipient’s time and can increase the likelihood of the email being noticed and opened.
2) Directing attention:
Emojis draw visual attention in a predominantly text-based inbox.
The human brain processes images faster than text, so an emoji can act as a visual ‘hook’ that makes the email more visible.
3) Fast information transmission:
Emojis can instantly convey an emotion or idea (such as happiness, urgency or surprise).
This kind of instant, emotional communication can be absorbed more directly by the limbic system, the part of the brain responsible for emotions.
4) Increased curiosity and open rates:
A brief subject line and an emoji can spark curiosity.
Recipients might feel intrigued about what the email contains, which can lead to a higher open rate.
That said, as with everything, it’s important to note that overuse can make these techniques lose their effectiveness.
The key lies in variety.
Behavioral design and your email copy
If there’s one surprising thing about email marketing, it’s that even though it’s mainly text-based content, we don’t usually put as much effort into the text as we should.
And ultimately, it’s this text that has to get the recipient to take the action you want.
Doing things any old way just won’t cut it.
What do I recommend you keep in mind?
➤ Short paragraphs:
The benefits of not having overly long paragraphs are numerous.
- Readability: Short, concise paragraphs are easier to read and understand, especially on mobile devices with smaller screens.
- Attention: In a world where attention is limited, short paragraphs let readers take in the information without feeling overwhelmed.
- Scannability: Most users tend to scan content instead of reading it word for word. Short paragraphs make it easier to pick out the key points.
Short paragraphs reduce cognitive load.
Our brains prefer processing small amounts of information at a time, making brief paragraphs easier to digest and understand.
➤ Using bold text:
Using bold text, despite being a classic tool, is highly effective.
It’s a simple way to highlight the most important parts of a text.
This allows us to:
- Emphasize key information: Making sure that even readers who skim the email don’t miss crucial information.
- Visual guide: Bold text can also serve as a visual guide through the content, helping to structure the information and make it easier to understand.
- Visual appeal: Bold text adds visual variety to the body of the email, which can make the content more engaging and less monotonous.
Bold text acts as visual cues that guide readers through the content.
➤ Visual hierarchy and design:
It’s rare for an email to be divided into multiple sections separated by headings.
Even so, there are elements that can help us define a structure, such as the use of bold text, as we mentioned earlier.
But so can lists.
Generally speaking, we want to achieve a lightweight structure with well-organized information.
➤ White space:
White space (or negative space) around the text and between paragraphs helps reduce the visual density of the content, which makes it easier to read.
Furthermore, white space can be used to direct the reader’s attention toward the most important elements of the email, like CTAs or special offers.
White space around the text prevents visual overload.
➤ Including interactive or visual elements:
Elements like images, charts, or even GIFs can make the content more engaging and increase user interaction with the email.
Psychological aspects of effective calls to action
Applying behavioral design to the calls to action (CTAs) in your emails means understanding and using the principles of human psychology.
With the goal of influencing recipient behavior.
Let’s see how these principles can be applied to different aspects of calls to action:
🔎 Principle of reciprocity:
Offer something of value at the beginning of the email, like a useful tip or an interesting perspective, before presenting the CTA.
Design the CTA as a natural opportunity for the recipient to “return the favor”.
For example, “As a thank-you for reading our newsletter, here’s 20% off…”.
🔎 Commitment and consistency effect:
Create a series of emails that start with small commitments and gradually build up.
For example, the first email might ask the reader to learn more about a topic, and the following ones might move toward a purchase.
Use phrases that remind users of their past choices or actions, such as “Since you enjoyed our last article on X, you won’t want to miss this opportunity…”.
🔎 Contrast theory:
Visually, present the CTA in a context that highlights its value.
For example, show the regular price next to a discounted price.
🔎 Urgency and scarcity:
Use striking colors and visual cues to highlight limited offers or products with low availability.
Include phrases like “Offer valid while supplies last” or “Only a few hours left” to create a sense of urgency.
🔎 Social proof effect:
Incorporate testimonials or popularity indicators near the CTA.
For example, use star icons for ratings or mention how many people have already purchased the product.
Use quotes or references from satisfied customers to reinforce the offer’s credibility.
🔎 The power of curiosity:
Use intriguing designs or images that arouse curiosity to complement the CTA.
Phrase the CTA in a way that promises to reveal additional information or benefits, encouraging the reader to discover more.
🔎 Simplicity and clarity:
Make the CTA stand out with a simple, clear design, using easily identifiable buttons or links.
Use straightforward and simple language, avoiding ambiguity about what is being offered or what the recipient is expected to do.
Behavioral design for subscription forms
This is another aspect we can improve regarding our email marketing efforts.
Forms are essential for capturing new contacts.
What should we keep in mind when working on our forms?
📌 Analyzing friction points:
Identify and reduce friction points in the subscription process.
This could include simplifying the form, reducing the number of required fields or making the instructions clearer.
📌 Color psychology and visual design:
Explore how different colors can affect user emotions and decisions.
For example, using warm colors can encourage action, while cool colors can create a sense of trust and professionalism.
📌 The Zeigarnik effect in forms:
This psychological effect suggests that people remember unfinished tasks better.
You can apply this by starting the subscription process on one page and completing it on another, encouraging users to finish the process.
📌 Using anchoring in offers:
Compare it first with a high-value offer (like an expensive course) before offering a free subscription to your newsletter.
This establishes an anchor that makes the free option seem even more valuable.
📌 Playing with expectations and surprise:
Surprise users after they subscribe with an unexpected benefit, such as an extra discount or an exclusive resource.
This creates a memorable experience and can foster loyalty.
Segmentation in behavioral design
Segmentation involves dividing the audience into smaller groups based on common characteristics, such as behavior, interests, demographics, purchase history, among others.
It allows for a more personalized and targeted approach, improving the relevance and effectiveness of marketing communications.
You need to consider that all the tips and strategies we’ve seen don’t work the same way with all social groups.
That’s why splitting your contact list into segments can help you use the most effective strategies with each segment.
To sum up
Behavioral design in digital marketing is a powerful tool focused on applying behavioral psychology principles to influence users’ decisions and actions.
These behavioral design principles are closely related to neuromarketing, and also to Robert Cialdini’s 7 principles of persuasion, which share much of the same psychological foundation.
Jose Argudo
CMO at Mailrelay. Writes about email marketing, copywriting, and conversion for small businesses and entrepreneurs.