The need to conform is an effective technique sales staff use when speaking with potential purchasers. It’s a gift that keeps giving. Much research has been conducted on it over recent years and some of the findings have been remarkable. Look it up. While it is fascinating, you might be wondering what it has to do with email marketing.

There is pressure on an individual to conform to the norm of the group they are in. While some can resist the urge to, in essence, except the morés uncritically, it takes a degree of effort and it is much easier to follow the mob. We’ve seen instances of this recently.

It can be useful to show subscribers to your email marketing list that others in their peer group are doing something which they are missing out on; in particular, purchasing a product you just happen to have on your shelves. Most of us do this by way of images. A picture of someone whom we hope is in a position which our subscribers aspire to using your product, perhaps with a self-satisfied smile on their face, we hope will be hard to resist. Unfortunately, everyone’s doing it. To stand out we need to go a step further.

A review by a subscriber in the email, or on a landing page to reinforce your message, might be just that little extra push you need. Some waste the opportunity by just using initials: J.L. of Stourbridge. There’s nothing for them to connect to. Personalisation is not the be all and end all of email marketing. Not quite. Don’t add a particular review just because it’s the most effusive. Pick one those on your segmented list can relate to. 

With the permission of the reviewer, describe them to your subscribers, using terms similar to those you used when picking them in your segmented email marketing list. Show the reviewer is someone just like them, one of their group. You are telling that subscriber they should conform. It has been shown repeatedly that the desire to conform is hard-wired into the human brain. It’s that extra step.