Lessons from Animal Training: Get Higher Click-Through-Rates, Better Engagement, and More Sales Using This Science-Backed Method
If you send emails, you know the pain — you see benchmark statistics left and right telling you your open rates are plenty high, but your click-through rates (CTRs) are… dun dun dun… below average. 😱
It’s a gut-wrenching feeling. You put a lot of work into your emails, not to mention the landing page, blog, or video you’ve linked to in the copy… so why aren’t people clicking on them?
Well I’m here to tell you — Sometimes, it’s not your copy that sucks.
*Phew!* That feels better, huh?
But then what IS the problem?
>>> You haven’t click-trained your audience.
Ummm, what?
Click-training your audience is a science-backed method of increasing your CTRs, achieving stronger engagement, and ultimately getting more sales.
But what IS click-training your audience?
What Click-Training Is and Why It Works
Ultimately, click training is a form of operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning is a principle of behavior science that basically states:
➢ If a behavior is followed by a POSITIVE CONSEQUENCE, that behavior becomes MORE LIKELY to occur.
➢ If a behavior is followed by a NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE, that behavior becomes LESS LIKELY to occur.
This is how we train dogs (or any animal) how to behave. If I ask you to sit and you sit, you get a treat. If I tell you to leave it and instead you chase that cat up a tree, you’re likely going to get yelled at.
Good behavior = positive consequence
Bad behavior = negative consequence
It’s generally accepted that you want to avoid using negative consequences (aka punishment) as much as possible, and offer positive rewards for good behavior whenever you can.
When it comes to your emails, you want your audience to trust that if they click on that link, it’s going to provide a positive reward.
To click-train your audience you need to consistently provide a valuable reward when your audience clicks on a link in your emails.
If your audience ever clicks a link and gets punished — say from a broken link, or a poorly designed landing page — it’s going to result in them being less likely to click within an email again.
The trick is that not every click has to be a sale. When you offer different types of value in your emails, you increase your customer’s trust and begin training them to click. You create a rewarded habit of opening and clicking on your emails. That habit lowers resistance when it comes time to click buy because your customer trusts that their action will be followed with a positive consequence.
There are many ways to provide a valuable reward when your customer clicks on a button or link in your email:
Offer a coupon code or free gift — this is the most obvious answer, but I want to steer you far away from using this as your ONLY reward. There are plenty of other kinds of value and having a variety will teach your customers not to expect a coupon.
Provide entertainment — this can be in the form of a meme, video clip, or reel. Get creative and don’t be afraid of letting loose a little!
Direct them to a useful resource — whether it’s an ebook, a guided mediation, or a helpful podcast this is a wonderful way to provide value to your audience. Bonus points if it’s something you/your brand created!
Educate them — blogs, tutorials, and YouTube videos are a great way to educate your audience, and you’d be surprised how valuable they’ll find it!
Providing different kinds of value in your email links not only click-trains your audience it also builds trust in your brand, maintains top-of-mind awareness, and adds multiple touch points to your marketing!
This isn’t some woo-woo voodoo witch magic here. It’s just plain old science and psychology. When people are used to clicking a button and being rewarded, they’ll keep doing it!
But… You Can’t Just Train Humans Like Animals… Can You?
Don’t think this applies to humans? I know — it’s tempting to think we’re so much smarter and more aware of our behavior than an animal. But check this out:
Operant conditioning (the behavior science principle at work here) is so strong we’ve actually seen millions of people do it every day.
You know those big silver buttons on the crosswalk posts in New York City? Well back in the 1970’s the city changed the whole system. Instead of those buttons triggering a walk signal, they put everything on a timer schedule and left it alone.1
So the buttons? About 90% of them do nothing. But when people press them, sometimes (by lucky timing) the light turns green and they get to cross the street. This is so rewarding, they keep doing it!
This is a great reminder to also reward your customers when they take a survey or leave you a review. Make sure those actions have a positive consequence and they’ll be likely to repeat the behavior.
Want to begin click-training your audience but don’t know where to start? Shoot me an email! I’d love to chat.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/27/nyregion/for-exercise-in-new-york-futility-push-button.html