How That’s Great News Used the “Power of the Nod” to Boost Email Engagement

Background

What motivates email customers to go from open to click to conversion? I believe it’s a combination of a person’s personality and their response to persuasive design and content.

Shopper personalities, otherwise known as Buyer Modalities: I’ve synthesised research and writings by sources as diverse as Greek physician Hippocrates, marketing leaders Bryan and Jeffery Eisenberg, and usability expert Jakob Nielsen to create four personality types that influence how people buy.

Challenge

Our client, That’s Great News, based in the United States, creates high-quality wall plaques that commemorate news stories in newspapers, magazines and other print sources that celebrate individual or group accomplishments. 

The company wanted to increase conversions from its email campaigns that contact people with an offer to view and purchase custom plaques that replicate their articles.

Hypothesis and methodology

The company’s standard email message used no specific persuasive techniques. Based on our work with personality types and persuasive copy and design, we believed that strongly persuasive messages would prompt more prospects to request views of their plaques and purchase them.

We created a three-part hypothesis:

1. An email message designed to let customers feel more in control by asking a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ question will produce higher engagement and more clicks than a neutral email message. 
2. Further, Message C will perform better than Message A or Message B because the ‘No’ question gives people an enhanced sense of control, leading to greater engagement and clicks.
3. Both B and C use persuasive writing tailored to appeal to the four personality types: spontaneous, methodical, humanistic, and competitive. 

Based on this hypothesis, we created three campaigns:

Control (Message A): This campaign used the company’s standard first email with this opening sentence: We saw your recent press in [publication], I hope you don’t mind me contacting you about it. You must have felt proud to be featured.’

Variant 1 (Message B): This campaign used an opening question we designed to elicit a ‘Yes’ response based on Cialidini’s persuasion principle of commitment and consistency. (See Chapter 5.) A question like this uses what is commonly called ‘The Power of the Nod.  This uses a concept devised by negotiations specialist Chris Voss that says giving people a chance to say yes makes it easier to stay engaged and to complete the task you want. 

 Opening question: ‘Congratulations on your recent feature in [publication]. Would you like to showcase this proud achievement with a beautiful plaque?’

Variant 2 (Message C): This campaign used an opening question we designed to elicit a ‘No’ response, based on another concept by Voss that people want to feel in control, this time to reject a suggestion and offer their own choice. 

Opening question: ‘Congratulations on your recent feature in [publication]. Is there any reason you wouldn’t want to celebrate this success with a beautiful plaque?’

Messages B and C also employed persuasive writing tailored to appeal to the four personality types mentioned above: competitive, spontaneous, methodical, and humanistic.

Success metric: The success metric for this test was conversions: the number of people who viewed and requested proofs of their personalised plaques. 

Results

Both Message B and Message C, the variants in this test, beat Message A, the control, on conversions. This supported Part 1 of our hypothesis. However, the ‘Yes’ message outperformed the ‘No’ message. Thus, Part 2 of our hypothesis was not proved. 

Message B delivered a 4.44% conversion rate, which represented a 5% uplift and a 17% uplift in requests to view plaque proofs over Message A.

However, contrary to Part 2 of our hypothesis, the “Yes” message (Message B) delivered the best results:

• 6% uplift in conversions over the control.
• 17% uplift in QFPRs (Qualified Proof Request Rates).

Key Takeaways

• The Power of the Nod: Messages encouraging a “Yes” response performed better than those encouraging a “No” response.
• Tailored Persuasion: Aligning messaging with personality types and psychological principles drives measurable improvements in engagement.
• Data-Driven Success: Testing and statistical analysis validated that the “Yes” framing strategy resonates more effectively with this audience.

Actionable Recommendations

Based on these findings, we recommended That’s Great News:

1. Implement “Yes”-framed messaging in future email campaigns.
2. Use shopper personality insights to further segment and tailor communications.
3. Continuously test and optimise messaging to refine engagement strategies.