Emotional Advertising Techniques

The psychology behind CTAs that convert: (5 lessons from billions of emails sent) Your CTA (Call-to-Action) isn’t just a button or a link. It’s the moment where all your effort pays off. But here’s the truth: Most CTAs fail because they don’t consider the psychology behind what drives someone to click. Here are 5 CTA strategies I’ve tested that consistently drive higher conversions (and why they work): 1. Make the action feel easy: Instead of: “Complete Your Registration” I tested: “Get Started in 60 Seconds” Why this works: People avoid tasks that feel time-consuming or overwhelming. A CTA that emphasizes speed and simplicity lowers resistance. 2. Use urgency to create momentum: Instead of: “Sign Up for the Sale” I tested: “Ends Tonight: Claim Your 50% Off” Why this works: A deadline taps into FOMO (fear of missing out), pushing people to act now instead of “later.” 3. Highlight a benefit, not a feature: Instead of: “Learn More” I tested: “See How We Boosted Revenue by 27%” Why this works: People don’t want to “learn”. They want outcomes. A benefit-focused CTA paints a clear picture of the value they’ll receive. 4. Be specific, not generic: Instead of: “Click Here” I tested: “Download Your Free Email Template” Why this works: Clarity builds trust. When someone knows exactly what they’ll get, they’re far more likely to click. 5. Match your CTA to their stage in the journey: Instead of: “Buy Now” on a first touchpoint I tested: “Get a Free Demo” Why this works: Asking for too much, too soon, feels pushy. Tailoring your CTA to where the customer is in their decision-making process creates a smoother path to conversion. --- The Big Lesson: Your CTA shouldn’t be an afterthought. It’s the bridge between interest and action. Small tweaks like emphasizing speed, clarity, or outcomes can make a massive difference. What’s the best-performing CTA you’ve tested? Drop it in the comments.

👧 Girls can do maths, and ride bikes, and they deserve better from The Warehouse! UPDATEDED July 2nd - The Warehouse’s incoming chief executive Mark Stirton has just offered an apology and a promise of internal practice change. Thanks Mark! I know this preceded you but it speaks volumes about your future leadership ❤️ https://lnkd.in/gBYqeKhJ This week, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints against a TV ad from The Warehouse that featured a unicorn-covered pink backpack alongside the tagline “Can’t do long division.” The ad included a girl's giggle and was set against a hot-pink background, clearly implying that being a girl means being bad at maths 😡. Sound familiar? Because just a couple of years ago, I was ranting at The Warehouse for advertising a bike described as “so easy even for a girl!” 😲 These aren’t isolated incidents, they are a pattern of gendered assumptions that tell young girls what they can’t do: - Can’t do long division. - Can’t ride a bike without “easy brakes.” - Can’t be expected to keep up. The Warehouse has once again apologised and removed the ad, but this isn’t just about one backpack or one badly written product description, it’s about the accumulation of limiting messages that start early and stay with girls for life. Just so we are clear, the scientific evidence shows that: - Girls are just as capable in STEM as boys. - Girls thrive when they’re encouraged, not stereotyped. - Too many girls opt out of maths and science because they’ve absorbed the message that “it’s not for them.” That message doesn’t just show up in classrooms, it shows up in gendered toy aisles, TV ads and product listings. Come on The Warehouse, you raise over $1 million a year for NZ communities which is incredible. Imagine the impact you could have if your messaging empowered every child instead of reinforcing outdated myths. Because girls CAN do long division. Girls CAN ride fast bikes. Girls CAN and DO change the world, even more so if we stop telling them they can’t. #GenderEquality #STEMforGirls #InclusiveMarketing #BiasInAdvertising #TheWarehouse #STEM #GirlsInMaths #womeninSTEM

As the founder of Koparo, I often find myself reflecting on the history of everyday objects—like soap and detergent—and how they’ve been used to tell stories, shape norms, and even perpetuate power dynamics. It’s fascinating, and sometimes unsettling, to see how something as simple as soap can carry such weight. During the Victorian era, it wasn’t just about cleanliness; it was a tool of imperialism and racism. Ads like Pears’ Soap famously linked hygiene to the “civilizing mission,” portraying non-Western cultures as “dirty” and in need of saving. It’s flagrant nonsense, of course, and thankfully, we’ve moved past such blatant racial stereotypes in advertising. What strikes me most is the image of Admiral Dewey in those old Pears’ Soap ads—standing tall, a symbol of Western superiority, using soap as a tool of “enlightenment.” It’s a stark reminder of how easily everyday objects can be co-opted into narratives of power and control. Today, we have the opportunity to rewrite those narratives, to use products like soap not as symbols of division, but as tools of care and connection. But here’s the thing: while the racial overtones of soap ads may have faded, so much else remains problematic. Take the gendered narratives around cleaning. Even today, ads overwhelmingly depict women as the sole custodians of cleanliness. Men, when they appear, are often the “authorities” guiding women on how to clean “better.” The voiceovers? Still predominantly male. The message? Still that cleaning is a woman’s domain. And then there are the fake promises. You know the ones—computer graphics of flowers magically blooming out of toilet bowls, germs dramatically popping on floors, and sparkling surfaces that seem to clean themselves. These ads sell a fantasy, not reality. They create unrealistic expectations, making people believe that cleaning is effortless, instant, and even glamorous. But let’s be honest: cleaning is work. It’s not always pretty, and it doesn’t come with a soundtrack of cheerful music or a burst of CGI sparkles. It’s 2025, and yet, we’re still grappling with these outdated tropes and misleading portrayals. At #Koparo, we’re committed to challenging these narratives. Cleaning isn’t gendered. It’s not about “civilizing” anyone. It’s not a magical, effortless act. It’s about care—for ourselves, our homes, and our planet. It’s about creating products that are inclusive, sustainable, and designed for everyone. As I muse on these reflections, I’m reminded that progress isn’t linear. While we’ve come a long way, there’s still so much work to do. Let’s keep questioning the stories we’re told, the roles we’re assigned, and the norms we’ve inherited. Because change doesn’t just happen—we have to create it. #Koparo #CleanWithCare #GenderEquality #Sustainability #Reflections #ChangeMakers

An (exclusive) invitation ... to spend more money Just received an elegant grey box from American Express with a striking hourglass - beautifully crafted direct mail making its case for their Platinum Card. In today's digital tsunami of credit card offers this dimensional mailer stood out. It made me reflect on the psychology of exclusivity marketing: Physical > Digital Studies show direct mail response rates (5-9%) dramatically outperform email (1%). In a screen-fatigued world, tangible experiences create deeper emotional connections. The Exclusivity Paradox While everyone chases "premium" positioning (most credit cards now offer airport lounge access), true differentiation comes from masterful execution. This wasn't just another package - it was an experience. The Clutter Conundrum Credit card benefits have become commoditized: Points/miles ✈️ Lounge access 🛋️ Insurance coverage 🛡️ Concierge services 📱 Yet AMEX maintains its premium positioning through consistent brand storytelling and selective targeting. Key Marketing Insight: In a noisy world, sometimes whispering (through carefully crafted physical experiences) speaks louder than shouting digital offers. What's your take on exclusive marketing in the digital age? Has a piece of direct mail ever caught your attention? #Marketing #BrandStrategy #CustomerExperience #DigitalMarketing #DirectMail #FinancialServices #MarketingPsychology #CustomerAcquisition P.S. And yes, I appreciate the irony of posting about a physical mailer on LinkedIn!

👉 Unlock the secrets of consumer psychology to enhance your email marketing effectiveness 📧 In the crowded space of email marketing, understanding and applying behavioral economics can significantly improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. By tapping into how consumers think and make decisions, you can craft emails that not only get opened but also convert. ▪️ The Scarcity Principle ⏰ : Utilize the Scarcity Principle in your email campaigns to create urgency. Informing recipients that a deal is limited-time only or that only a few items are left can significantly increase the likelihood of immediate action. For example, "Only 3 hours left to claim your offer!" or "Just 5 items remaining at this price!" ▪️ The Paradox of Choice ✅ : Simplify consumer decision-making by limiting the number of options. The Paradox of Choice teaches us that too many options can overwhelm and deter decision-making. Optimize your emails by providing one clear call to action or focusing on a single product or service rather than multiple. ▪️ Personalization and the Liking Bias 🙋♂️ : Leverage the Liking Bias by personalizing your emails. People are more likely to engage with content that appears tailored to them. Use data to address recipients by name, reference past purchases, or suggest items based on browsing history. This not only captures attention but also enhances the feeling of intimacy and relevance. ▪️ Loss Aversion 🔚 : Capitalize on Loss Aversion by highlighting what your customers stand to lose if they don’t take action. Phrasing like, "Don’t miss out on this opportunity!" can be more effective than simply presenting the benefits of an offer. 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲: Review your current email marketing strategies. How can you implement these behavioral insights to increase open rates and conversions? Test different approaches in your campaigns to see what works best with your audience. #BehavioralEconomics #EmailMarketing #DigitalMarketing #ConsumerPsychology #ServingMarketing #SirviendoMarketing

Please stop telling your recruitment partners that "it'd be great if you could find a woman for the team". ❌ Instead, start doing the following... ✅ Evaluate your sales culture. If it's feels like a "boys club", it is. Fix it. ✅ Analyse the language you are using. Gendered wording of job advertisements signals who belongs and who does not. "Masculine- worded ads reduced perceived belongingness [among women], which in turn lead to less job appeal, regardless of one’s perception of their personal skill to perform that job." - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, January 2011 - (🔗 Link in comments.) ✅ Provide workplace flexibility A 2023 study conducted by the University of Oxford’s Well-being Research Centre found that when it comes to fostering a positive working environment, reducing stress, and boosting employee resilience, flexibility is one of the most effective elements required to create a healthy work-life balance. The findings correlate with a separate study which found that post-pandemic, 72% of women are prioritising purpose and balance at work, and are looking for the flexibility that facilitates this. (🔗 Link in comments.) ✅ Build an infrastructure and culture of coaching and support. The opportunity to be coached by other women (both internal and external) goes a long way in not only developing existing staff members, but also in attracting new talent. (Bonus point: ensure your interview processes are as gender diverse as possible. You can't be what you can't see.) ✅ Implement gender-neutral and diversity-inclusive policies. Offer gender-neutral parental leave policies to prevent issues like absence visibility, project loss, and early return pressure. In my experience, the Nordics lead the way in gender-equitable parental leave policies, for example. ✅ Address any existing gender pay gaps. It's 2024... This shouldn't even have to be a point. I'm a recruitment & search professional. I'm not a DE&I specialist. But I really hope one day the conversation changes from "it'd be great if you could find us a woman" to "we have awesome diversity in our team because...". Women in sales & those of you in gender diverse businesses - what else would you add? LP ✌️ Pack GTM | SaaS Sales Recruitment in Germany #sales #hiring #careers #startups #recruitment 

Parle Biscuits Pvt. Ltd.: Please do better next time... Advertisement and media do one of the two things: 1. Either they shape the way the society thinks 2. Or they reflect the way the society thinks This ad fails on both parameters. I don't know when this ad was released, but seeing it today makes me squirm in my seat. The ad conveniently showcases; the woman as being there always; with an ever-lasting smile on her face and the man as continually clueless about things. The actual woman; isn't the picture-perfect pretty-please lady in the ad. The actual man; isn't the clueless headless chicken in the ad. The ad is ignorant at best; and downright derogatory at worst; to both genders. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭-𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜. 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲; 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥. At a time, when everyone is fighting for - gender-equality; - inclusion; - labeling chores gender agnostically; the ad continues to showcase the stereotypical format of a man being completely dependent on the woman; for the smallest of things; in front of him in plain sight. And your showstopper line; "𝐌𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞-𝐆; 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲." is downright regressive. So your ad conveys that; had she not done those things; the necessity, bond, or emotion wouldn't have developed, right?? Maybe, just maybe the ad would have worked brilliantly; if it was 30 years back, when roles were more gender-defined (even then; the ad is objectionable), but doesn't stand relevant today at all. Parle Products Pvt. Ltd: Just do better next time. No other suggestions. You have done brilliant ads in the past. This one didn't sit well. This is an earnest request from a woman; who felt hurt by the portrayal of both genders. #rimjhimrants #marketingbasics #genderequality #genderagnosticchores #equalityofwork

Is THIS the most important ad you'll watch this week? 👀 Bodyform (and AMV BBDO) are back with another taboo-busting campaign designed to confront some serious human truths. 'Never Just A Period' is a bold statement against the incessant dismissal women often face when vocalising their health concerns. It's not about pointing fingers. It's about raising awareness about what women are taught (or not taught) to expect with their periods and menstrual health, and then the reality of their individual experiences. Apparently, 90% of those who menstruate know little to nothing about perimenopause. And only 2/5 feel comfortable to speak to their doctor about their menstrual health. I barely remember any education about periods in school. And the boys were certainly not in the room, which I think is counter-productive. And then when I got my first period, my mom (bless her) downplayed it a little, told me it was nothing to worry about and showed me where the cupboard with the pads and tampons was. From there, I've been subject to pain, chaotic emotions, weird ads with blue liquid, over-enthusiastic and energetic actors suggesting that wearing a tampon will turn you into an olympic athlete, and routine responses from doctors when I've ever flagged anything that concerned me. I remember seeing Bodyform's gamechanging ad in 2017, the first EVER to show 'blood' in a pad. And then Viva La Vulva, #WombStories and #periodsomnia continued to challenge the way periods are represented in the media. I love the tone of these ads. I love the 'messy' reality that it shows. I love that we can have a little bit of relatable fun with the narrative, whilst keeping a tight grip on the core message. Most importantly, I love that the ads help women feel a little less invisible. Women don't expect to have all their problems solved. We simply want to be seen, heard and taken seriously. And as for the question at the end: "What do you wish you'd been told?" For me it's easy: Your feelings are valid.

Female Ageing and Loss When it comes to female ageing, you'll be hard pushed to find an advert or article on the subject that doesn't include the word 'loss'. We are primed for midlife to revolve around a series of little bereavements. The loss of skin elasticity, the loss of beauty, the loss of attention, the loss of ones voice. I might not be in my 80's or 90's but what I do know from the vantage point of being in my forties is that ageing can also equal many gains. Personally, I've gained strength and resilience, emotional maturity which has saved me a lot of stress, confidence and my most favourite of all...clarity. I'm still on a path to cultivate each of these gains further but incrementally gaining clarity has been game changing. My shift in mindset has allowed me to really look at what I want and what I don't want. What I will tolerate and what I will not. And maybe most importantly the clarity to see the parts of life I do have control over vs the parts I don't. Then if we do a deep dive into the world of female aesthetics, we have to also be wary of what we are told about ourselves. If we are constantly told that our newly acquired lines in-between our eyebrows (fondly known as the '11') is a sign of losing our beauty we may panic. We might jump online to see which new expensive cream can help us rid ourselves of them, or google clinics that dose out Botox, or simply switch on 'self-loathing mode'. Yet, I believe we do have options. I urge you to google any male watch advert, aftershave advert or GQ front cover and nearly all the men you'll see are purposefully furrowing their brow to create those 11 lines. For middle age and above men, these lines equal something entirely different: wisdom, safety, a broody sexiness that comes with the addition of years, seriousness in the best possible way and intellect. So why for women does it mean loss, witchy-ess, a rejection? If after knowing this you still don't favour those lines in-between your eyebrows I'm not here to judge you. Use all the lotions, potions and Botox you like. I'm merely pointing out there is another way.

Gamification isn’t just a trend in eCommerce—it’s a proven psychological goldmine. Take spin-the-wheel pop-ups. They aren’t just flashy distractions. They’re rooted in neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and cognitive biases that drive conversions. Here’s why they work so well: → The dopamine hit: Spinning the wheel transforms a boring shopping experience into a playful game. When that wheel spins, anticipation lights up the brain’s reward system. The dopamine release when the prize appears creates a positive emotional link with the brand. → The illusion of control: It feels like you’re determining your fate. Even though the outcome is predetermined, the act of spinning makes you feel in control. This taps into the “illusion of control” effect, making the discount feel more personal—and more valuable. → The variable rewards hook: A 10% discount? Free shipping? Or something bigger? The uncertainty is what keeps you engaged. It’s the same behavioral loop as a slot machine: unpredictable rewards make people lean in. → Loss aversion + urgency: Once you’ve “won” a discount, you don’t want to lose it. Adding a timer or expiration date doubles down on this fear, pushing people to act fast. → Social proof magic: Some brands go even further, showing how many people are spinning and winning. This taps into the bandwagon effect—if everyone else is doing it, it must be worth it. And the data? → Gamified pop-ups convert at 15%-30% (vs. 3%-9% for static discounts). → Email capture rates jump up to 4x higher with spin-the-wheels. → Time on site increases by 15%, with bounce rates dropping 10%-20%. → Remarketing lists grow by 20%-50%, fueling long-term revenue growth. This isn’t just psychology—it’s strategy. The brands who understand how to tap into these behavioral levers are driving higher conversions, capturing more emails, and building stronger remarketing pipelines. Every spin isn’t just a chance for the customer to win. It’s a win for your business, too. #ecommerce #ux #ui #shopify