Even if we don’t realize it, we check our email much more than we think. In fact, according to the experiment “A Day Without Distraction: Lessons Learned from 12 Hours of Forced Focus” by 99U, technology distracts us only 11 minutes after we start working. And it takes us 25 minutes to get back to our tasks completely. The main culprit? Email. Email is the main cause of distraction in our togo business email list workplaces . Even if we sometimes feel like we are working with it, it surely distracts us from much more important tasks. Therefore, email exerts a power over us that most people don’t know about.
Many say they “hate” email, but you have to admit that it is certainly addictive. If you think about how many times you check email a day, you will realize that what I say is true. The question is… Why is email so addictive?
Psychologists call it “ Operant Conditioning ”. And you might be wondering… What the heck is that? Well, in the video below you will understand a little more what we mean by this concept.
“Operant conditioning” is a form of learning through which a person is more likely to repeat certain forms of behavior that have positive consequences, and on the contrary, less likely to repeat those that have negative consequences. In other words, you develop new behaviors based on the consequences they entail. And what does this concept have to do with email marketing? Well, despite everything that has been said about this channel, email touches our brain and our subconscious and works as a positive stimulus in people . Just as we learn that if we put our hand in the fire we will get burned and then we don’t do it, the brain also relates that when we access our email there will be something new waiting for us, which generates excitement and curiosity. It is a way of relating behaviors with consequences, in this last case, positive. So we will repeat that action as a habitual way and unconsciously, we will create a dependency on that habit.
According to a survey conducted by AOL, 47% of people admit to being hooked on email. Curious, isn't it?
Even though email is associated with certain positive values, email can also provoke negative feelings such as stress, disappointment or anger. Either because our inbox is saturated with business emails, because we have too many work emails or because what awaits us in our inbox does not meet those expectations of excitement and curiosity that we had beforehand. In fact, several studies have shown that those who check their email less live much more relaxed than those who do it constantly.
What conclusions should we marketers draw from this post? Should we bombard our users with emails? NO! The conclusion we must draw is that we have before us a potential channel to reach our users. Users “want” email more than they themselves acknowledge . We must know how to understand them and offer them what they really want, always respecting them, pampering them and making sure that the excitement and curiosity they feel when opening the email does not disappear, but on the contrary, increases and they want to know more about us.
