How To Use “Pattern Interrupts” To Make Your Emails Impossible To Ignore
Do you ever feel as though email marketing is a bit mundane? Maybe even too routine?
Unfortunately, if you feel that way about it, chances are your subscribers and the prospects you reach out to feel that way about your emails as well.
You need a way to break away from your routine and throw something unexpected at the people you email.
In this post, we cover a psychological technique known as pattern interrupts, which you can use to increase open and click-through rates and possibly boost sales.
What are pattern interrupts?
Pattern interrupts is a phrase used to describe disruptions to patterns.
It’s a psychological technique that’s mostly used to prevent individuals with mental disorders from repeating harmful patterns.
For example, if certain triggers cause autistic children to harm themselves, service dogs can be trained to use their paws to free children from these patterns, preventing them from causing damage and hopefully encouraging them to relax.
In this example, the interruption brought about a welcome change to the pattern the child normally became stuck in when faced with certain emotional triggers.
A lighter example would include your commute to work.
Let’s say you always take the same way to work everyday. It’s a pattern you follow five or six days out of the week.
But one day, an accident causes you to take a detour, and instead of hitting up your favorite coffee shop, you have to try somewhere new, which leads to you having one of the best cups of coffee you’ve had in your entire life.
In this example, a pattern interrupt led you to a brand new experience that ended up having a positive impact on your day.
You can apply these same principles to your marketing strategy by including pattern interrupts in your email subject lines, preheader text and copy.
Why are pattern interrupts so impactful?
You might be a very talented individual. You might have thousands or even millions of followers. You may even be conventionally attractive and have a captivating personality that drives engagement.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, social media is filled with creators just like you. As unique as you think you are, social media users, fellow creators and the brands you reach out to won’t see much of a difference between you and the thousands of other creators that come across their feeds.
This goes for email as well.
Internet users receive dozens of branded emails everyday. Plus, fellow creators and brands likely receive outreach emails all of the time.
They know what to expect, so much so that they likely skim your emails in search of what they’re looking for: calls to action (CTAs), a discount code or metrics you include to prove your worth.
You can really do a lot to stand out from the crowd by including a pattern interrupt here and there.
It’ll make your email stand out, which will boost your open rates and maybe even your click-through rates.
Plus, whoever you email will certainly remember who sent them such unique copy.
Types of pattern interrupts to apply to your email copy
Here’s a list of pattern interrupts you can use in your email copy:
- Speak first – Reach out to your contact first, and use an upbeat opening phrase when you do
- Visual elements – Unexpected images and GIFs
- Timing – Sending your email at unconventional times
- Storytelling – Open your email with a story instead of your regular copy
- Time thievery – Request your contact to contact you, and be urgent and specific
- Answer common questions – Use a common question your audience asks as your opener
- Share your knowledge – Include details you’ve learned about your contact
- Objection – Admit you might not be the right fit for your contact
- Shared experience – Draw your contact in by mentioning a shared experience
- Made up scenarios – Open with a pretend scenario you made up
- Emojis – Include relevant emojis strategically
- Surveys – Embed a survey element into your email
Speak first
The world of online business moves at a fast pace. You won’t get anywhere if you’re always waiting for prospects to contact you first.
Try making the first move, and use an upbeat, welcoming opening line when you do.
Examples:
“Hi [subscriber name],
How has your week been?”and
“Hi [contact name],
Did you attend the [event name] conference last week? I thought I saw you there!”
Visual elements
Most marketers use professional visual elements in their emails, including stock photography filled with people who don’t even work for your company.
Break away from this pattern by including compelling visuals instead.
These can be a well-shot image, a humorous GIF or even a GIF that showcases your highlight reel or a product you offer.
Timing
Experiment with outreach by sending your emails at unconventional times throughout the day, especially after business hours and in the middle of the night.
Your email might just be at the top of their inbox, and they’ll be able to read it before anything else interrupts their day.
Example:
“Hi [contact name],
I know it’s late, but I just had to tell you something!”
Storytelling
Open your email with a story rather than your usual copy.
It can be humorous, scary or relatable. Just try to relate it to your copy as much as possible.
Example:
“Hi [subscriber name],
I remember when I used to skateboard as a kid, I’d always be afraid to try any tricks that required both sets of wheels to be off the ground. Fast forward to today, and I’m still too scared to launch.
Have you ever felt that way?”
Time thievary
Let your contact know that you appreciate their time, but you truly have something they’re going to want to see.
This technique shows that although you truly believe you have something unique to offer, you still would appreciate it if your contact would give you their time.
Example:
“Hi [subscriber name]
5 minutes is all I need…
…to prove to you that [product name] has everything you need to [problem that needs to be solved].”
and
“Hi [contact name],
Hop on a call with me for just 15 minutes. I’ll prove to you exactly why my content is the right fit for your brand.”
Answer common questions
Kick off the conversation by answering common questions your readers ask in regards to your niche.
This gives your reader a clear path to follow in the conversation, if they want to respond.
Example:
“Hi [subscriber name],
I noticed you’re interested in [topic]. Why is it so hard to [problem related to that topic]?
I’d like to talk to you about that today.”
Share what you’ve learned
Outreach emails can sometimes feel impersonal, as if the person sending them is using a template and simply filling in the blanks.
Share information you’ve learned about your contact so they know you did your research and came prepared.
“Hi [contact name],
I know you’re looking for an influencer to help launch [product name] on social media.
I want you to know I’ve tested it out myself (I bought the light blue model), and I’d like to share my opinions with you. Overall, it’s a great product and I got a lot of use out of it, and…”
Objection
Marketing emails are a little desperate by design.
Every business owner and influencer feels as though they’ve got exactly what consumers need.
It can be refreshing to hear a brand admit they may not be right for a consumer, or an influencer admitting they may not be the right match for a brand.
Example:
“Hi [subscriber name],
Are you sure [product name] is the right choice for you?
We noticed you haven’t purchased any additional [required accessory], which tells us you aren’t using [product name] to its fullest potential.
We’d gladly walk you through a demo of the product or even give you a discount on a different model.
If not, ship the product back to us, and we’ll issue you a refund.”
Shared experience
This one ties into the pattern interrupt about sharing what you’ve learned about your contact.
If you notice you have something in common with your contact, let them know.
The shared experience may just be what sets you apart from all of the others.
“Hi [contact name],
I noticed you attended my alma mater [university name]. Do you remember [professor name] with the weak leg? He used to walk around with that cane?
I interned for him! It was a great experience! He spoke about you a lot!
Anyway, I wanted to contact you to…”
Made up scenarios
Have a little fun with marketing emails by opening them with fake scenarios you made up.
It can break the pattern of all of the mundane marketing emails your contact receives.
Example:
Hi [subscriber name]
What do you think would happen if aliens invaded when dinosaurs roamed the Earth? Would we as humans exist today? Would the extinction event have played out the same way?
I really have no idea, but what I do know is that aliens had no part in our new update.”
Emojis
The majority of marketing emails have subject lines and preheader text that are written in plain text.
You can really do a lot to spruce up your contact’s inbox by including emojis in your subject lines and/or preheader text.
Just don’t over do it.
Use the fire emoji when you feel your contact should be excited about your email and the police siren emoji when you feel your email is urgent.
Get creative with other types of emojis.
Polls and surveys
Email marketing services like MailerLite allow you to embed survey elements into your emails.
You can use this technique to let your reader share an opinion about something in a way that’s quick and convenient for them.
Best practices for using pattern interrupts
You probably have a pretty good grasp on what pattern interrupts are by now as well as how to use them.
Let’s cover a few best practices for using them.
The best piece of advice I can offer you about pattern interrupts is making sure you conduct research on the people you’re contacting.
This includes your subscribers, influencers you want to collaborate with and brands you want to partner with.
Use your best judgement to determine which pattern interrupts, if any at all, would work best for individual contacts.
Learning more about what problems your audience is facing, what kind of content other influencers make and what marketing style brands use can really do a lot to help you determine how best to address them in emails.
Refer to your email marketing app’s analytics to measure your success.
Jot down your current open and click-through rates. Then, implement a pattern interrupt technique in a few emails, and test your rates again.
You’ll be able to see how much of an impact certain techniques have on your marketing strategy.
Common mistakes to avoid
When you start using pattern interrupts, make sure you do not overuse a single technique.
Using the same pattern interrupt in every marketing email you send is a pattern.
Use a variety of different pattern interrupt techniques, but write plain emails every now and then as well.
When applying humor to your copy, avoid being too offensive. Again, as long as you do your research, you should know what kind of humor your audience would appreciate.
Even if your audience wouldn’t mind a little risque humor, the platform you’re using to send the emails might not appreciate it.
You should also avoid clickbait at all costs.
It can be really easy to create clickbait email subject lines when you use pattern interrupt techniques.
Even if you decide to use humor, your subject line should still represent the copy in your email.
Try testing with a small audience first
If you’re not quite sure about pattern interrupts, segment a section of your audience in your email marketing app, and test out a few emails on them.
Send regular emails to everyone else on your list.
This will allow you to gauge how the rest right your audience might react to pattern interrupts.
Final thoughts
Pattern interrupts are a great way to make your emails impossible to ignore.
Now know what they are and how to incorporate them into your email marketing strategy.
But don’t forget that you can use them throughout your entire marketing & sales strategy.
Just remember to start small and keep everything centered around the needs of your audience.