If there is only one trend in search marketing, it's that it's becoming more about people and relationships. It's not too much of a leap in logic to say that perhaps we should start thinking not just about the search engine algorithms, but the algorithms of the human brain.

I recently had an email conversation that ended with, “Looks great! And thank you for finding this interesting enough to do a piece on! I will certainly link/promote.” I'm going to tell you how I got to that point without strictly playing the numbers game, and how you can use a few principles from psychology to make it happen. I'll also share some advice I picked up from Distilled's head of outreach.

Principles of Influence

When I came across Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini, I immediately realized its potential as a tool for SEO. (That probably says something about my psychological state). I quickly transformed this revelation into a post about the psychology of online marketing over at Northcutt's blog, and before I was finished I already knew I was hooked on the subject.

The book offers six principles I think anybody involved in outreach, content production, or marketing in general, should have taped to their foreheads:

1. Reciprocity – The American Disabled Veterans Association realized that enclosing a small gift with their donation requests boosted their success rate from 18% to 35%. Do something for somebody and they're more compelled to return the favor.

2. Commitments – A restaurant that had a problem with no-shows tried saying “Will you call us if you change your plans,” instead of “Please call if you change your plans.” The small change cut the no-show rate from 30% to 10%. Small commitments make a big difference.

3. Authority – A study showed that pedestrians are three times more likely to cross the street during a red light if somebody wearing a business suit does it first. People are compelled to trust authority figures.

4. Social Proof – Another study showed that if you walk around asking for donations and carry a list of people who previously donated, a longer list results in more donations. Most people feel more comfortable following the crowd.

5. Scarcity – In one striking example, a beef importer truthfully reported that weather conditions would produce a shortage of Australian beef, the orders doubled. (They went up 600% after he added that the news came from the official Australian weather service, more proof of authority's impact there.) If an opportunity seems rare, it seems more valuable.

6. Rapport – Dr. Cialdini calls this “liking.” Research on party planners showed that people were three times more likely to buy products because they liked the hostess than because of the products themselves. If you feel similar to somebody, or even just like them, you're more likely to do business with them.

Now that I'm aware of these six principles, I try to hit them all in my emails and outreach. No magic template, just guidelines worth adhering to. I've seen a much better response rate getting interviews for my science blog.

An Example

Here's the (edited) text of an email that got me an interview:

Hi Dr [Name], I was wondering if you'd like to exchange a few emails about your book, [...]. For an idea of what to expect, you can take a look at my interview with Cliff Pickover:

http://trendingsideways.com/index.php/cliff-pickover-on-the-beauty-of-our-universe/

I'd like to ask a few questions about your book, [short mention of book's content], and perhaps a bit about [him and subjects he cares about]. (Incidentally, you probably already know about this, but I was fascinated to learn that [piece of news he would find interesting].)

Could you answer a couple questions?

Thanks for your time,

Carter Bowles

Make no mistake, this isn't a magical format that always works. The person I contacted was very enthusiastic and agreeable, but I'm not convinced they would have responded if I hadn't touched on 5 of the six principles (I skipped scarcity). Read back over it. They're all there. (Don't worry, we'll go more in depth later.)

It's probably not hard to see that interviewing somebody about their book is also a gesture worth reciprocating in some way, which is exactly what he did.

Cognitive Biases and Heuristics

The six principles are great, but there are other quirks of the brain worth mentioning called cognitive biases and heuristics. These are distortions and shortcuts in the way nearly all people perceive and think about things. There are huge lists of them, but here are some of the most important ones. Think of these as aspects of the “human algorithm.”

Loss Aversion – Say you play a game where you have two options: earn $200 guaranteed, or take a 1 in 3 chance of earning $600. If you're like most people, you'll take the first option.

Now play a different game. We give you $600. You can either lose $400 guaranteed, or take a 1 in 3 chance of keeping all of it. If you're like most people, you'll choose the second option, even though it's actually exactly the same as the second option in the first game, just phrased differently.

As humans, we're willing to take risks to avoid a loss, but not willing to take risks to earn a gain, even if the risks and outcomes are exactly the same.

Status Quo Bias – I like to call this “default bias.” If I were a financial adviser and I gave you a choice of four different portfolios, you might suffer from a bit of indecision. But if I gave you the same four choices and called one of them the “default” option, you would most likely pick it.

Similarly, the difference between a state where most drivers are organ donors and most drivers aren't usually comes down to whether you opt in or out of the organ donor program when you get your license. Put simply, we like having a default option.

Anchoring – Humans think in relative terms, not absolute ones. Spin a roulette wheel and ask somebody what percentage of Africa is part of the UN. Bizarre as it may sound, a higher number on the roulette wheel is going to make them pick a higher percentage.

We tend to anchor on our first impressions, or our most easily remembered ones (which are usually our most emotional), as a reference point to compare everything else with. Show somebody a wine list with the most expensive wines first, and the list as a whole will seem less expensive.

Framing – A Swiss experiment asked how citizens would feel about nuclear waste being dumped in their area. When simply asked how they felt about it, most respondents felt that if it was the only way to store the waste safely, then so be it. But when asked how they felt about it if they would be compensated with a tax rebate, the citizens were oddly less likely to support the idea.

The experiment changed the reference frame. Introducing the tax incentive changed the question from a moral one to a financial one. We think about things differently when we're in a different frame of mind, and very subtle changes in the way things are framed can completely change the outcome of our decisions.

And This is Related to SEO Because?

Human beings produce, absorb, and share content. They build links and accept guest posts. They evaluated pages for Google to help them develop the Panda algorithm. It's never been a coincidence that domain authority and social signals are important ranking signals.

You get the point. Let's get into the applications.

Psychology for Building Creative Content and Strategies

Creativity is a vital part of developing content, strategies, and tactics. You don't have to rely on chance alone to get a creative spark. If you want, you can take a look at my extended post on the science of creativity (it even has infographics!), but this is the more concise and on-topic version:

1. Uncertainty causes us to associate creativity with negative words (“hell,” “vomit”), so eliminate uncertainty if you're trying to do anything creative.

2. The mindset that there is only one solution to a problem creates uncertainty, so look for multiple solutions instead.

3. Realizing that things can be both different and similar at the same time boosts creativity. Fitting together things that “don't fit” is where new ideas come from. (Notice how many ideas can be created just by sticking two words together. “Social media.” “Wireless email.” Oh, and “psychology marketing.”)

4. Merely watching a funny video can increase your chances of solving a creative problem from 1 in 5 to 3 in 4. Laughter is important, believe it or not. (No, this doesn't mean you can spend all day watching cats with socks sliding on linoleum.)

5. Incentives can boost creativity, but only if it's made explicit that the incentive is specifically for creative work, otherwise it can actually have the opposite effect.

6. The ideal brainstorming group consists of roughly 30% creatives, 20% conformists, and 50% mixed, with no more than 10% being “detail oriented.” Creatives are the source of most ideas, but conformists help keep group unity, and a blend of the rest is necessary for cohesion. Those who get hung up on details tend to bog down the creative process.

7. Both group and individual brainstorming are necessary.

8. Going against everything you've ever heard, encouraging debate during group brainstorming actually makes people feel more comfortable in the minority, and more ideas get shared. (Yes, anything can be taken too far, and use judgement.)

9. If you hire the right facilitator, it can improve creative output, but results vary.

10. As vital as focus is for completing work, it is actually bad for the creative process, as evidenced by experiments with frontal lobe patients, sleep schedules, and people under the influence of alcohol. Strange but true: the wandering mind is best for coming up with new ideas.

Psychology for User Experience and Conversions

Let's just go down the list of influence principles and cognitive biases, shall we?

1. Reciprocity – Give your users something for free, and they will feel more comfortable giving you their money, subscribing, linking, or otherwise returning the gesture. You have to give and give with your content and tools if you want to maximize what people are willing to give you.

2. Commitments – Ask your users to make a small commitment before asking for a larger one. A small commitment to share their email address will make them feel more comfortable with signing up for a free trial later. Committing to a free trial will make them feel more comfortable committing to something paid. Even seemingly “trivial” commitments like, “could you leave a comment” make a big difference.

3. Authority – No offense, but why should users trust you? If you develop some authority that goes beyond search engines, they will start to pay attention. What's the easiest way to do that? Start by borrowing the authority of others. Whether it's the BBB or an interview with a micro-celebrity, this is the best road toward having authority of your own.

4. Social Proof – This is one of the biggest reasons you want an engaged audience. When people notice others interacting with your online presence they feel more comfortable doing the same.

5. Scarcity – I'd be careful with this one. You don't want to try to portray an opportunity as rare if it isn't. You risk alarming the BS meter and hurting yourself long term. If you want to portray something as rare, make sure it is. Do it successfully, though, and this is a powerful one.

6. Rapport – Don't distance yourself from your audience with terminology they don't get and references they won't identify with. Meanwhile, try to interact with your audience, at least on occasion, and build genuine rapport with them.

7. Loss Aversion – If turning down an offer feels like a certain loss, this can be quite a bit more effective than if taking the offer feels like a risky opportunity. Don't take this too far. Trying to force your audience to believe that turning down your business is a huge loss for them is another opportunity to set off the BS meter.

8. Status Quo Bias – Don't overload your audience with decisions and options. Remember, people like a default option, and the default option on the web is almost always hitting the back button. People like options, but don't like feeling forced to make a choice. There's a big difference. Offer them a clear default option any time you throw in a call to action, and keep the choices simple and non-intrusive.

9. Anchoring – Present things in the optimal order. List highest prices first, and follow up with the lower prices. The lower prices will seem lower this way. Users will immediately anchor on the layout of your site and the way you express your words, which is why a good impression is so important. But the last thing you want to do is fail to live up to that expectation. It's better to under promise and over deliver. By the same token, your audience has probably anchored on previous experiences with similar companies, or on life events that might relate to your products. Use this when you can.

10. Framing – What's the context? Are your users thinking financially, emotionally, intellectually, or formally. The frame of reference changes the way they think about their choices. Are your users in the frame of mind that fits best? Remember, we don't act the same way at home as in a business meeting, or with our parents the way we do with our friends. Context is powerful.

Psychology for Outreach and Link Building

What do you know? We can carry these same ten principles into this realm as well.

1. Reciprocity – Ask what you are doing for them that will make them feel compelled to return the favor? Why is it even worth responding to your email? Trust is a rare commodity online, and you have to give it before you can get it. It doesn't much matter what you give, as long as you're not expecting more in return.

2. Commitments – Sometimes it's more appropriate to ask for a small commitment. “Could you take a look at one of my articles?” is easier to commit to than “Could you post this article on your site?” It's more important to get commitments, however small, than to get any single thing in particular.

3. Authority – Having a website doesn't mean you're somebody. What can you do to legitimize the contact? A membership, correspondence, a certificate? The borrowed authority of somebody else? If you don't have it, don't fake it. Start with reaching out to influential people who could care less about authority. They exist. There's more than one quirk of the human brain to work with here.

4. Social Proof – Social proof and authority are often the same thing when it comes to outreach. At the very least, they are closely related. I'd advise against telling them how many other people have linked to you or let you guest post. Fit in one example that makes sense if you can.

5. Scarcity – What can you offer somebody that's rare for them? Guest post request letters are a dime a dozen. What can you bring to the table that they haven't seen before, and might not see again?

6. Rapport – Do your research and draw attention to your similarities. Don't waste a lot of time on this, just make it clear that who you are is consistent with who they are. You have common interests and experiences. You “get” them.

7. Loss Aversion – What will they miss out on if they choose not to work with you? Don't straight up tell them they are going to miss out. Imply it. Make it clear what the opportunity is so they don't want to end up missing it.

8. Status Quo Bias – If you're contacting somebody for a guest post, don't just tell them you'd be willing to write about anything they're interested in. Briefly mention what you want to write about and demonstrate you can do it. Let them know you're flexible, but give them a default option.

9. Anchoring – Start with what you want. If you butter them up with a bunch of praise and end the email asking for something, they are going to see things as taking a turn for the worse. Let them know what the purpose of the email is. That's what you want their thoughts anchored on. Everything else you say will be evaluated in that context, which means it may come off surprisingly friendly, informal, and helpful. Keep in mind that they are probably also anchored on emails from others who contacted them and wanted something. They will be evaluating you relative to that. If you surprise them they will pay attention.

10. Framing – What frame of mind are they going to be in if they are going to help you? Is it going to be about enthusiasm for a subject? Is it going to be about a certain number of page views? Set the right tone and choose your words carefully, or they'll be making decisions based on all the wrong factors.

Outreach Advice from Distilled

While I'm confident that many of these psychological principles will be helpful even for advanced, or at least intermediate, outreach professionals, there's still no substitute for experience. So I thought I'd, well, reach out to the outreach heavyweights over at Distilled for some input. Here's what Adria Saracino, head of outreach, had to say (note: Distilled is not an employer or business partner):

...Marketers usually have one goal in mind - achieving a predefined win to affect their brand's bottom line. When they reach out to external third-party sites, it's often very "me" focused...To be successful at Outreach, you need to make it all about "you" - making it about what this individual third-party will get out of the relationship. Many marketers do not know how to speak to people like people. Rather they shout at them and make their email one among many other forms of advertisements...Remember, it's not in what you say, but how you say it.

So how do you talk to these different types of people? Here are some principles:

• "Accidental" Outreach - We like to come off like we came across a third-party site and was so compelled to work with them that we "accidentally" emailed them; we were so moved by them, we had to drop a line. This means acting as if each email you send is the only one you sent that day. You are not emailing third-parties en mass. You want to make each person you reach out to feel special; like what you are offering them is exclusive to them. Mass emailing is like a newsletter; but you're much more likely to get what you want if the person feels that exclusivity. Note: This is not an excuse to be disingenuous - if you're in this business you better sincerely like building relationships.

• Position of power – [Authority and social proof, we'll skip this to avoid redundancy]

• Make it an either or game, not a yes no - Whenever we're doing outreach for guest contributions, we usually provide multiple article ideas (if we don't there is usually a more strategic play at hand here, like we know they are picky and we keep it vague on purpose to open a forum for negotiations). This subtly makes it "which one" rather than "yes or no" if you just throw out one idea.

• Forum for discussion - If you just tell them to do something and don't open up a forum for discussion, it's quite obvious you have an agenda and don't really care about connecting with the person you are reaching out to. By asking them things like "what do you think " or saying you'd love feedback, you are more inviting and "real", making it much more likely someone will want to work with you. Think about it - the Internet is a scary place. An email from some random person on the internet is apt to be ignored unless you can prove you are a real person. Think of the risk it takes on your side to open up discussion - would some shady bot be able to do this? By being warm and conversational and talking to people, not at them, you are much more likely to create a successful relationship.

Breaking it Down:

Now that we've familiarized ourselves with the applications, let's review my outreach email and see where the principles fit in.

Hi Dr [Name], I was wondering if you'd like to exchange a few emails about your book, [...].

The reader anchors on the purpose of the email: to talk about his book. Everything going forward will be evaluated relative to that first impression. Had things been reversed, the entire email would appear manipulative. Saying this first sets the standards everything else is evaluated by.

For an idea of what to expect, you can take a look at my interview with Cliff Pickover:
http://trendingsideways.com/index.php/cliff-pickover-on-the-beauty-of-our-universe/

This simultaneously demonstrates authority and social proof. It establishes me as somebody because a prolific writer and PhD was willing to talk to me. It demonstrates social proof by showing that he's not the first person I'll be interviewing.

I'd like to ask a few questions about your book, [short mention of book's content], and perhaps a bit about [him and subjects he cares about].

Reciprocity and rapport are built into this. I am offering to promote him in exchange for some of his time. I am mentioning subjects that he cares about, which shows that I “get it.” I'm a science blogger in the first place, which in and of itself demonstrates some level of similarity between the two of us. My words make it clear that, even if I'm not an expert like he is, I have a genuine enthusiasm for what he does.

(Incidentally, you probably already know about this, but I was fascinated to learn that [piece of news he would find interesting].)

A bit more reciprocity and rapport. I went a little out of my way to find a piece of news and had the mind to realize that he would probably find it interesting, which he did. I gave him something he didn't ask for, and I demonstrated that I care enough about the subject to find information about it on my own.

Could you answer a couple questions?

I am directly asking him for a commitment to answer a couple questions, something I've neglected to do before. I'm not saying “Please answer some questions,” or just leaving it unsaid and hoping he has enough initiative to answer a question I didn't technically ask. It's also just “a couple questions,” so the risks are low and the potential loss of time isn't a big concern, so loss aversion doesn't have too much of an opportunity to kick in. The default option is to at least answer the question, rather than move on to the next email.

Thanks for your time,

I imply that his time is valuable and I won't waste it.

Carter Bowles

I am not a faceless entity, but notice I didn't start the email with “Hi, I'm Carter Bowles.” That anchors the whole conversation on who I am, something I don't particularly feel is all that important to whoever I'm contacting.

You'll notice I haven't touched on scarcity or framing yet. I mentioned before that I skipped scarcity. I feel that was a good call. Is there any way to make an author feel like an interview from a midlist blogger is a rare opportunity? The idea felt forced to me.

How about framing? Notice I didn't frame the conversation as a huge opportunity to get massive book sales. I framed it as a chance to share a few words about a subject we both find compelling. This theme runs throughout the whole email. That is the frame that I feel is most appropriate in my outreach (not necessarily yours).

And finally: DON'T COPY THIS

Why? The short answer is that I tried it. (If you happen to be one of the people I contacted with a version of this email, I sincerely apologize for failing to be a bit more genuine. The fact that it was customized a bit doesn't excuse it.)

The fact of the matter is that these principles just don't fit into a template. You need to think about who you're contacting and use these principles as your guide. The psychology of persuasion is not mind control. It's really more like a set of ethics that tend to get a positive reaction. If you're doing everything right, people will say you're being genuine and likeable.

Now it's your turn.