In 1971 Dennis Regan, a professor at Cornell University conducted a study on the effects of a small favour.
In his study a volunteer was asked to rate several pieces of art along with another participant.
Little did they know that the other participant was actually Regan's lab assistant.
Known as "Joe," Regan's assistant would perform a small unsolicited favour for 50% of all volunteers.
During a small break, the assistant left the room and returned with two cans of Coke.
He gave the second can to the volunteer stating:
"I asked if I could get myself a Coke and he (the experimenter) said it was okay, so I got you one too."
For the other 50% of volunteers, Joe returned with nothing.
In both circumstances he acted exactly the same.
Once the paintings had been rated Joe asked the volunteer for a favour.
He stated that he was selling raffle tickets for a new car and if he sold the most he would win a $50 voucher.
This is where the results got interesting.
While both groups usually purchased at least one ticket, the group who had been given a Coke bought an average of 2x the amount.
This is the rule of reciprocity in action.
If you willingly do someone a favour they feel obliged to return it.
And research shows this applies to every culture around the world.
But what does this have to do with copywriting you may ask?
Well, it can be used in both your outreach and your writing.
Let's start with outreach.
When people try to land clients they usually follow the same pitch:
Generic compliment ---> here's my results ---> let's book a call.
Straight away they're asking for something from the prospect.
Most people get ignored or end up in spam.
However, if you use the rule of reciprocity in your outreach you can get a reply almost every time you send an email.
Here are three ways to do this.
1) Rewrite 2 sales emails from a business & say they can test them for free
2) Record a loom breaking down their landing page & explain your changes
3) Record a loom breaking down an email flow & improvements they can make
For each of these send them to the email of the person in charge of the marketing decisions.
This can be a CMO, CEO or any other decision maker.
Doing this I've received reply rates of over 80%.
The same concept can be applied to your copy too.
You can offer something for free before trying to sell a paid product or service.
1) A free 30-day nutrition plan
2) A free financial report
3) A free workout schedule
You can also offer something after selling a product or service to strengthen the offer.
This makes the decision to buy significantly easier.
You can also apply this rule in your daily life to influence people's decisions.
Although don't do something with the intention of getting something in return.
Do it to be kind and if you get something back it's a bonus.
Start applying this small psychological trick to your copy & you'll see results pretty fast.
Copy "rule of reciprocation" Mav
