Editorial
The Gist
- Priming shapes behavior. Seasonal cues, cultural moments and familiar patterns subtly guide how customers think, feel and act—before your marketing message even appears.
- Marketers can harness it. From subject lines to landing pages, aligning with what your audience is already tuned into increases opens, clicks and conversions.
- Consistency beats cleverness. Regular timing, relevant cues and clear CTAs create a rhythm customers anticipate, driving lift across every major email KPI.
The Halloween decorations haven’t even come down, and the Mariah Carey memes have already made their annual splash on social media. Before you know it, you’re humming along to “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in the car, at the store, maybe even while pumping iron at the gym.
Like clockwork, the season shifts not just because of the calendar, but because our senses tell us it’s time. The music, the colors, the scents… they all work together to prime us for what’s coming next. We start thinking about gifts, gatherings, and cozy nights in. And just like that, our behavior follows suit.
This isn’t holiday magic. It’s the Priming Effect.
Table of Contents
Understanding the Priming Effect
In behavioral economics, the Priming Effect is a psychological phenomenon in which exposure to one stimulus influences how we respond to a subsequent one. Put simply, priming happens when your brain is shaped by what you experience first, subtly guiding how you behave toward related experiences. During the holidays, for example, you might see the Mariah Carey memes or hear familiar holiday tunes first and before you know it, you’re buying ugly sweaters, stocking up on stocking stuffers and decking the halls.
How the Priming Effect Shapes Marketing
The Priming Effect isn’t some abstract psychological theory. It’s a tool marketers have been using intuitively for ages. Think about it. The audience is already tuned in to seasonal trends. Late-night scrolling through trending hashtags, listening to holiday tunes, or reading timely blog posts. They’re already primed for specific moods and actions.
Smart marketers notice this and jump on the bandwagon, aligning their content with what people are already thinking about. When they post about winter getaways, gift guides, or holiday recipes, they’re meeting their audience where they already are and making it easy for them to engage.
In email marketing, the same principle applies. From subject lines to sender names, carefully controlling the cues your audience sees first makes them more likely to engage with your content. Essentially, priming lets you guide your audience down a path where your message feels timely and relevant.
Related Article: Say It Ain't So! Why Emojis Undermine the Science of Good Email Marketing
Key Email Marketing KPIs and How Priming Boosts Them
Priming works best when it’s consistent, intentional and connected to what your audience already expects. The same way we start craving hot cocoa when the temperature drops, your subscribers can be primed to open, click and convert — if you use the right cues, for the right audience, at the right time. Here’s how priming strengthens three major email KPIs.
| KPI | Priming Actions |
|---|---|
1. Open RatesThe best open rates happen when your message meets your audience where they’re at. Priming helps you get there. |
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2. Click-Through Rates (CTR)Getting the open is step one. But the click shows true engagement. Priming here means aligning your message with what your audience expected to find inside. |
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3. Landing Page MetricsThe priming doesn’t stop once they click. Your landing page should continue the same visual and emotional cues that started in the inbox. |
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Primed for a 73% Win
Consider a common scenario in email marketing: a company with a strong, high-intent subscriber list built from trade shows and direct requests—but very little engagement to show for it. Open rates hover around 10–15%, click rates are nearly zero, and the list feels more like dead weight than a growth channel.
The underlying issues are almost always the same: sporadic sends, product-heavy subject lines and emails with no clear CTA.
One proven approach is to introduce a consistent, expectation-driven drip campaign. For example, sending an email at the exact same time every week—same cadence, same tone—creates a rhythm subscribers begin to anticipate. Subject lines tied to timely cultural moments (like March Madness or seasonal weather shifts) help the content feel relevant, while each message subtly connects those moments back to the brand’s value and provides a clear call to action.
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When organizations follow this model, engagement typically jumps fast. It’s not unusual to see open rates climb into the 60–70% range, click-through rates spike and inbound inquiries rise as subscribers re-engage. In many cases, people even respond directly to say they look forward to the next issue—clear evidence that the audience has been primed to expect, recognize, and act on the message before they even open it.
The Priming Effect is a reminder that good marketing doesn’t start with the message. It starts with the mindset. When timing, tone, and content align with what your audience is already tuned into, every send hits stronger.
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