Hey 👋 The Crew here.
Here’s a question for you. What do you think feels better:
- Getting $9 after you’ve completed a task, knowing that you were going to get it.
- … Or getting $5 after you’ve completed a task, but without expecting anything at all?
If you’re honest, you’ll say “getting $5.” And by the end of this newsletter, you’ll understand why.
No, you won’t receive any money from us after you read the newsletter.
But you will receive knowledge. And that’s even more valuable… right?
Reading time: 4 minutes, 25 seconds
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How many hours is your creative team wasting on logistics instead of… well, creating?
Your creative team used to create a couple of Instagram posts a week.
Now they’re juggling TikToks, Reels, ad variations, and endless asset requests across every platform imaginable.
And content demands are only rising in 2025, so your team can’t afford getting buried in logistics.
That’s why Air partnered with Hyper Studios—to create a practical field guide showing the workflows used by top brands like Sharma Brands to win back time for actual creative work.
Once you get the field guide, you’ll see how leading teams:
- Cut review cycles by organizing feedback in one place instead of having it scattered across Slack, email, and meetings.
- Save hours on asset management by setting up a centralized system where everything is instantly findable.
- Take new projects from concept to launch faster and eliminate bottlenecks.
Get the free field guide now to help your team create more without sacrificing quality.
Delight Effect
POV: You’re buying a scented candle online.
You navigate the website easily and complete a super-smooth, one-step checkout. The candle arrives on time in a nice package and smells exactly as expected.
The end result? You’re satisfied with the purchase and the overall experience.
But now imagine that upon opening the package, you also discover a handwritten thank-you note from the brand.
In addition, there’s a small complementary sample of another scented candle… and a 10% off coupon for next purchase. And you go “wow.”
The above is a typical example of the difference between customer satisfaction—where you only look to meet your customers’ expectations, and delight—where you exceed those expectations.
In a nutshell, customer delight means going above and beyond to exceed your customer expectations and triggering an overly positive emotional reaction.
In return, the Delight Effect helps you:
- Strengthen the emotional connection with your customers.
- Increase chances of referrals, word-of-mouth, and organic user-generated content.
- Boost customer loyalty and retention.
… Which all boils down to a higher amount of sales—and higher profits.
Now let’s see how you can use this effect to your advantage.
Three ways to leverage the Delight Effect
1) Reward loyalty
A study from as far back as 1971 found that an unexpected moment of “wow”—like handing over an unexpected, free bottle of Coke to a person you just met—can lead to that person liking you.
So why wouldn’t you do something similar for your existing customer pool?
Your returning customers are already satisfied with your brand. So surprising them with a little extra gift can deepen that loyalty and even turn them into brand ambassadors.
Delta Airlines, for instance, anticipated their frequent customers’ tight schedules between flights, and at least once, it sent a representative to pick a customer up and bring them to their next flight.
In return? Delta Airlines got an entire article from that customer as a free, organic promo.
2) Add a personal touch
There’s hardly a better way to delight customers than emphasizing their individuality. And you can do that by sprinkling in some personality.
For instance, research shows that adding handwritten notes to product packages can boost delight and increase sales. You don’t expect a personalized note with your order, right?
That’s a “wow” already. But Chewy goes even further. Sometimes the brand sends personalized birthday notes to pets! Now that’s how you really sweep a pet parent off their feet.
You can also use data to make these decisions.
For example, if your data reveals that a website visitor looked at the same product multiple times but didn’t place an order, they might be waiting for the price to go down.
You can send a personalized email offering a discount for that product category—making them purchase and triggering an emotional response as well.
3) Offer unexpected gifts
As we mentioned already, unexpected gifts will make your customers look at you more favorably.
One study found that the first group of students who were surprised with $5 upon completing a task felt more joy than the second group that got $9.
Why? Because the second group knew their reward was waiting.
So consider including a simple, unexpected gift for your first time buyer. It can be a simple 10% discount. Or a small scent sample if you sell scented candles… or something similar.
What do you think? Throwing in a lil’ extra during customer acquisition seems like a decent retention strategy, doesn’t it?
Oh, and if you read everything so far—here’s an extra treat from us.
Reply to this email and we’ll send you our 2024 Annual Report with insider info about this newsletter like:
- How we made $517,500 in revenue.
- What our expenses and profit were at the end of the year.
- Total emails sent and engagement rates for the year.
- What worked well for growing our readership and what didn’t.
- What our biggest challenges and failures were in 2024.
- What our revenue and profit predictions are for 2025.
Yes, that’s the Delight Effect in action. Not bad, eh?
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GOOGLE ADS: Triple treat. Or a triple treat? Google has started testing three ad placements from one brand on a single results page—at the top, in local pack map results, and at the bottom. And yes, if it picks up, it might affect search traffic.
E-COMMERCE: Uh-oh. Buyers are gripping to their wallets apparently. Consumer spending dipped 0.5% in January according to reports, and February isn’t looking much better. The reason? Rising inflation, which raises concerns. So keep your messaging reassuring…
SEO: About two-thirds of people still actively use Google to search, Rand Fishkin reports. Also, 81% of internet users worldwide use a search engine at least once a month, despite the AI boom. But will it hold on as chatbots get better and our habits change? Better ask ChatGPT, eh.
*This is a sponsored post
ICYMI, last time we looked at the Noble Edge Effect.
The “Wowed” Crew
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