Rachel LaCour Niesen“The secret to using free content as a business driver is to be the host of the conversation your audience cares about, not the subject of it.” — Shane Snow, Founder of Contently
Show don’t tell. That should be your mantra when using email to communicate your company’s culture. Telling customers how cool, innovative, or helpful your company is won’t help you win their trust. In fact, making yourself the subject of the conversation just makes you look self-absorbed. Instead, use emails to communicate your company’s culture by showing that you’re customer-focused.
So, how do you do it?
1. Take the customer-focused email test.
Every time you create an email, ask yourself this key question: will this information help my customers succeed? This is the best test. Take it again and again. And never fail it. When you hold all of your company’s emails to this standard, you ensure that you’ll always stay true to creating customer-focused content. Remember, the most effective marketing offers no-strings-attached resources to earn an audience’s trust and eventually turn them into paying customers.
2. Establish your company’s voice before sending emails.
How you communicate is just as important as what you communicate. That’s where voice comes into play. Whether you have an internal team creating content for your company or you tap into an agency to create content, you should establish clear guidelines for your company’s “voice.” While your emails should be professional, they also shouldn’t be cold and boring. After all, your goal is to earn attention and keep readers coming back for more. In a sea of information, the only emails that get noticed are customer-focused messages that reveal your company’s authentic personality.
3. Inspire readers to click and take action!
It’s not enough to craft customer-focused emails that have a clear and unique voice. You also have to inspire readers to take action on the emails you send. In order to get real results (click throughs and conversions), you’ve got to offer readers something extra! That’s the best way to earn trust and prove to readers that your company is customer-focused.
In every email you send, be sure to include a clear “Call to Action” (CTA) that inspires readers to take the next step. For example, you might offer an in-depth whitepaper that gives readers more information about the topic of your email. Or you could consider creating a Pinterest page full of visual inspiration for your customers. The most important thing is to offer readers something that demonstrates immediate value.
In today’s media-saturated environment, emails can often get lost in the shuffle. (How many times have you hastily deleted an email that didn’t convey an immediate benefit?) That’s why it’s imperative that smart marketers use email to communicate company culture. By making your customers the main focus of your emails — through content and CTAs — you can create emails that keep your readers engaged and coming back for more.
Here are more great tips for creating customer-focused content for your company.
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