4 Things Customers REALLY Want from Brand Emails

Market research is an incredibly important part of any business strategy, especially for marketers trying to determine how to best engage with their audience and persuade them to take action. Third-party data, whether from quantitative surveys, focus groups or email enhancement data via email intelligence, can lead to valuable insight about what customers want and how you can meet their expectations. Coupled with existing research, these insights can drive even greater connections with your customers.

As you address your content strategy, consider what the following four market research studies revealed about consumer preferences. Use these insights to influence your email strategy and the content you create to engage contacts.

1. Create a Sense of Belonging to Inspire Action

Research suggests that people like being labeled or being part of a group. These types of labels make people feel included and, therefore, more inclined to participate. This is especially relevant for businesses with customer loyalty programs. People who are labeled as “superior” consumers (with “gold” or “platinum” status, for example) tend to spend more than others.

Email marketing tip: Segment your campaigns by “labels” or groupings of customers. Emphasize the group’s status within your content.

2. Admit Your Faults to Improve Perceptions

According to social psychologist Fiona Lee, admitting your business’ shortcomings is an effective way to highlight your strengths and win over customers. After examining hundreds of statements from companies, Lee found that the companies who admitted to errors in judgment appeared more confident and in control despite their faults.

Email marketing tip: If your email communication calls for it, be transparent about your faults or mistakes rather than blame external forces or make excuses.

3. Combine Urgency with Specific Actions

Marketers use urgency to drive consumers to take timely action and generate demand, and it’s a strategy that still works today. But a study by Howard Leventhal found that creating a sense of urgency only works if followed up by specific, immediate actions for users.

Email marketing tip: If you use urgency in an email, such as when you’re trying to get people to take an action with a specific deadline, provide detailed instructions about what exactly they need to do-whether that’s to visit a landing page, complete a form or another immediate task.

4. Be Clear About Your Values

According to research from the CEB, consumers are loyal to brands that stand for something that aligns with their values. Of the people who have a strong relationship with a single brand, over 64 percent said it was because they had “shared values” with the company.

Email marketing tip: While your loyal customers may love your product, they’re also more inclined to care about your values and what your business stands for. Use email to communicate regularly with your subscribers about your company values to keep loyal subscribers engaged.

Customers are never likely to tell you exactly what they want from your brand emails, but by using your customer data and following the above four suggestions, you can connect with your audience in a brand new way.

Looking for more insights about your customers? Learn more about how you can use email intelligence to enhance your email strategy today.