Marketing Profs

Brands that deliver general interest newsletters filled with tips, tools, and advice—but not unique brand-differentiating content—should rethink their approach.

Many brands originally expect that engaging with customers and delivering basic newsletters will create warm and fuzzy feelings that are enough to generate a positive ROI. Most are disappointed with their results.

Progressive brands are making advances in their approach, tightening the focus of their relationship marketing, and now filling newsletters with more unique-to-the-brand content.

Here are six forward-looking strategies to make your newsletter and other relationship-building communications work harder.

1. Write to long-time heavy buyers who are familiar with your brand and the category

The people who seek out or agree to receive your communications are special. They usually include some of your heaviest buyers who already have an affinity for your brand and the benefits it provides. Speak directly to them. Respect their experience in your category. A brand or category "newbie" will adjust to and respect this approach, but the reverse is not true.

2. Provide validation that your brand was the right choice

If readers are already familiar with your brand, why did they sign up for your newsletter? Many want to validate their decision to buy your brand. Research shows that once people have made a decision, they look for ways to validate it and avoid changing their mind. This holds true even when they are presented with competing information that contradicts their initial decision.

Present deep evidence that validates buyers' smart choice of selecting your brand. People love to be right!

3. Play off the claims you make in your base marketing and advertising

Base marketing efforts communicate your positioning and key product claims, but they usually don't afford the opportunity to deliver deeper support for those claims. To be most effective, relationship marketing should go beyond restating base claims. Re-showing readers the same old ad in your relationship-building materials won't do enough to advance the understanding about how and why your brand is a great choice.

Take advantage of the opportunity to feed invested readers more proof about your product claims, and use techniques that better cement the brand deeper in the minds of these readers.