How to Create an Email Newsletter that Builds Brand Loyalty

If we asked you which communication channel you think customers prefer in communications with businesses, you would, most probably, say “Live chat”. True, 75% of customers prefer live chat over other methods of communication when they need to contact a business for support. However, in the reverse direction, the situation is different. 61% of customers want businesses to contact them by email.

Yes, even today, when our inboxes are flooded with messages from all companies we have ever dealt with, email remains our preferred means of communication with brands. 99% of customers admit that they check their emails at least once per day.

This is why email remains the focus of marketing campaigns and other customer communications. Many brands invest a lot into building email databases, creating unique content to be sent by email, and implementing a customer support tool with emails.

Through smartly composed and timed letters, brands can maintain customer engagement and build loyalty. In communicating with customers who have already joined your loyalty program, emails are especially important. They lead customers to repeat purchases, thus increasing their lifetime with you and raising your revenues.

Role of email newsletters in loyalty programs

For you, your business is your pride and joy, your precious creation, and your most genius invention. For customers, it is one of the brands they connect with in their daily life. Your email newsletters are what can make you stand out and become easily recognizable. Then your customers will return to you again and again.

To achieve that goal, your brand recognition should start already with emails. They should not get lost among dozens of other messages landing in your customers’ inboxes and must serve the following goals:

• Remind the customer about your brand
• Engage the customer enough to make them want to explore further
• Make the customer feel special

When done right, customers will never block emails and they will become a powerful driver of your loyalty program helping you with lead generation, bringing more clients to you, and turning them into your core audience. If you decide to proceed with email newsletter, make sure to learn the steps on how to setup an email account for your business.

Best practices of creating brand loyalty driving email newsletters with examples

We have collected several tips for you to try in your email marketing campaign. Mix and match them to find the perfect strategy. To make the process easier, leverage automation solutions, such as Chamaileon.

Segment your customer audience

You surely don’t want to send the same newsletter to everyone. When planning email content and even before trying to reach customers, take into account the different audience groups you may be targeting. In addition to the standard segmentation used in most marketing campaigns (age, location, purchase history, product preferences, etc.), use other criteria in creating content for your loyalty program newsletters:

• First-time customers
• Customers who have earned a certain level
• Customers who have not shopped with you for a while

Check, for example, this email from Domino’s Pizza inviting customers to join the loyalty program. Surely, this content will not do for long-time members, but for those who just subscribed to Domino’s, it is just perfect.

Explain the benefits of your loyalty program clearly

When you welcome new members of your loyalty program or want to make subscribers join it, describe what they are going to get very clear. Explain the points accrual system, the levels they can reach, and, most importantly, the awards that members can get.

Your email should be structured so that the benefits are easily visible. In the following example, the customer can immediately see how they can earn points and spend them. The person who receives this message can calculate quickly how much their discount can be with this program.

Such detailed welcome emails can increase customers’ trust in your brand and boost their engagement. They will know the rewards they may get from shopping with you and how achievable they are.

Balance promotional messages and engaging content

Nobody wants to read only about your new products, special offers, or campaign events. While the main goal of email marketing is to engage customers and lead them to purchase, do not make your emails 100 percent sales-y. Include interesting, educational, and entertaining content in your newsletter to provide new knowledge to your customers. It is essential that your content relates to your profile. Among other things, this technique can fuel your blog conversion rate.

If you are looking for ideas, check out HubSpot’s content marketing strategy, which can give you some inspiration.

MyFitnessPal, for example, shares various health and fitness tips with its customers via email. Of course, while the majority of its messages are about product updates and offers, customers get something to enjoy, too.

Design your newsletter to build loyalty

Your email design should invite and engage, not bore and annoy. Make your newsletters short and to the point with the main message clear and immediately visible. Try to fit the most important stuff in the top part of the piece so that people see it without scrolling down. If you manage to engage them, they will scroll.

Start with your subject line. It should be transparent and strong, hinting at what is inside. The subject line must make the customer’s eyes stop when they browse the long list of incoming emails. Then, design your newsletter to appeal to customers. Use graphics to replace text, where possible. If you want the customer to do something – continue to your website, start shopping, watch a video – place a distinct call-to-action in a strategic spot where it cannot be missed.

Look at iHerb’s email announcing a special sale. There are the discount details next to a picture of the products that are included. You can shop for discounted items immediately by clicking a big green CTA button below. No clutter, no irrelevant details – you can view the whole message at one glance and understand what it is about.

Personalize your emails

We cannot stress it enough – personalize your customer communication. It is a living person behind the email address, so treat them as such. Ask them for their names, their kids’ names, and their pets’ names – and include them in your messages. For example, for a company selling pet products would be a good idea to include a “personal message” for the customer’s pet in an email. A simple thing, like “And say hi to Fluffy from us” will make a lot of difference.

When your clients use self-service options, you can gather information about them with the right lead gen forms. But if you collect information during your subscription, use it, too. Inform customers about new stores or offline events in their vicinity. Send birthday greetings. Take advantage of their search and purchase history to cross-sell products. While these techniques are known to everyone, people fall for them all the time. It feels so nice to get birthday wishes or a personal gift for your cat, doesn’t it?

Another good practice is to show customers that you care. Today, there is hardly a person who has not felt the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. If you want to announce that you are back in business, draft a special email – use this template as the base, for example, – hinting that you had to close to protect customers but now welcome them back.

Such emails have a good chance to be opened. If they contain something valuable – like creating a QR code with a 15% discount, as in the example below – the customer may very well proceed to your website and browse. And, maybe, purchase while the mood lasts.

Implement a referral campaign

Any referral campaign is aimed at getting new customers. However, those who help you in this task should feel awarded, too. When you ask your audience to refer your brand to a friend or relative, offer something in exchange. This way, you are hitting two birds with one stone – you win over new leads and boost engagement with the existing customers.

A good idea is to combine a referral campaign with a loyalty program. For example, a common practice is offering bonus points or other loyalty awards for a referral. As shown below, Starbucks used to send this email to its customers encouraging them to invite friends to the program. Both sides received nice awards – bonus stars for members and free drinks for their friends. Not to mention Starbucks itself seized double benefits.

Wrapping up

Emails play a great role in building customer loyalty. The thing is to use them wisely to engage customers with unique content and valuable offers. Hope our list of tips can help you create long-term relationships with existing customers and bring new ones.