I regularly work on customers’ newsletters and the brief is often: “we need to tell our customers about our new website” or “we need to let people know about our new service”.
The problem with that approach is that your customer’s aren’t necessarily that interested. They might even say “so what?”
So how do you tell them about what you’re up to without simply shouting at them and hoping they’ll listen?
What do they want?
The answer is to think about what your customers want. What is it about your new website or service that will somehow improve their lives or provide a solution to a problem they have?
Will it provide them with useful and valuable information that they can use?
Or will it make it easier and more convenient for them to buy things that they need?
How will your news be of benefit to them?
Is there anything you can tell them in the newsletter that they can use straight away – an idea, a suggestion, a helpful guide?
Why does it matter?
The way we communicate has fundamentally changed. We are bombarded with news and information coming at us via mobile communications, smart phones, TV stations. I’m writing this article on a train and am surrounded by people looking at screens. There are even TV screens on the seat-backs (like an airline). So we tune out anything that is not interesting and directly relevant to us. A quick glance and we hit the delete button.
However, people do still need products and services – we just need to make sure we’re talking to people about what interests them, not what we “need” to tell them.