Strengthen customer loyalty, build trust: How often should you send newsletters?
Newsletters are a powerful tool for building trust, because regular communication builds a strong relationship with your customers. What are the psychological mechanisms behind this?
Send out newsletters on a regular basis to build up trust and strengthen customer retention: you’ve probably heard or read this tip before. You may already be managing your email marketing by continuously sending emails.
If you’re consistently sending newsletters to your subscribers, you’re doing a lot right when it comes to trusting your business and brand.
- How can regular emails help building up trust?
- And what psychological mechanisms come into play here – how exactly do regular messages in the inbox help retain customers?
We’ll answer these questions in this article. We’ll also take you on a brief tour of neuropsychology.
What to expect from this post:
- Trust in a Business Envirtonment
- Building Trust: the Psychological Basics
- Emails as a Tool of Trust
- The Role of Regular Communication in Building Trust and Loyalty
- Score with Relevant Content
- Being Open and Honest for Greater Success
- How Regularity Builds Trust and Loyalty
- How Do Regular Newsletters Build Trust?
- The Power of Regularity in Email Marketing
Trust in a Business Environment
Trust is fundamental and indispensable in business environments. It is the cement of successful business relations. No matter how great your products or services are, without trust, customers will not feel secure and will be less likely to buy your products or hire you.
Trust is the foundation of long-term, sustainable customer relationships, and it is critical to invest in this valuable asset.
Building Trust: the Psychological Basics
Building trust is a complex process that takes time and commitment. There are some psychological principles that explain how this usually happens:
- Consistency: What you promise should match with your actions. That is, if someone consistently delivers on their commitments, trust is built because it is expected that they will continue to do so in the future.
- Reliability: When someone repeatedly proves to be reliable, trust is built. That reliability creates a sense of security.
- Transparency: Your customers are more likely to trust you when they feel they are fully informed and that there are no hidden agendas.
- Empathy: Being able to empathize with and respond to the feelings and needs of others also builds trust. Empathy shows that you care about the well-being of others and understand their perspective.
- Shared Values: Similar values and beliefs create a deeper connection and a sense of being on the same level.
- Experiences and Positive Memories: Having a good experience with a person or a company also helps to build trust.
You can also use these psychological principles in email marketing to build trust with your subscribers and increase customer loyalty. Apply these trust-building principles to your newsletters:
Emails as a Tool of Trust
Email may seem impersonal, but newsletters are a great way to build a personal relationship with your recipients. To encourage customer loyalty, however, there are a few things you should keep in mind:
- Address your recipients by name and send out personalized newsletter content and offers that matches their specific interests. Segmentation allows you to meet the individual needs of your subscribers. Our professional email marketing software supports you with both of these things.
- Tell stories and share insights about your company, your team, or your everyday life. Honesty and openness build trust.
Write in an authentic style that reflects you and your brand. - Send useful and relevant content that speaks to your recipients’ interests. This will ensure that your subscribers view your newsletter as a valuable source of information and will increase customer loyalty.
- Offer your newsletter subscribers exclusive offers, discounts or access to events. This is a common reason to subscribe to a newsletter and will help you create loyal fans who feel a strong connection to your brand.
- Focus on individual customers and celebrate their success. It shows that you care about your customers.
- Show that you’re thinking of them by sending birthday greetings to your subscribers – preferably with a personalized discount code. But beware, research shows that nearly a third of people over the age of 60 think it is rude to send birthday greetings via email or text message!
- Show your appreciation by collecting feedback from your subscribers to measure customer satisfaction. Encourage them to actively participate with opinions or suggestions about your company or products, and build a community on social networks or online forums.
All of these points can help you build a strong, positive relationship with your newsletter recipients that goes far beyond a single email. Three points are particularly important for building trust through email, and we will focus on them below: Consistency, or regularity, relevant content, and transparency and honesty.
The Role of Regular Communication in Building Trust and Loyalty
Trust grows in an environment where communication is not only respectful, but continuous.
Customers, employees and partners are more likely to trust a company if they feel involved and valued. One way to achieve this is to provide regular updates on developments, progress and changes. Ongoing communication demonstrates a company’s commitment, openness, and interest in its customers’ needs and expectations.
But why is that – how does regularity build trust?
Regular newsletters demonstrate reliability – as long as you deliver exactly what you promise in your emails. This allows you to meet your subscribers’ expectations and create a familiar environment where your subscribers feel safe and comfortable. This will increase your credibility and gain the trust of your subscribers.
Consistency is not just about sending frequency, but also about ensuring that your emails are consistent in design, tone and message – in short, consistent with your brand identity. This builds recognition and trust in your brand.
Asking yourself how often you should send out your newsletter?
The question of how often to send emails is a recurring problem for marketing managers. The frequency of your newsletter is not so important, and it is not necessary to be too modest. What’s more important is the regularity of your newsletter. But keep the interests of your recipients in mind.
What Does That Mean for Your Email Marketing?
Even if you don’t have a promotion to promote right now: Don’t stop communicating with your customers. Set specific days to send your newsletter and create an editorial schedule for when you plan to send what content. All of this will help build trust in you and your brand.
Score with Relvant Content
The content you send is where you connect with your subscribers. They should find content that speaks to their interests and needs, so they feel understood and valued. High-quality, relevant, and valuable content goes a long way toward building trust. This is a cornerstone of your success!
Keyword relevance: How can you ensure that your recipients find your newsletter particularly relevant?
- Your newsletter topics should not only be tailored to their interests, but also be as useful and valuable as possible. You can do this with informative articles, but also with tutorials, special offers, or problem solving. This is a way to show attention and appreciation.
- Your company can be of interest as well: introduce yourself and your team, or share your latest activities, decisions and developments.
- In addition, your newsletters should be clear and well structured.
- Language is important as well: write in a way that is easy to understand and avoid using technical jargon or complicated phrases.
- In addition, the opinions of others can increase the relevance of your newsletters: Include positive reviews, testimonials or case studies in your emails to demonstrate social proof. When others speak highly of your product or service, it builds trust in your brand.
Being Open and Honst for Greater Success
Transparency and honesty play a central role in email marketing and are essential elements in building trust. This is reinforced when you are perceived as sincere and authentic.
When your emails are transparent and honest, you signal to your subscribers that you value them. This is the first step to building a positive relationship. By being clear in your emails about what your subscribers can expect from you and your newsletters, you minimize misunderstandings and miscommunication.
You can also use mistakes to your advantage. Because no one likes to make mistakes, they can actually enhance your credibility if you are transparent about them.
You can also demonstrate honesty by providing accurate information, keeping promises, presenting your offers or products fairly, or quoting experts. All of these things make you seem like a more trustworthy source in the eyes of your subscribers.
How Regularity Builds Trust and Loyalty
It is obvious that openness and consistent content build trust: both demonstrate that the sender takes their recipients seriously and values them. But why does sending email on a regular basis build trust and loyalty more than sending it infrequently?
- Position yourself as a reliable and committed vendor.
- You meet expectations.
- Demonstrate credibility and competence
- Subscribers better understand your brand identity.
- Make them feel connected to you and your brand.
We achieve all of these valuable and beneficial benefits through customized and continuous email communication. But how exactly do trust and loyalty develop – and how can we foster both through regular communication? Let’s dive into the world of neuropsychology and see how your regular newsletter connects to the synapses of those you send it to.
How Do Regular Newsletters Build Trust?
The Neuropsychological Correlations of Regular and Coherent Email Communication
Now it gets a little scientific-and exciting! Because it is quite remarkable how your regular newsletters work. They have been proven to do so – and in many different ways. Not only do they release feel-good hormones, but they also activate a wide range of brain regions.
Newsletter Hormone Release
Two hormones in particular are responsible for positive feelings: the trust hormone oxytocin and the happiness hormone dopamine. Regular and appreciative communication, including newsletters, can stimulate the release of oxytocin. This hormone increases feelings of connection and trust.
When we have positive experiences, our brains release the happiness hormone dopamine – and reward us with pleasant feelings. Regular communication that provides valuable information or experiences for the recipient can activate this reward system. If you regularly send your subscribers useful, interesting, or entertaining content, their brains will associate those communications with positive emotions, which in turn builds trust.
Email Marketing as a Brain Region Trigger
Regular and consistent communication also has a direct impact on several regions of the brain – and therefore on the development of trust:
- Prefrontal cortex (part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex):
This region of the brain is responsible for complex cognitive functions such as planning, decision-making, and self-control. Regular and consistent communication can help activate these regions of the brain and promote the perception of your brand as a reliable and committed provider. - Prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex (another part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex):
These two regions of the brain are responsible for processing emotions and social cognition. They are activated when your recipients feel that you are responding to their needs and concerns. So by effectively responding to subscribers’ questions and concerns, you can actually help build trust in your brand. - Hippocampus (one of the oldest brain structures in the center of the cerebrum) and temporal cortex (temporal lobe of the brain)
The hippocampus and temporal cortex are responsible for memory and information processing. You can target these areas of the brain by sharing relevant content because it demonstrates competence and knowledge-and, you guessed it, builds trust in your brand. - Nucleus accumbens (the reward center)
The nucleus accumbens plays a central role in the brain’s “reward system” – as well as in the development of addiction, but that’s another topic. Reward centers in the brain can also be activated by regular and consistent communication – and this, in turn, increases the willingness of your newsletter recipients to do business with you. - Inferior frontal gyrus (a large cerebral cortex of the lower outer frontal lobe) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex)
The inferior frontal gyrus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are responsible for processing information about social identity and brand evaluation. These are the brain regions you need to engage if you want subscribers to understand and identify with your brand. And you can do that with news, offers and product updates. - Limbic System
The limbic system connects several areas of the brain and is responsible for our emotions and feelings. It is the ultimate goal of your content marketing. When you tell stories in your regular emails that emphasize your values, mission and authenticity, you activate the limbic system and foster a sense of trust. In this way, your stories have the power to create deep emotional connections.
Overall, the neuropsychological connections behind regular and consistent email communication with subscribers are many. They build trust, position your brand as reliable and committed, and increase the likelihood of doing business with you.
The Power of Regularity in Email Marketing
Trust is at the heart of every successful business relationship, and email marketing is a powerful tool for building and strengthening that trust. By communicating regularly and reliably with your subscribers through newsletters, you set important psychological mechanisms in motion. We have outlined the key mechanisms that build trust and loyalty.
By communicating consistently and reliably, keeping your promises and being transparent, you create a trustworthy environment. A personalized approach, relevant content, and empathetic engagement reinforce this effect.
The release of oxytocin and dopamine, the activation of various brain regions and the creation of emotional connections are the results of your well-thought-out email marketing strategy. Regular communication, combined with high-quality, relevant content, helps build customer loyalty and keep your brand top of mind.
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