Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Understanding Email Marketing in the 21st Century
2. The Impact of Formal Language on Brand Image
3. Informal Language in Email Communication Affects Consumer Trust
Choosing the Safest Option!
Introduction
With businesses moving into a digitized world, digital marketing has become essential to any company’s success. To keep up with constant changes in consumer habits, traditional strategies are gradually becoming obsolete.
Given the current landscape, marketing companies and marketers are seeking more effective strategies to maintain communication with their customers.
We often talk about social media being one of the most prominent marketing tools, especially with various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn moreover, it has evolved into a money-making machine as it is a one-stop shop to promote brands, products, and services.
Therefore, whether you are a startup or a giant industry, it is vital to be present where customers can spend their time. And what can be more relatable than 1-1 email communications that help in communicating directly with your customers and prospects?
However, the consistent debate among marketers is whether to continue interacting in formal language to create trust and drive brand image or focus on conversing in informal language to make their brand more relatable to the target audience and acknowledge their slang to fit in the competitive world.
In today’s MarTech Cube exclusive, we will understand both viewpoints and understand the impact both will create in the future of the marketing landscape.
1. Understanding Email Marketing in the 21st Century
Even in the 21st century, email marketing has been a powerful tool that allows companies to communicate with their customers and prospects through email. This technique is not only cost-effective but also highly effective in generating conversions and maintaining long-term customer relationships.
For instance, in a recent survey by Exclaimer, it was found that around 54% of Gen Z supported email branding, followed closely by millennials, with 61% in agreement. The preference for email marketing is even greater in Gen X, where 65% voted in favor and the Baby Boomers indicated the highest preference, with 76% advocating for email as the best communication.
This implies that email marketing has more potential to generate high-quality leads and conversion rates as it can customize messages to match the exact requirements and interests of the audience.
2. The Impact of Formal Language on Brand Image
Over the years, the language and formality standards have evolved, making mastering personalized language in digital email communications a constant challenge across consumers of different age groups.
Firstly, we have formal language that marks more professionalism and is known for its critical and precise tone that builds a solid brand image, brand advocacy, and a positive customer experience. In a recent survey, it was widely accepted that nearly 65% of participants prefer formal language in email communication. Especially in email marketing, formal language is required to understand your target audience, showing that you are keen to understand their necessities and letting you personalize your messages to their priorities and values, leading to more elevated levels of customer satisfaction and retention.
Our esteemed guest on MarTech Cube, Carol Howley, CMO at Exclaimer, shares her two cents with us on this topic and graciously states that:
Therefore, going against customers’s preferences and including colloquialisms or informalities could sabotage brand development with both new and existing consumers.
3. Informal Language in Email Communication Affects Consumer Trust
With the growing Gen Z population, they are more inclined to the casual tone of interactions in their email communications. For instance, the use of emojis during an email marketing campaign is often used to emphasize pointers that attract customers to read and understand the company’s value better.
It is observed that 43% of Gen Z have agreed that informal language aids in building a good rapport between customers and the brand. Having said that, Gen Z believes that ‘as we have entered the world of digital communication, the informal tone in email marketing won’t raise a red flag regarding brand trustworthiness, but the use of Gen Z lingo as a modern approach to email communications will foster relationships with younger consumers.’
Citing this scenario, Carol also emphasized the fact that “understanding your target audience is paramount in this situation. To truly grasp and understand their target audience, businesses need a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach. This includes market research to get a sense of the competitive landscape and customer needs, as well as data analytics and social listening, which can help to unlock online behavior and brand sentiment. Instead of following online trends, businesses need to follow steps like these, which can help them cater to their consumers’s true interests, allowing brands to see what resonates and adapt for a deeper connection.”
Choosing the Safest Option!
When approaching Gen Z, brands need to balance engaging and creative language with formality and slang, as they are seemingly favorable and authentic. However, while communicating with other generations (Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers), marketers can limit the use of informal language and slang by focusing more on creating relatable tailoring content that focuses on generational interests, behavior, and demographic information.
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