A Love Letter From A Brand To Its Customer
Writing your brand promise
Darling, dearest, treasured, cherished customer,
Where would I be without you?
Good marketing is a love letter to your customer. Both target the recipient’s emotions and desires, deliver a promise, and ask for a commitment in return.
To earn your customers’ love and loyalty, you don’t need to pen some Shakespearean sonnet, but you do have to make (and follow through with) a brand promise.
What is a brand promise?
Technically, your brand promise is like a love letter you never send or private wedding vows. It’s an internal statement for employees, investors, and partners that shapes all external messaging.
It outlines what your customer can expect from a relationship with your brand. What can your brand offer them? What does a future with your brand look like? How does your promise set you apart from the other fish in the sea?
You need to be able to live up to these vows. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Catfishes will be caught.
Why make a brand promise?
Your brand is ultimately defined by peoples’ perception of it. And be it negative or positive, perceptions can be false. If you fail to define your brand promise, you risk disappointing your customer by not living up to their independently developed expectations. Alternatively, you might also risk selling yourself short.
Your brand promise will influence and align all of your external communication and marketing material. After seeing this material, your customer should be able to accurately tell if they’ll be satisfied with your product and whether or not you two are meant to be.
Strong messaging that reflects your brand promise will help customers qualify themselves. This way, you can spend less time trying to win over the wrong customers.
Remember, in marketing relationships and human relationships, you have to understand “no.” If someone does not want to be your customer, don’t force them to be your customer. The right customer is out there. It may take a little while to find them, but their years of loyalty will make up for it.
How to write your brand promise
“15 minutes or less can save you 15% or more on car insurance.”
“To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
“Save money. Live better.”
These are the iconic brand promises of Geico, Nike, and Walmart, respectively.
Your brand promise looks at the long-term behaviour of your brand. It should reflect your mission, vision, and values. And, like all the best wedding vows and swoon-worthy love letters, it should be completely unique. Steer clear of cliches.
Start by following these steps:
- Define how your customers see your existing brand.
- Define your customers.
- Define how your brand fits in the market by these three factors..
- Product Category. Your brand can span multiple categories; just make sure you understand what problem it is solving in each.
- Price. Do you offer the lowest cost, budget, mid-range, premium, or high-end products? A product can be desirable at any price range.
- Positioning. How is your brand different from its competitors?
Never stop trying to earn your customers’ love
A brand/customer relationship, like all relationships, requires ongoing effort.
Once you’ve earned a customer, you need to innovate your products, services, and brand experience to continually surprise them and meet their needs. Don’t let them get bored.
Luckily, when your brand promise is defined, your team can look for opportunities to grow without straying from the brand your customers fell in love with in the first place.
Find more brand-building insights and exercises in our FREE VantagePoint™ Workshop
