Communication Shifts That Transform Customer Engagement
Discover five proven ways to boost customer engagement through smarter email communication. Learn how small shifts in tone, timing, and message clarity can turn every send into stronger results.
In marketing, it’s often the smallest changes that make the biggest difference. A subject line that piques curiosity. A tone that feels more human. An email sent at the right moment, not just the convenient one.
These tweaks might seem minor, but they can transform how your audience perceives, engages with, and ultimately trusts your brand. At a time when inboxes and are busier than ever, the brands that win attention are those that communicate with precision, empathy, and timing.
Here’s how small communication changes can deliver big, measurable results.
Rethink Your Subject Lines: The 50-Character Decision
Your subject line is the first (and sometimes only) part of your message your audience sees. It determines whether they click, skim, or scroll past.
Subject lines that feel personal and purposeful consistently perform better. According to HubSpot’s 2025 Email Marketing Benchmark Report, personalised subject lines can lift open rates by around 26%. Campaign Monitor and Litmus both highlight that concise subject lines, typically between 30 and 50 characters, tend to engage more readers, especially on mobile devices.
The takeaway? Keep it clear, relevant and personal. Brevity catches attention, but it’s genuine connection that earns the click.
Consider the difference between:
“Exclusive Offer Inside” vs.“Your April Insights & a Special Thank You”
The second sets a clearer expectation, adds warmth, and feels genuinely written for the reader. At Jarrang, we regularly test subject line phrasing, from curiosity-led openings to straightforward summaries. Sometimes a single word shift (“your” instead of “the”) changes engagement dramatically.
Fine-Tune Your Tone of Voice
Tone is where brand perception is built. Depending on your brand if you’re too formal you may risk sounding detached. Too casual, and you risk losing credibility.
That doesn’t mean every message should sound the same. A renewal reminder email can be direct and transactional; a welcome message should feel warm and personal. The key is to keep your brand’s personality consistent while adapting tone to the context.
Ask yourself:
Does this message sound like it was written by a person, not a system?
Are we using language that reflects our audience’s mindset?
Are we adding value, or just taking up space in the inbox?
Marketers who regularly audit and refine their tone often report stronger engagement and improved customer sentiment, a reminder that the right words build connection as effectively as offers do.
Master the Timing of Your Messages
When you communicate can be just as important as what you say, though the “what” usually matters more. Still, timing has a measurable impact: even a well-crafted email can underperform if it lands when your audience isn’t paying attention.
Whilst general benchmarks exist, no two audiences behave the same way, and the same person might engage with different brands at completely different times. The key is to learn from your own data and refine over time.
Here are some practical ways to do that:
Test strategically. Create a control group, form a clear hypothesis, and test sending batches at different times. Allow enough time for results to stabilise, and be mindful that large lists or weaker authentication may trigger ISP throttling.
Use triggers. Send messages based on data points (like renewal dates or webinar sign-ups) or real-time behaviour (such as browsing activity).
Check your web traffic. Look at when organic visitors typically land on your site, excluding spikes driven by email or social and to uncover when your audience is most active.
Leverage automation. If your platform supports send-time optimisation, use it to personalise delivery based on individual engagement patterns.
Timing is rarely about finding one perfect moment. It’s about small, consistent adjustments that help your messages land when they’re most likely to be seen and acted on.
Simplify Your Message for Clarity
Clear and focused messages are easier to understand and more persuasive. The goal isn’t to say less, but to make every word earn its place.
Start by defining the real aim of your email. If you find yourself saying “we want to drive clicks to X, raise awareness of Y, and collect feedback on Z,” the message is already spread too thing. Each of those goals deserves its own moment (and maybe audience too).
Once you decided what matters most, shape your content around how people actually read. Some will only scan your subject line, headline, and call-to-action. Others will take take time to read the full message. Design for both. The key action should be obvious at a glance whilst supporting details provide depth for those who want more context.
Personalise What Matters
When we talk about personalisation, we’re not just talking about using a name in the subject line. It is about understanding what is useful to the person receiving your message. When the content, timing, and tone match what someone actually needs, the message feels relevant rather than automated.
Use what you already know about your audience. Preferences, browsing behaviour, past engagement, or position in the journey can all guide how you shape content. A subscriber who recently viewed a product page might appreciate a short comparison guide. A returning customer might prefer updates that help them get more from what they already use.
Technology makes this possible, but the principle stays simple. Personalise to add value, not decoration. When people feel that a message was created with their needs in mind, it earns both attention and trust.
Listen as Much as You Speak
Email may be a one-way channel, but it can still tell you a lot about how people feel. Every open, click, or unsubscribe is a form of feedback. The best marketers use that information to refine tone, timing, and overall relevance.
Go beyond traditional engagement metrics and create simple ways for subscribers to share how they feel. A thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon, a smiley rating, or a short “Was this useful?” link can provide valuable signals. Collect these responses and review them alongside your performance data each month.
Over time, these feedback loops help you understand what content your audience values most and where you may need to adjust. Listening is not about starting a conversation; it is about paying attention to what your audience’s actions are already telling you.
Final Thoughts
In marketing, big wins rarely come from sweeping changes, they come from small, thoughtful adjustments that build stronger connections over time.
Every subject line tested, every tone refined, every timing experiment contributes to a deeper understanding of what your audience values. And that understanding is what drives meaningful, measurable results.
Let’s turn small tweaks into big outcomes.
If you’d like expert support in optimising your communications, from email tone and timing to full-journey engagement strategy, Jarrang’s team can help.
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