There is a stark difference between talking “at” your customer and talking “to” your customer. Talking “at” your customer will create a disconnect; it simply tells the customer what to do but doesn’t tell the customer how to do it. Talking “to” your customer will create a connection; the message will feel relational and it will begin a conversation.
In this Quick Win Clinic episode (recorded live at MarketingSherpa Summit 2017), Flint McGlaughlin optimizes an email for BJ’s Wholesale that fails to talk “to” its customers and, instead, talks “at” them.