We live in a competitive world where running a successful business often means being one step ahead of your competitors, especially when it comes to email marketing. Consumers receive tons of emails every year from businesses wanting them to become the newest subscriber on their list. The content often contains information about products or services the business offers and then ask the reader to opt-in for some great deals.
While this type of email does have its place in marketing campaigns, it’s not your only option. Today’s consumers prefer to do business with companies they feel connected to in some way. They want to get to know you and the team behind the products or services you provide. You can make this happen by telling your story via emails instead of simply promoting your business. It will certainly make your emails more interesting but that’s not the only way you’ll benefit from telling stories.
Why It’s Important to Tell Your Story
When you make storytelling a part of your email marketing campaign, you’ll connect and build an emotional bond with your audience that will ultimately result in more sales. Since most everyone loves a good story, they’ll remember it far longer than any type of promotional email so it’s a great way to gain recognition.
People respond to stories emotionally so they help you make a connection with the reader. It’s that personal connection that helps pave the way to success. You’re making a positive impression on your audience that will help build your brand. It works because stories give your emails personality and make them more interesting while showing your audience the human side of your business.
Stories also give your readers something interesting to ponder and think about in-between the special discounts, promotional offers and other valuable content that you provide for your subscribers. In short, a good story connects people together, so it’s a great way to communicate with an audience.
Email marketing stories can be about anything but here are some popular topics that get great results:
- How you got started – This type of story explains why you pursued a career in your industry. What compelled or motivated you to go into this particular business? What problems did you run into along the way and what were some of the highlights of starting your business?
- Your vision for the future of the industry – How do you see the industry in twenty years? What changes would you like to see? How do you plan to make a difference? Do you have any suggestions for making better products or providing more efficient services?
- Share special occasions with your audience – Occasionally, you can tell a story about something special happening in your life. It has nothing to do with your business but it gives your audience a glimpse of who you are as a person. This type of story includes the birth of a child, your child’s graduation, family vacations, wedding plans or any special event happening in your personal life.
- Personal experiences – Talking about life in general or experiences you encountered throughout your business career make excellent email stories. These help you connect with your audience because some of them may be going through similar situations. They can relate to the stories and it helps to know someone else has had similar experiences.
- Hobbies or special interests – Sharing your hobbies or special interests are a fun way to make that connection with your audience without getting too personal.
When you share these different experiences with your subscribers, they see that you’re a regular person who faces many of the same problems and challenges in life that they are dealing with. This helps to build a bond between you and potential customers while strengthening the one you already have with existing customers.
How to Tell Your Story via Email
You don’t have to be some elaborate storyteller to tell your story via email. You just have to be willing to share some personal information with your target audience. However, the stories you tell must be authentic. In other words, they must be true and about something that you have personally experienced in the past or dealing with now.
Here’s how to tell your story using emails:
- Begin with a theme or message – Your theme will be the main thing that you want your audience to take away from the story as they read and remember the most when they finish reading the email. It’s the main point you want to make.
- The story should be interesting and compelling – The point of the story is to evoke the emotions that you want your audience to associate with your brand. Therefore, you want them to read the whole story, not just parts so it must be interesting.
- Give your story character – Use your words to create images for your audience so they can picture it in their mind as they read the story. They should be able to close their eyes and envision what is happening in the story.
- Make your stories believable – The best email stories are the ones that are honest, simple and easy to read. Don’t add something that didn’t happen to the story or make things up. If your readers think that you’re making it all up or exaggerating, it will have a negative impact.
- Set the tone of the story with your first couple of sentences – The first sentence should tell the reader what the story is about and the second one should give him or her reason to keep reading.
- Use the next few sentences to explain the story – Give details pertaining to the story. For example, if you sell fishing gear, this is where you talk about catching the biggest fish you’ve ever reeled in. Talk about the adrenaline rush and how exciting it was to reel it in.
- Get your message across fairly quickly – Most people don’t want to spend a long time reading emails. They like to get to the point and move on to something else. Your goal is to grab their attention right from the start and keep it as you make your points quickly.
- Place your Call of Action above the scroll – If you put it last the person may stop reading before they see it and putting it first is a big turn off for consumers. Be specific and show urgency with your Call to Action so the reader will know exactly what you want him or her to do.
- Connect stories with special offers – Stories that explain why you’re offering a specific deal provides potential customers with an explanation or reason for the sale. This tends to make the deal even more appealing, so they click on your links to learn more.
If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas take a look at what your competitors are doing. Look at some of their successful email stories to learn what type of content your audience responds to the best. Then use this information to create your own original stories for your email campaign.
The bond that you create with your audience through storytelling will help build your brand. It gives the audience a special way to connect on a personal level that compels them to do business with you when they are in need of the products or services your company provides.