Telling Stories

Nice Graphic Presentation

True. It's a very nice feeling having written an email with a story in it that just looks cool. Split-testing, looking for subject lines or email bodies that convert simply takes the fun out of the job. For me at least

I guess I know what you mean but if you would provide an example of such a story then it would be even better to imagine it for everyone here hehe

totally agree with this thesis. Stories are how humans have communicated since the dawn of time - it's just in our wiring to use them and pay attention to them. As Chrissoloads said, there's technique involved, to be sure - but imo that's something that can be honed/refined over time as one develops their email "voice." A few of my favorite email storytellers: Matt Furey, Ben Settle, Ramit Sethi

I never tell stories in an email. why would you? must be a spam email then?

Well in my opinion that its the way to sell with email because people dont feel that they are selled like a normal sale page email and this create some kind of attraction to the email

Great insight here.

I'm on an interesting boat in which I DON'T SEND EMAILS ANYMORE. I strictly switched over to Messenger bots, and with Messenger, you tend to not get very well responses with something long like a story.

I leave the story telling to ads, videos, and sales pages.

Stories a great way to relate to your customers. How can relate to you and your product if you can't relate to them in return. That's what stories do. It's a way of sharing common experiences.

Personally, I never tell stories in my email campaigns.
This is mostly due to the fact that my emails are there to generate money and convert people.
I find, short and sweet, to the point, gets the job done nicely.
I do not find that more content = more conversions.
I find that metric is more changed by the kind of data you use, better data will generate better results, regardless if there is a story or not.
That said, I do always take an "angle" with my email creative but its always short and a couple of lines only.

Yes, the best thing to engage someone is storytelling. It is very strong

Adam, you hit the nail on the donkey with this Post.
Congrats, as good story telling can be so effective in building rapport with our List.

Thanks for reminding us of this important factor

Yesiree!!

Telling stories is the only way to write emails IMHO.

Here's an e.g. for you (with ref to a link removed as I already got my hand slapped my Dadmin);

SUBJECT: As I hurtled towards the fence at 101mph I regretted my decision...

"I'm lucky to be alive after what happened yesterday;

I wasn't driving.

(I wasn't even on my bicycle)

I was on my kids' new sledge and was close to breaking the sound barrier...

It seemed like a good idea at the time -

I wanted to test the thing out, so I grabbed it, ran at full pelt and then threw my middle-aged carcass onto it with a THUD.

This thing flew.

My wife was laughing uncontrollably and my kids were cheering me on but I feared for my life.

The fence at the bottom of the hill got closer and closer.

I dug my feet in, off the back of the sledge, but it was no use;

THWACK.

One sore head, one bruised ego, one laughing family.

My wife looked over concerned - you know that way when you think you've broken something on your face and not noticed.

Turns out she was worried about the sledge.

(It was fine).

Moral of the story - do your research.

If I'd paid attention to other people using these lightweight machines I would have realized they go twice the speed of a wooden 1970s sledge that I was used to.

[Edited by moderator: promotional text removed]

always use stories. period.

I never tell stories in emails. I like to tell live stories all the time.

Telling stories is essentially narrating experiences. It's great way to build a common ground with your customer.

Stories are important part of email marketing. Potential buyers can connect with you easier that way

Stories do connect. In a marketing email, you do need a hook, and a well told story can make an impact. Having said that, I must admit that I have not always had success in adding a tale like a hook. I start off on a fresh page, wrap up my writing, edit it until I am fully happy and then send it off. More frequently than not, I add a story, but I am ruthless in removing it if it seems like an add-on. I think writers ought not to have rules, but should go with the flow.

Since we are hard-wired for stories, telling one seems reasonable. However, to create an effect, it needs to be both informative and short. Our attention span is weak. Thus, you need to put the message and catch that moment of interest. And e-mail marketing can benefit from that knowledge, I suppose.

Wow! I could say you really have the talent in writing and telling stories through emails since you received commendations from your receivers. For me, you really have a unique way on how to attract and engaged with your readers. Keep up the good work!

This is a great tip for email marketer, story telling is really hard, sometimes you need to test a couple to find the working one.
Agree with you guys that it's more personal and entertaining for customers.
Looks like you already have your unique way of promotion that is actually working for you
Good job

Sometimes I tell stories sometimes I don't. I think most times people look at the actual ad more than the emails. Obviously not all the time but I have a feeling people value the actual ad more than the email in regards to trust.