24 replies
How many of you tell stories in your emails.

I find then fun to write, and they stand out more than most other emails from my experience.

Segway into a marketing message to get the click (to content) and job done.



If you promote affiliate offers, doing this and sending to a real review helps with conversions too.



To me at least, stories are fun, help build a relationship with your audience and are better than focusing on building a massive list and promoting new things every day.
#stories #telling
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  • Profile picture of the author kianasher
    Nice Graphic Presentation
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  • Profile picture of the author srdjanrepic77
    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
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  • Profile picture of the author TobiMDD
    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
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    • Profile picture of the author AdamPayne
      Originally Posted by TobiMDD View Post

      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
      Here are some examples of stories across different medium.

      Not saying mine are good or not, but they work for me.

      Here is one I used on a sales page and was a true story:




      Another in a FB AD that was a bit rushed:




      And here's an email that was promoting a video creation tool (video marketing is my main niche).

      Subj: Prague's Faceless Babies

      Have you ever been to Prague?



      One of it's buildings, the Zizkov Tower, is

      called the second-ugliest building in the

      country.



      So they decided to make it more attractive

      and culturally acceptable.



      And, apparently in Prague, that means adding

      art that could fuel many nightmares.



      10 giant, faceless babies were added in

      various places around the tower, crawling

      up and down it.

      Spooky!

      Faceless babies might not sound too nice,

      but how about faceless videos?

      Having to show their face is what stops

      thousands of folk from getting into YouTube

      and video in general.


      Missing out on tons of sales and

      leads in the process as it converts better

      than any other medium.



      Now while I personally think getting on

      camera isn't scary at all, many do so this is a

      godsend



      Make Money with Faceless Videos [linked to my review of the offer]

      Enjoy



      Hope this was of use :-)

      Cheers and sorry for the formatting of the post.
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  • Profile picture of the author chrissoloads
    Banned
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Stanley
    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
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  • Profile picture of the author mikelong1976
    I never tell stories in an email. why would you? must be a spam email then?
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    • Profile picture of the author Matthew Stanley
      Hmm - respectfully disagree. The 3 people I mention above tell stories frequently in their emails. I never think of them as spam, and typically open them the instant I see them. I've also purchased products from each marketer, and will likely do so again. Selling while entertaining your reader imo isn't "spammy" at all...
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    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
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  • Profile picture of the author wirriam
    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.
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    • Originally Posted by mikelong1976 View Post

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

      Stay away from the medicine cabinet, grandma.


      Originally Posted by wirriam View Post

      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.

      Email is arguably the most personal medium. No better place to tell personal stories than in an email where the purpose is to build connections with your readers before you sell them. Marriage proposals rarely get rejected. Why?
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  • 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProducerK
    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.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vasu Rathi
    Yes, the best thing to engage someone is storytelling. It is very strong
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    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
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  • Profile picture of the author michaeljcheney
    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.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raihan R
    I never tell stories in emails. I like to tell live stories all the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author WF- Enzo
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    Telling stories is essentially narrating experiences. It's great way to build a common ground with your customer.
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  • Profile picture of the author kriveculifestyle
    Stories are important part of email marketing. Potential buyers can connect with you easier that way
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  • Profile picture of the author Zoey141
    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.
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  • Profile picture of the author james702
    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.
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  • 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!
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  • Profile picture of the author Leadnetwork
    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
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  • Profile picture of the author toysoldier80
    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.
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