7 Essential storytelling techniques to use in your emails
Once upon a time there lived an entrepreneur who wanted to write kickass emails to her community. She was struggling to create genuine connections with the people on her email list and had heard telling stories could help her build up the coveted know, like, and trust factor with her audience.
The problem? She didn’t know how to start telling stories and her emails often felt boring and impersonal, especially when starting with a line so bland as, “Once upon a time…” 😏
Okay, in all seriousness now… I know it can seem hard to use storytelling in emails (or any other places you need copy for your brand, for that matter), and might even be overwhelming when you try to start.
How do you begin your email? What kind of info do you share? How personal do you get? Do people even care?!
Yes… they do 😉
One of the best parts about being an entrepreneur is you get to create your own brand, you get to establish what people can expect from you, and you get to attract the people who are aligned with who you are and what you do.
You get to write your stories in a way that feels good to YOU.
You’ll find some copywriters and marketers still preach, “Short and concise is the only way you should be writing.” Or you’ll hear, “People don’t read emails anymore. Their attention spans are too short.”
Yikes, give your audience some credit. And then, think about this…
Would they read your emails if you wrote something actually worth reading? 🤔
(My guess is yes. Yes they would.)
So let’s get some elements of story into your emails! Now, you don’t have to write long-ass stories from the get go, by the way. Or ever, if that’s not your thing.
But there are some storytelling techniques that will help you no matter how you decide to write your stories. We’re not getting into anything fancy schmancy or advanced yet. I’d like to establish 7 basic techniques with this post so you can use it as a reference next time you sit down to write an email.
Before I get into it, this list is a great tool to use alongside the free guide: Make Your Emails Unforgettable. I created this resource to give you actionable steps and help nail down some things you can start doing right away to create story-driven emails your community will love. 😊
One. Hook them from the start
The very first line of your email needs to do one thing. It needs to be SO engaging, it makes someone want to keep reading.
It also helps set the tone for the emails and creates a sense of intrigue, giving the reader a tiny peek into what’s to come if they continue reading. You can do this through a seemingly random question or a surprising statement.
Make it your goal to evoke emotions in the reader, such as curiosity, excitement, fear, or surprise. You can start your email by pulling the reader right into the action too, by sharing an exciting event, a dramatic situation, or a puzzling mystery that immediately captures their interest and makes them think, “wait, how did that even happen?!”
Just make sure your hook actually relates to the rest of the email. Don’t promise them something and then not deliver!
Note: The same guidelines can also apply when writing your subject line. It’s like the hook before the hook… no one is going to even open your email if they’re not interested from the very beginning, after all.
Two. Organize your story’s flow
So we’ve all heard a story needs a beginning, middle, and end… right? You want to have a clear idea of what it is you’re writing about, as well as the goal of the email, before you start writing.
But we can actually dig a little further into this idea using something called a narrative arc. While this model might be thought of more when writing an actual story, it can be helpful to keep these steps in mind when thinking of email writing too… even if you don’t structure your emails in exactly the same way.
The narrative arc breaks down the parts of the story into these moments:
-Exposition: you introduce the characters, the setting, and the initial situation. It establishes the context and provides key background info to help readers understand what the story is all about
-Rising action: this is where the story gains momentum. It consists of a series of events or conflicts that build tension and keep the story moving forward. This often includes obstacles, challenges, and complications that the characters must face.
-Climax: this is the turning point, or the most intense moment of the story. At this point, the characters often face consequences and must make important decisions which determine the direction of the rest of the story.
-Falling Action: after the climax, you share what happened next and explore the consequences and resolution of the main conflict. The falling action begins to ease the tension and leads the story towards its conclusion.
-Resolution: at this point, you provide closure and tie up loose ends, giving readers a sense of satisfaction. The resolution may offer insights or lessons learned that conclude the story and bring a sense of fulfillment.
Again, this is a LOT to think about for a single email, I know. But it’s helpful to at least know these parts of YOUR story before you start writing. You want to make sure your message, and your objective, are both clear to the person who’s reading.
Three. Be the star of the show
In a lot of your emails, guess what? YOU get to be the main character! When you share your stories, you’re giving the people in your community a peek into your life. It may seem like a simple gesture but it actually helps build a strong foundation of trust between you and the person reading your email.
You become the person they’re rooting for, the person they see themselves in when you share a relatable moment, and the person whose lessons learned become shared knowledge.
This is also exactly why I wrote a previous post, about how your boring life is actually the perfect topic for emails. Your readers want to connect with someone who they can relate to. They want to see your struggles and how you overcame them. They want to know what you are here to help them and serve them because you know their struggles from experience… and you know how to solve them.
You can also introduce other “characters” into your emails, like a friend you talk about often, a mentor who helped you dig deep to overcome self-limiting beliefs, or a client who found success because of your help.
Four. Emphasize the issues
Whether we like admitting this or not, people love a good dumpster fire. They’re drawn to fights, issues, problems, and conflicts. Now, this could be for a HUGE amount of reasons… I started reading about them when writing this post and yea, I’m definitely not qualified to write about some of this, ha! Let’s just say it can get into some deep psychological issues, deal?
But because of this, every good story naturally has some issues. Now I’m NOT saying you need to get into physical fights to write a good email. Not at all. “Conflict” can be personal and internal. You might share a moment in which you experienced a hard moment and how you overcame it. Or how two kids in the candy aisle at the grocery store were arguing about which kind of chocolate is better, dark or milk (it’s clearly dark).
The magic in bringing up the conflict though, comes in the resolution. So don’t get your readers all riled up without giving them some closure afterward! 😅
If you think about it, the whole idea of conflict and resolution is great for writing emails. Within the body of the story, you have the opportunity to talk about some of the challenges your readers face and the resolutions can then be given through the CTA (call to action) at the end of the email. Your product or service could literally be the resolution. More on that in section Seven.
Five. Get emotional
People learn through stories partly because of the emotions that come up when they read or listen to it. Emotions help the reader step into the action of the story and experience how the main character feels during the difficult moments, but also during the successes. Your message becomes more impactful and memorable.
And when the main character of the story is you, you’re directly working on forming that stronger, genuine connection with the people in your community.
When your stories include moments of empathy, humor, or nostalgia, for example, you’re able to easily evoke emotions that keep your readers engaged and connected. As you write about your experiences, don’t just share what happened, but share how that experience made you feel. Share how it affected you in that moment but also in the long run. Show them how you gained a new perspective that helped you become a better person in your personal life and also in your business. Don’t be afraid to be a little vulnerable. People crave that rawness and it shows them you’re being sincere with them.
Six. Use metaphors, similes, and analogies
Just because it may have been a little bit since English 101… I’m sharing this little snippet from an articles on Masterclass.com:
While analogies, similes, and metaphors are closely related because they are all used to compare different things, here are some tips to help you distinguish between these three figures of speech:
A simile is saying something is like something else. For example, “Life is like a box of chocolates.”
A metaphor is often poetically saying something is something else. For example, “Life is a box of chocolates.”
An analogy is saying something is like something else to make some sort of explanatory point. For example, “Life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re gonna get.”
You can use metaphors and similes when creating an analogy.
A simile is a type of metaphor. All similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes.
Okay, now it’s me again. Using these figures of speech can be great in your emails, especially if you’re sharing a more complex situation or something your readers might not be as familiar with. They can help make your message more relatable in moments where it actually might not be. It can also help paint a more vivid picture in your reader’s mind, helping them understand exactly how YOU feel about what it is you’re sharing.
Seven. Tell them what to do
People don’t want to guess what they should do next. They want to be told. So make it easy for them!
In an email, the CTA is going to be the single action that wraps your story up in a nice little bow, helps tie in any last connection, and makes it easy for the reader to know what comes next.
As I mentioned above (at the end of section Four.), your CTA could be the actual conclusion of your story. For example, let’s say your story is talking about an issue you dealt with and how you now have the resources to help others with the same issues. Your CTA could then direct people to your services or an offer you’ve created specially to help people to relate to the topic of this email.
But what if your story came to a conclusion within the email itself? In some cases, the resolution of your story might not relate to the CTA directly. The reader might not have to wait until a CTA at the very end of your email to learn how this particular story ended. But you chose the story for a reason, right? Something within that story, an action, an emotion, or a lesson learned is related to the whole point of what your CTA will tell your readers to do.
Either way, make sure your CTA is clear and that it makes sense with the rest of your email (this blog post can help with that).
As you share more stories and connect with your readers on a more personal level, you’ll find that more people want to take action because they trust you. Showing them how your offer helps them through a story is going to be much more effective than saying, “Hey, this is awesome because of x,y,z and you need it.” 😂
Well, I suppose that’s it for now. And here I was thinking this would be a quick 7 tips. I like to get into detail, what can I say!
If you’re thinking, HOLY CRAP JESS, this is a lot to keep in mind for emails!, you’re right. It IS a lot. But these are not things you HAVE to do every single time… they’re just here to help you.
But as you write more and more, these things will start to become second nature. Write a hook? Easy. Connect the CTA? Not a problem. You’ll become more comfortable with how to share your experiences as a story that not only draws your readers in but also entertains, educates, and builds trust.
And remember, this free guide digs into story-driven emails and shares actionable steps you can take the next time you sit down to write!
When it comes to writing story-driven emails, which technique is the hardest for you? Which do you think is the most helpful?
