There are too many eCommerce businesses that send use marketing emails to send their promotions and special offers. Email marketing is of course, an eCommerce marketing strategy that is simple yet effective.
However, even with the most eye-catching pictures of their best-looking apparel, irresistible offers and catchy designs of their emails — what most their emails lack was engagement power.
So what exactly is the problem, and what was the business missing? Every marketing email needs more than just discounts and promotions; It is storytelling that truly catches the customer’s attention.
Storytelling through email marketing can turn any product into the hottest item of the season. But of course, only when you do storytelling right.
So what makes storytelling effective? And how exactly can you make it work with your email marketing? Remember:
Every marketing email needs more than just discounts and promotions; It is storytelling that truly catches customers’ attention.
How can effective storytelling benefit your brand’s Email Marketing?
Storytelling isn’t just for authors of books.
Marketers have been using storytelling to convey their brand’s message through creative writing and presentation to capture both the attention and the hearts of their consumers.
Storytelling engages people, evokes emotions, and it helps your customers paint a picture of how their lives could change for the better from using your products.
Why is storytelling important in Email Marketing?
Imagine this: You receive a promotional email asking you to buy a brand’s product or avail their current promos. And then a little later, you receive another promotional email from another brand.
But this time, they start you off with a brief story about how their products have helped change the lives of their customers and how they are happy as long as their customers are happy.
It’s enticing, relatable and even downright inspirational. Which email would you feel more drawn to?
No doubt, it’s the second email that captured you more, right? That is just a simplified look as to how storytelling can mean the difference between an engaging email and a forgettable one.
Here are 3 reasons why your email marketing needs effective storytelling:
1. Stories create an emotional bond between your brand and your customers
Nowadays, your average consumer gets bombarded with countless advertisements in their day-to-day life. The last thing they want to receive from you is another gimme your money promotional email.
But effective storytelling can encourage the right emotions in your potential customers, making them more willing to purchase your products.
2. Stories make your brand more memorable to your subscribers
When studying for an exam and you need to memorize a list of answers for enumeration, what do you do? Do you just keep repeating the same words over and over again?
Or do you create a story made up of the different answers? Stories tend to stick in people’s minds, more so if they’re compelling stories.
People will remember things with emotional significance to them, and effective storytelling is what can create that emotional connection between your customers and your brand.
3. Stories let you creatively describe your brand’s personality
What’s the best way you can talk about your brand’s identity to your customers in a way that captures their attention and relates to their lives? That’s what storytelling does best. In fact, sharing your eCommerce brand’s mission and vision to customers through compelling stories can help your customers remember your brand’s personality 220% more than by simply reciting to them the bare facts.
Consumers want brands to tell their stories
According to a survey, 55% of people are more likely to buy a product in the future if they really love a brand story.The other 44% will share it, and the other 15% will buy the product immediately— perfect from an eCommerce marketing strategy standpoint.
To any email marketer, this sounds like a pretty sweet opportunity to keep a healthy list of new and returning customers!
The age of eCommerce shopping has changed consumer behavior. The modern consumer nowadays is bombarded with options especially with countless other brands pestering them to buy and buy more! And yet, he or she is informed about what they want.
So the best way your eCommerce brand can capture your target market and gain their trust is by giving them more to work with.
Compelling stories about your products, your services, and your brand will help your potential customers see your brand as more than just any other business.
They will see your brand in a more human light, thus building strong customer relationships which would then lead to converting them into loyal customers.
Give consumers something to relate to
Being a regular Joe isn’t so bad. 66% of consumers want to hear stories of regular people—powerful stories create powerful emotions. This is how eCommerce marketing strategy works—creating a lasting impression through emotions.
What’s better than stories about your eCommerce brand and its products?
Nothing feels as relatable to your consumers better than stories about the customers your business has satisfied with your excellent service and quality products.
When you share stories of how your brand’s products and services changed the lives of your customers for the better, that would tell potential customers that everything they’ve been reading in your marketing emails is more than just sales talk.
Why just regular people? How about popular TV personalities? They’re sure to boost the popularity of my brand and my brand’s products, right?
Sure, you can feature them when you promote your products and services.
But your regular customers cannot relate to celebrities. As much as celebrities are still regular people to some degree, their lifestyles are just on a different level compared to that of the common person.
So, if you want to engage with your customers more and make your brand more relevant to their lifestyles, feature regular people in your email marketing stories. You’ve got your design, you’ve got your campaign strategy, but storytelling completes the trifecta of your eCommerce marketing strategy!
“Storytelling has become one of the key phases behind any modern marketing strategy and it’s clear that people want to hear and see more engaging narratives.”
– Steve Sponder, MD of Headstream
Related posts:
- What’s an eCommerce Email Marketing Campaign?
- The Ultimate Guide to eCommerce Email Design
- How to Increase Conversion Rate Through Design
