Storytelling. Storytelling. Storytelling.
Storytelling is a classic way to write good emails that connect with the reader and nudge them towards buying.
But where do you get these stories? You can’t make stuff up, after all.
Here are a few quick ideas for you:
1. Your Own Life
Your day-to-day life is chock-full of email ideas, assuming you don’t sit around and do absolutely nothing all day.
If you’re out there doing things, you should have plenty of ideas for emails.
They don’t have to be groundbreaking, either — as long as you can extract a lesson from something that happened to you, teach that lesson to your reader, and tie it to a product of yours, you’re golden.
If you have absolutely nothing, just try people-watching a little bit. Something is bound to happen that you can write about. Trust me — I’ve got a few unused email stories sitting in my list thanks to people-watching.
2. Reading the News
News is stories. There ya go!
Don’t use mainstream news, though. Stay away from that if you want to stay sane.
I’m talking about niche-related news.
You can take some news stories that are relevant to your niche somehow and add a little bit of drama to make a point.
Example from my own client work:
I once worked with an agency that had a client that offered firearms training/licensing courses. My goal, of course, was to get customers to book signups.
So I browsed countless stories involving the defensive use of firearms by law-abiding citizens — and believe me, there are A LOT.
From there, I simply dramatized the story (within reason and without falsifying the details!) and segued to the lesson at the end (which was to sign up for the training course).
One story in particular involved a heavily pregnant woman using an AR-15 to successfully defend herself and her family from 2 armed men. The lesson was, of course, that a pregnant woman can defend herself against imposing men that break in if she’s armed and trained.
This resonated with many of the customers because, well, a good chunk of them were afraid of this type of situation. Many, in fact, were women who wanted self-defense capabilities against bigger, stronger men.
And all I did was relay a news story with a little flair and give my client’s take on the matter.
3. Other Lists In Your Niche
I’m very anti-plagiarism. Don’t steal other peoples’ stuff. It’s wrong, and it may not resonate with your market anyways.
That said, you can use other peoples’ stuff as inspiration.
For instance, maybe you notice a recurring theme among recent emails your competitors are sending. You could jump on that same theme, giving your take.
Even further: you could look at good emails from other niches and repurpose the core concepts for your own list.
Just as long as its original work with some inspiration. Don’t copy + paste!
Draw On These Sources For Ideas
I know — that doesn’t seem like a whole lot of sources…
But the thing is, these 3 sources offer endless email ideas. I use them in my own copywriting and for clients.
That said, if you need help generating email ideas or writing emails based on those ideas…