The Email Wars

Now what do I mean by this?

Well so many of you are good at writing short stories. Small engagement and no long term commitment. AKA the Campaign. But a campaign is not a one time attack or email. It is a series of emails and other connections that tell a story and move people to become not just customers, but enthusiasts. So how should you start thinking about your email marketing for 2009. I would reccommend becoming a story teller.

Wikipedia has a good definition of Story Telling:

Storytelling is the ancient art of conveying events in words, images, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot and characters, as well as the narrative point of view. Stories are frequently used to teach, explain, and/or entertain. Less frequently, but occasionally with major consequences, they have been used to mislead. There can be much truth in a story of fiction, and much falsehood in a story that uses facts.

What are you going to do to learn to tell stories?

What is your story? Do you have a story to tell about your brand, your work, your benefits? Can you harness the power of others (social media) to help you tell your story, or even help you to understand what your audience will listen to?

Where does it start? Every story has a beginning, but most likely you are starting your story from a few years of just shooting out ideas each campaign. You need to regroup and refocus your story. It is never too late to shift your efforts. Every good storyteller can change directions, find new ways to engage, and listen (watch the social web) to see what this direction might be about your brand and marketing story. Find a starting point and move forward with an idea. Your idea can change as the story unfolds.

What are the goals of your story? Beginning, middle, end… with a few plot twists to drive engagement are key. Don’t just stick to the same effort, offer, idea, or creative. As your story shapes up in email, start looking for the ways to drive them to a landing page or supporting page to continue the story. Story telling does not JUST happen in email. It starts there and drives to the web.

So here is my challenge to you… this is the year of you engaging your customers in email how they want to be engaged. This is the year you start to learn to tell your story in a way that wants people to stay subscribed to your emails. This is the year of doing great new things. I am excited to hear your stories, be captivated and want to either work with you or buy from you.