Hi there friend,

Have you ever been so captivated by a book that you just couldn't put down?

There are a few books I just couldn’t put down, but the one that just blew me away was Stephen King’s 11/22/63. This was by far the longest book I’ve ever read - over 1,100 pages. But the story drew me in and immersed me into a 1960s science fiction adventure.

The reason I bring this up is not to sell you this Stephen King novel (although I do highly recommend it), it’s to emphasize the way a good story sticks with people.

In today’s distraction-filled, TikTokified world - we have 2 - 3 seconds to grab someone’s attention. And once we have their attention, we can’t take it for granted. We have to keep grabbing their attention to keep them from bailing.

Whether you’re sharing content or selling products you have direct competitors, as well as Netflix, text messages, and Candy Crush all competing for your audience’s attention.. So what makes you special?

Focusing on telling a story, and not just writing an email, this will help you actually connect with your audience.

Through stories, you can show your audience the value of your content or products in a way that connects with them on a personal level. And when you constantly write emails that are more of a story, a wild and infectious thing happens - people want to read more.

So, how can you create compelling audience-connecting stories? Here are a few things I try to do:

• Know Your Audience: What are their interests, pain points, and values? Use this information to craft a story that will speak to their specific needs and desires.
• Keep It Simple: Don't try to tell too many stories at once or include too many details. Keep your story focused. Make sure it has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• Show, Don't Tell: Use descriptive language and vivid imagery to bring your story to life. Instead of simply telling your audience what happened, show them by painting a picture with your words.
• Be Authentic: Your audience can tell when you're being fake. Be honest, vulnerable, and genuine in your storytelling, and your audience will appreciate it. Use words you’d use in real conversation. One of the biggest connection killers is trying to sound like someone you’re not.

For me, I actually find writing this style of email easier and a lot more fun. And I receive a lot of great feedback. It’s mostly good, but even when I get critical responses (I admit sometimes my stories miss the mark) it’s okay because it helps me learn and every response is an opportunity to build a relationship.

So start “telling stories” beginning with your next email and watch as your email engagement metrics increase.

Need help finding your “voice", here’s a quick read to help you figure it out.
 

Helping you find your email story

When I write emails, my biggest challenge is figuring out what to write. 

There are times when I’m in a groove and the words are just flowing from my fingertips, there are other times when I struggle to find a relevant topic or the right words.

But this isn’t an issue I alone experience, it’s actually one of the most common pleas our customer service team hears - “I don’t know what to write.”

That’s why our product team is working to add an AI-authoring tool to AWeber. To help when you (and I) don’t know how to get started.

Take this email, this idea was generated from our AI-authoring tool. I asked it to “provide me with relevant topics to help content creators and small business owners be more successful with their email marketing.”

I've been testing the AWeber AI-authoring feature and our team is really close to having it ready.

So close that I’d like to invite you to join our wait list. As someone on our wait list you may have the opportunity to try this feature first.

And as an early user, you can help us perfect this feature by providing your valuable feedback so you and future users can save time and feel super proud of what you’ve created.
 

Send your audience ultra-personalized emails

The best way you can make email personal is by asking your audience about their interests, then sent them content specific to their interests. You can do this by using dynamic content.

👉 Here's how to use dynamic content in your AWeber account.

Get our latest expert advice and helpful tips 

👉 Did you know you too can add your most recent blog posts (YouTube videos, Etsy products, and more) ⬆️ with the images, headlines and descriptions in your next email. And it populates automatically and it only takes 10 seconds. See how you can do it in your AWeber account.

As always, thanks for reading!

- Sean and the team