How to Source Stories for Email Marketing: Step-by-Step

You already heard (like, a million times!) that you should be using storytelling in your marketing emails.

Story based emails grab attention, create connection, and drive sales… yada yada yada – you get it!

But how do you find the stories to use in your emails?

Well hello… I’m Kay Peacey, email marketing expert, and in this blog I share the exact steps we use to source and stash stories to use in email marketing for Slick Business.

Let’s face it – AI-generated email content is everywhere, and people are craving a personal human touch in emails. (Getting Personal is a huge trend for the most successful email strategies out there.)

That’s where story based emails come in to great marketing strategy.

Real, relatable moments from your life can build unique bonds with your audience. Think your life is too boring to share? Think again!

Let’s dive into how you can collect and use your everyday human stories to make your email marketing more memorable and profitable.

And more fun too! Yup – email marketing fun – it’s a thing, and you can join in and do what I do.

So let’s roll, with the Email Story Stash Strategy.

Follow these steps to source stories to use in your email marketing

Watch email expert Kay Peacey share her exact steps to find stories for email marketing

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Learn to Notice the Stories in your Everyday Moments

The first step in my story-stashing journey is just paying attention to little things that happen around you.

Trust me, you’re not boring, no matter what you think.

The most ordinary moments can turn into engaging stories for email when you you get in the habit of story-based email.

Believe me, I know – I’ve been sending successful story-based emails for three years now, and every story came from my totally normal humdrum human life. If I can do it, you can do it.

Stories you can use in email marketing are all around you – you just need to notice them

Two real examples of storyworthy moments from my week:

  • I thought I’d lost my AirPods on a remote Devon hillside 😱 only to find them in my bag a month later, where they’d been all along 🙈 Silly, but totally relatable.
  • I helped some confused strangers waiting at the wrong ferry landing – they didn’t even realize they needed help but they would defintiely have missed their ferry – go me!

There’s nothing special about those moments – except that they’re real things that happened to me. And AI really can’t make this stuff up – it can only come from you. So start noticing.

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Take a Quick Picture to Jog your Memory or use in a Story Email Image

A picture really paints a thousand words – and also helps you remember the moment without any effort – winner!

So when you notice something, take a quick snapshot.

Don’t worry about making it perfect.

In fact, you should do the exact opposite, and make it totes casual.

Authenticity is what people connect with. Be real, be relateable – take not-great pictures and be OK with it.

Use Quick Snaps of Real Moments for Story-Based Email Marketing

Grab a selfie, a shot of some Lego mini-figs on your desk, or a picture of some blackberries in the hedgerow.

These real-life images add a layer of real to your stories that stock photos and AI image-gen can’t touch, ever.

Remember, the goal is to be relatable, not perfect.

And who the heck wants more AI generated images in their email inbox? Literally no one. So there’s that.

Find the Moral or Lesson in your Story to Share in your Email

When you’re an uber-expert in your thing, like I am with ActiveCampaign and email marketing, your brain finds analogy, metaphor and context for that topic everywhere.

Your next storytelling for email marketing step is to spot the moral or lesson each story moment could relate to.

is the step that transforms your email story from entertaining to valuable.

Storytelling email example with a lesson on email marketing

Here’s a real example I’ve used as an email marketing story, with an ActiveCampaign teachable moment.

Our kid found a purple orchid hiding in amongst our purple flowering chives.

That orchid was a perfect analogy for finding hidden treasures in your ActiveCampaign contacts, where hot leads can be lost in the masses – unless you know how to spot them.

The orchid had been there all along, but without looking in the right way we’d never have spotted it, treasured it, and given it room to thrive.

That email marketing story about an orchid directly led to sales for our ActiveCampaign Academy membership, where we have a step by step training on how to find and convert hot leads to sales on autopilot.

Boom!

Not every story has a moral or a lesson – but build your morals muscle up and they’re easy to weave in, to make your email marketing story relevant, informative, and profitable.

Join our email list now to see me walk the email storytelling walk every week ⬇️

Make a Place to Stash Stories to Use in your Email Marketing

You noticed a story moment, took a picture, and found a moral 🙌

Now what?

You need a fast, easy place to stash these gems. Your Story Stash.

Whether it’s a tech tool like Airtable (my favorite, and totally free!) or some other app on your phone, or even (gasp!) a paper notebook, the key is to write things down quickly so you don’t lose the magic.

That unique story moment isn’t likely to come round again.

I know my over-crowded brain likes to scatter things along the way, forgotten for ever – unless they’re written down. I bet yours does too.

An Instant Convenient Place to Store your Stories for Email Marketing

The best story-stach place is the one that’s quick and easy for you.

I love Airtable because it lets me store notes, pictures, and morals fast, on my phone or ipad.

But use whatever works best for you.

Just make sure it’s fast so you capture the story moment, and any creative in-the-moment thoughts, while they’re fresh.

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Learn How to Prep Stories to Use in your Email Marketing

Once you’ve stashed a bunch of stories, set aside time each week to prep them so they’re ready to use in your email marketing.

I like to pick a couple of stories every Monday and get them prepped.

Make sure each story you prep has a suitable image (use your pic – don’t overthink it), a compelling Subject Line and Preheader, and a write-up of the story, with the moral or lesson.

Store the prepped assets in your Story Stash place too – it’s your vault – a big stash of ready-to-roll real stories for compelling emails 🎉

Use AI to Polish Stories for Email Marketing

While AI can’t generate the real stories that come from your life, it can help refine them.

It’s totally fine to use smart AI tools to clean up your writing and make sure your story hits the length and tone you use in email marketing.

Join our email list now to see me walk the email storytelling walk every week ⬇️

Make Collecting Stories for Email Marketing a Habit

The more you notice story moments, the easier it gets, and the more stories you see.

The more morals you pull out of a story, the easier that gets too.

And the more stories you prep and send, the more awesome replies you will get as your email marketing stories do their job of creating fast powerful connection, human to human,

And the stronger your story-based email marketing muscle grows, the more sales you will make from them.

By regularly noticing, capturing, and stashing stories, you’ll build up a treasure trove of engaging content to keep your contact opening and reading, clicking and buying.

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FAQ: how to find & use Stories in Email Marketing?

Q: What if I think my life is too boring for stories?

A: Kay says everyone has interesting stories. Start focusing on the small, relatable, or quirky moments in your day.

Q: How do I ensure I remember to stash stories to use in my email marketing?

A: Develop a habit. Use your phone or tools like Airtable to quickly jot down stories as soon as they occur to you.

Q: Can I use stock photos instead of taking my own?

A: While stock photos are an option, Kay emphasizes that real-life photos are far more engaging and relatable.

Q: Do I need to prep all my stories in detail immediately?

A: No, you only need to store the notes. During your weekly prep, you can flesh them out with subject lines, preheaders, and full narratives.

Q: Can AI help me in this process?

A: Yes, AI can polish and format your stories, but the human touch in noticing and relating stories to your subject is irreplaceable.

Feeling inspired to start stashing your own stories? You can see Kay’s full strategy in action by joining her email list – and don’t forget to subscribe to her YouTube channel for more insightful content on making your email marketing pop.

Kay Peacey’s 5-Step Formula for Finding Stories to use in your Email Marketing

  1. Notice– Start paying attention to curious, funny, or weird moments in your life
  2. Capture– Take a quick picture or jot down a note to help you remember the story
  3. Stash– Store these moments somewhere reliable, like Airtable or a notebook
  4. Moral– Think about the lesson or moral your story could convey
  5. Relate– Connect the story to your business or what you teach to add value and depth

By following these steps, you’ll build a treasure trove of stories ready to engage and connect with your audience in your email marketing campaigns.

Happy story stashing!

Join our email list now to see me walk the email storytelling walk every week ⬇️

Get More Help with Profitable Email Marketing Strategy

ActiveCampaign Academy training with Kay Peacey

In the ActiveCampaign Academy you get direct access to Kay Peacey and here wealth of knowledge on strategic email marketing, as well as unrivalled technical guidance to use ActiveCampaign to make it all happen on autopilot.

So come on in to the ActiveCampaign Academy, and you’ll have Kay Peacey and the Slick Business team, and all your lovely fellow members, to guide you every step of the way to fabulousness with email marketing using ActiveCampaign.

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