How to “sell without selling”?

It’s the question on most email marketer’s lips.

After all, you know no one enjoys being blatantly pitched to. You also know that rather than buying your products and services after you send a blatant sales pitch, people on your email list will most likely unsubscribe altogether. It’s hardly the best email marketing strategy is it…

Which brings us back to “selling without selling”. It’s pretty much every email marketer’s dream. And let me tell you this: It is actually pretty simple to do.

So then, my friend, now I’ve whetted your appetite, let me reveal all…

Okay, to put it in layman’s terms, if you want to sell without selling, you have to master the art of storytelling. Specifically, telling stories that sell.

So just how do you tell a story that “sells”? In fact, how do you know what a story that sells even is? Good question. I’ll explain:

So firstly, a story that sells is literally just a story you tell in your emails which persuades your prospects on your email list to buy. I’ll give some examples in a moment, but first you should simply know that you want your stories to resonate emotionally with the people on your email list. If you manage that, then your email marketing campaign will be very profitable indeed. Because remember this: You need to sell to someone’s emotions before you can sell to their logic. In other words, sell to the “heart” before you sell to the “head”.

And the best way to sell to the heart? Tell stories.

Here are 3 examples of stories you can use in your email marketing.

1) Tell a story about YOU

This is a very easy story to tell, and can be very powerful.

All you do is tell a story about how you were once “suffering” like the people on your email list currently are, and then talk about how you overcame whatever problem you were facing (which should be as a result of the product/service you are selling).

By doing this, anyone on your email list reading your story will feel as though you really understand them and “get” how they are feeling. This will make them both LIKE and TRUST you more. And in sales, getting your prospects to like and trust you more should lead to a lot more sales.

2) Tell a story about a celebrity in that niche

Telling stories about celebrities in a particular niche can be a great way of getting people on your email list to really resonate with your story.

If possible, you should write about that celebrity’s journey in how they got to their current position (making sure you include any obstacles they had to overcome along the way).

Just don’t lie and say a celebrity used your product/service. (Unless they have done of course. In which case you should be telling your email list that as much as possible!)

Instead, you should compare how they can get similar results to the celebrity, by buying whatever it is you’re selling

3) Tell a parable/fable

Parables and fables are proven ways of connecting emotionally with your email list.

I mean, The Bible uses tons of parables to get certain points across.

They work because they are often entertaining to read, even if the moral at the end is something quite obvious.

And always remember…

If you don’t entertain when writing your emails, your email marketing will fail. Because, after all, everybody loves to be entertained.

Anyway, when you’ve told your story, you can then “sell”. And if your story has entertained your readers, they will almost forget they’re reading a sales pitch. Meaning when you then plug the link for your product, they won’t even feel as though you’re “selling” to them.

Instead, they’ll feel as though you’re flat-out helping them by offering them your solution.