Email Storytelling: 3 Childhood stories every email marketer can relate!

With 2014 already rising above the horizon, It teaches you new email marketing lessons taken from none other than childhood novels. Read on!

Story 1: The miller, his son and the donkey

Do you recall this short story? If you don’t, this is how it goes:

A man and his son who are riding their donkey are constantly judged by onlookers on how they are using or handling the animal.

When both walk beside the donkey, they are ridiculed for not using the pet. The father then climbs up, and he is criticized for making his young son walk. When the son rides the donkey, he is condemned for leaving his old to slag on foot. And then when both sit on the ass; they are rebuked for exhausting their poor pet.

Confused and baffled, the father-son duo finally hangs the donkey upside down on a stick and carries it on their shoulders, which ultimately kills the animal. So not only are they ridiculed by the public, they also lose their donkey in the end.

Moral – There is absolutely no way you can keep everyone happy and satisfied.

In the world of email marketing, even if you toil and grind for months to get the ‘perfect’ layout, you’re going to end up disappointing someone or the other.  There is just no real-life situation where you will get a 100% open rate.

Every marketer has to acknowledge this and should start relying on qualities like testing and heatmaps to design appropriate emails. The moral is give your best and don’t worry about each subscriber’s individual preference.

Story 2: The Pigeon and the Crow

Yes, this is the famous story about the wise pigeon and the greedy crow.

A crow befriended the pigeon who was staying at the king’s palace in order to eat the delicious meals prepared by the royal cook. He pretended to share the pigeon’s grains for a few days and whenever possible, took bites of the fish dish kept nearby. Soon enough, the cook looked through the crow’s deceit and caught him in the act. The crow was cruelly tortured and the pigeon, fearing his life, flew away.

Moral – Be original with your concepts as trodden paths are not always the best shortcuts to success.

As email marketers, we want to clone all the existing models into our crusades. We need to realize that all campaigns that were fruitful for others will not yield similar results for your company.

Your email marketing success will depend upon whether you are a crow or a pigeon. If you have an unhygienic email list, frequent spamming habit and improper email design no matter how well you copy your email newsletter, it still isn’t going to be successful. You also need to know your subscriber thoroughly.

Story 3: The Ant and the Grasshopper

This classic tale of the hardworking ant and the lethargic grasshopper will always hold a good value for email marketers.

For those unaware of this fable, the grasshopper and the ant were good friends. The merrymaking grasshopper scoffed at his friend when she was busy gathering food in the springtime.

“You should brace up for the storm,” the ant advised. The grasshopper paid no head and almost starved himself to death during winter, while the ant comfortably enjoyed the aftermath of her hard work.

 Moral – Never sit back, be prepared for the worst.

In a market where trends and rules change every minute, you need to brace yourself up and be up-to-date with all the new developments.

Email giants like Gmail and Yahoo have recently updated their spamming policies and other email service providers are likely to follow soon. It is thus imperative that you know what is going around and in trend so that you can plan and act accordingly.

So get ready for the coming battle. Good luck!

(Inspired by: Iksula)