Despite the plethora of new marketing tactics that keep emerging, email has remained as the workhorse for many marketing mixes, delivering open rates, conversions, and ROI that always make it to the first slide during business recap meetings.
Why? Because when done right, email is how you tell your company’s story.
And storytelling sells.
Here at MarketSmiths, we craft emails in a way that takes readers on a journey, evoking emotion and selling through honest storytelling that connects with audiences. For example, we worked with a Schuler Shoes, a leading Minnesota-based footwear retailer, to create a travel email campaign. Here are some subject lines we used to grab their audience’s attention:
- Where will you wander?
- Meet you there
- The wanderlust collection
- Adventure awaits
- From forests to falls, see it all
- We’ll take you there
We could’ve just written “Shop our travel shoes.” But that’s boring and transactional. Instead, we chose subject lines that intrigue. That inspire. That sell the lifestyle, not the product. It’s our job as creatives to discover the promise of more.
Our body copy continues the storytelling.
Slides for breezing through airport security. Hiking shoes for hitting new trails. Sandals for strolling down shorelines. Wherever you want to wander, Schuler has the pairs to take you there.
Summiting new mountains. Camping under the stars. Splashing on the shore. Strolling through city streets. Dream up your next travel destination—then find pairs to take you there.
Ready for adventure? Savor beach days, sunrays, waterfall hikes, and starry nights in sandals as beautiful as your destination.
Although the words change, each message is pinned to one philosophy: Go where life takes you. Shop our shoes here, and go anywhere.
It’s proven to be a very effective strategy!
We focused on storytelling as a way to generate sales.
In the brilliant words of Simon Sinek, we always “start with why.” For example, when Schuler had us write emails promoting their fall boot collection, we recalled why the brand exists in the first place: to help customers confidently stride into their next adventure. From there, we shaped copy around stories—like foliage hikes, pumpkin picking, and fireside nights with loved ones. Customers saw themselves in these stories, then purchased the footwear needed to get there.
At the end of the day, our email success for Schuler is a direct reflection of our branding work for them. We dedicated time up front to identifying the story we wanted to share and emotions we wanted to evoke—then pitched the creative director, who liked our vision and hopped on board. Emails have been our vehicle for sharing Schuler’s new and improved brand story with customers. But if you don’t know who you are, you won’t know what to say. So the brand work has to come first. It’s the foundation for everything else.
Here are some other practical tips for writing emails that resonate:
- Use conversational language
- Keep it succinct—no one wants overwhelmingly long copy blocks (always consider the user experience)
- Hook readers with clever/intriguing subject lines
But more than anything, always remember the “why”—and sell through storytelling.
To see how we helped Schuler Shoes develop their branding, read the case study. And if you’d like us to help with your branding, too, we’d love to speak with you.
