(BONUS: this will continue to bring in sales even when Google changes their search algorithm and your SEO takes a hit). Imagine that you have a pounding migraine. Your head is throbbing, and it feels like someone is beating a drum inside your brain. In fact, it is so bad that you stand up and stumble outside, grimacing with every step. What is the first thing you are thinking about? How to get rid of the pain. And if you see a sign that says “headache relief,” you can bet your bottom dollar you are sprinting in that direction. Well, your customers are all walking around with pain, problems, and struggles. And like someone stricken with a migraine, when you tell a story about a problem they are facing and show them how to solve it, they will come running to buy your products - even if your product does not directly solve the problem. In this webinar you will learn: How to easily uncover the #1 pain point in your audience How to structure a story that sells - for any product How to use your email list as a testing ground for conversion, and then scale that messaging out and use it in sales pages, product descriptions, and social media posts

1. How To Turn Your Email List
Into A High-Converting Cash
Machine With Data-Driven
Storytelling
MIKE RINARD

2. @Kissmetrics
#KissWebinar
@allisoncarpio

3. Allison is the Product Marketing & Content Manager at
Kissmetrics. She’s a conversion copywriter, creating high
converting websites and email campaigns. She’s obsessed
with finding and testing messaging and copy that sells.
ALLISON CARPIO
Product Marketing Manager, Kissmetrics
@allisoncarpio
Mike is the Founder of Chimp Wolf, a Copywriting and
Marketing Consulting firm for top e-commerce brands.
When he is not furiously typing on his macbook, you will
probably find him surfing in Jersey or riding a skateboard
around Philadelphia.
MIKE RINARD
Copywriter and Marketing Consultant,
Chimp Wolf
@rinardmike

4. #KissWebinar
@rinardmike

5. The Foundation
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

6. WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING NOW

7. “THE ULTIMATE GOAL”
1. Send compelling email
2. Drive traffic to website
3. Sell your product

8. “THE ULTIMATE GOAL”
The ultimate goal is to sell more of your product. Obvious, but it
can be easy to lose sight of when there are so many “in-between
goals” (like open rates for example).

9. THE 3 BIG “TRAPS”
The 3 traps people fall into…
1. Shiny tactics (Automation, FB Live)
2. Vanity metrics (Open rates, Big social following)
3. Starting at the end (Finding the “perfect picture”, Button color)
WARNING:

10. THE FOCUS
Compelling messaging that converts.

11. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
1. Why is it important to be able to
convert on your email list?
• Highest ROI by a landslide
• You own it (future-proof you business
against changes in google search
algorithm
• Creates a strong relationship with
your customers…

12. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
1. Why is it important to be able to
convert on your email list?
• Highest ROI by a landslide
• You own it (future-proof you business
against changes in google search
algorithm
• Creates a strong relationship with
your customers…
…when you do it right.

13. WHY ELSE IS THIS IMPORTANT?
2. Why is it important to focus on
Messaging?
• Personal
• Compelling
• Relationship building
• Creates an experience with impact

14. FOOD FOR THOUGHT…
Think about this:
People spend a LOT of time in their inbox,
and the emails that are the most important
to them are largely text-based (for business
and personal).

15. THIS IS AN EMAIL FROM A FRIEND
Important, personal email.

16. THIS IS AN AD
Ad.

17. THIS IS YOUR ADBLOCKER SHIELD INITIATING
Ad.
AD-BLOCKER SHIELD

18. THIS IS ALSO HARD TO READ
Ad.
AD-BLOCKER SHIELD
HARD TO READ

19. DON’T DO THIS:
Don’t do this:
• Create emails that SCREAM advertisement
• Put any significant text over pictures where
it is hard to read
• Have complicated and overwhelming
layouts
• Have too many links and CTA’s to count

20. DO THIS:
Do this:
• Create emails that look and feel
personal
• Sign emails from an actual
person (not a brand)
• Make it incredibly easy to read,
and enjoyable

21. MORE GREAT EXAMPLES

22. NEXT STEPS
So…what are we supposed to
write in those text areas?

23. STORIES THAT SELL
Compelling:
• Lifestyle stories
• Design stories
• Testimonials
More compelling:
• A story about your customer’s
biggest problem as relates to
your product, in the language
they use to describe it

24. Research
WHERE DO PROBLEMS AND STORIES COME FROM?

25. The Goal:
Find the biggest problems in your market, in the language your customers use
to describe those problems.
PROBLEMS AND LANGUAGE

26. The Goal:
Find the biggest problems in your market, in the language your customers use
to describe those problems.
PROBLEMS AND LANGUAGE

27. 3 ways to DISCOVER the problems and
stories:
1. Surveys
2. Conversations with customers
3. Online data-mining
You don’t have to create these, you are just going out
and finding things that already exist. Like Pac Man.
BUT HOW?

28. Simple surveys:
1. Use google forms or another free survey tool
2. Try to keep it at 5-10 questions
3. Keep your goal in mind: find the biggest
problems, in the language used to describe
them.
4. Key question: “What is your biggest challenge
when it comes to X?”
5. Great followup: “Can you expand on that a
bit? How does it make you feel?”
Don’t overthink this, and you don’t have to word
it exactly like this. Put it together, get it out
there.
1. SURVEYS

29. How to discover the best responses in
seconds:
1. Copy/paste your responses into a new google
spreadsheet in column A
2. Use the “=len()” function to get a character count
for all of your responses in column B
3. Sort your data by ‘column B, z-a’, putting the
responses with the highest character count at the
top
4. Read carefully through the top responses, copy/
paste pain points and language into column C
5. Skim through everything else
SORT AND ANALYZE THE DATA

30. How to discover the best responses in
seconds:
1. Copy/paste your responses into a new google
spreadsheet in column A
2. Use the “=len()” function to get a character count
for all of your responses in column B
3. Sort your data by ‘column B, z-a’, putting the
responses with the highest character count at the
top
4. Read carefully through the top responses, copy/
paste pain points and language into column C
5. Skim through everything else
SORT AND ANALYZE THE DATA

31. How to discover the best responses in
seconds:
1. Copy/paste your responses into a new google
spreadsheet in column A
2. Use the “=len()” function to get a character count
for all of your responses in column B
3. Sort your data by ‘column B, z-a’, putting the
responses with the highest character count at the
top
4. Read carefully through the top responses, copy/
paste pain points and language into column C and
D
5. Skim through everything else, pull any “gold” into
column C and D
SORT AND ANALYZE THE DATA

32. Remember, the goal is to discover problems
and stories, not get feedback on your product
Quick tips:
1. Ask questions like “what is your biggest problem
with X”, “Can you tell me more about that?”, and
“How did that make you feel?”
2. Repeat what people say back to them - it will
prompt them to clarify and go deeper
3. Record your conversation if possible
4. If you can’t record, make sure you take notes
during and after the call. Try to write down pain
points, frustrations, and any language that stands
out to you
2. CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS

33. Quick tips:
1. Look through online reviews on Amazon, and
forums in your market
2. You will end up skimming a lot, so look for key
phrases and words that indicate a pain point, like
frustrate, hate, I wish, I want, why does/doesn’t,
etc…
3. Look for things that people like - the opposite is
what they don’t like
4. Pay attention to the questions people ask - this
also indicates a pain point
5. Copy and paste everything into your spreadsheet
6. Set a timer to help you focus and not feel
overwhelmed by the endless amounts of data
7. Don’t spend all your time on one site - try to brand
out
8. Don’t get sucked down the rabbit hole
3. ONLINE DATA MINING
Just like a survey, but you
are going out and finding
responses to your survey
questions instead of asking
people.

34. “Tired of breaking hammers” and
“Not too heavy for my arthritic fingers”
EXAMPLE OF ONLINE DATA-MINING

35. “Not too heavy for my arthritic fingers”
PULL OUT THE STORIES FROM THE DATA
“This hammer is very solid without being to heavy for my arthritic fingers, and has the
surface that is good in the grip.”
Problem: I have arthritis and can’t grip hammers the way I used to.
Solution: This hammer is the perfect size and weight, with a grip that doesn’t bother my
arthritis so I can work on a project for hours and never have to stop and massage my
hands, or worry about taking pain medication (I am expanding this, and it is already
turning into a powerful story that is perfect for a specific market).

36. How to structure a story
that sells
THESE THINGS REALLY SELL WHEN YOU SET IT UP RIGHT

37. Food for thought:
Your customers are buying the story of your product,
not the product itself. They can buy products
anywhere. The reason they buy from you is because of
the meaning you have built around your products. That
meaning is your stories, your marketing.
PEOPLE BUY THE STORY

38. BACK TO STORY TYPES
Compelling:
• Lifestyle stories
• Design stories
• Testimonials
More compelling:
• A story about your customer’s
biggest problem as relates to
your product, in the language
they use to describe it
USE
THEM
ALL

39. 4 ESSENTIAL STORY ELEMENTS

40. THE STORY TEMPLATE
The 4 Elements
1. ACTION
2. STRUGGLE
3. RESOLUTION
4. LESSON LEARNED
Here is your template:
Today I <insert action or activity and sensory info>.
At first I <insert struggle or problem you had with activity, and show the action>.
But eventually <insert what you did to overcome, and show the action>.
Here’s what I found surprising: <insert your lesson learned, connect it to a big
idea, and lead into the call-to-action for your product>.

41. THE STORY TEMPLATE HOW-TO
How to use the template:
1. Keep it in a document on your desktop for quick access
2. Copy and paste it into a blank document when you go to write your next story
3. Fill-in the blanks (use information from your research)
4. Use the story as-is, or…
5. Take that information and rewrite the story below and just use the template as
a starting place
Using the template means you ALWAYS have all of the story elements, and
you NEVER end up staring at a blank screen wondering what to write

42. FROM STORY TEMPLATE TO ACTUAL EMAIL
The Template:
Today I woke up at 6am to go running.
At first I just went back to bed because I was so tired
and it has been a busy couple of weeks - I need the
rest.
But eventually I got up, and went about my day. I
didn’t end up running until later in the evening…but I
finally got it in.
Here’s what I found surprising: I’m the guy who owns
Territory - a brand that inspires people to get out and
run. And yet, I struggle with the exact same things
every single day that my customers struggle with:
making time to do the things I love when life is
almost constantly crazy.

43. BREAKDOWN
The Elements in Action:
1. Action
2. Struggle (and development of struggle)
3. Resolution (later in the email)
4. Setting up the Lesson Learned and
Big Idea
Stats on this email:
• 58% open rate
• 38% click-through (unique)
• Ton’s of responses
• Sales: Part of a launch series that did
$19,000 in 12 hours to a list of 2,800
people

44. ONE MORE EMAIL EXAMPLE

45. STORIES IN ACTION
Stories are constantly selling,
whether they intend to or not.

46. QUICK WINS FOR STORY SELLING
Quick win story tips:
1. Write the way you talk
2. Don’t start with a blank screen (use the template, or
pieces of your research)
3. Write, then edit
4. Edit: take out unnecessary words and phrases
5. Edit: exchange “limp verbs” for power words (engage vs
hijack)

47. THE TRANSITION
The #1 pain point:
How do I transition from the story
to my product?
Answer:
1. Turn phrases
2. Anchoring

48. TURN PHRASES
Turn phrases:
1. “So why am I telling you this?”
2. “This is a great example of…”
3. “This reminds me a lot of…”

49. ANCHORING
Anchoring:
Anchor words you drop before and
after a story to knit everything together
and hold it in place.
Before: single word forecasts that
connect to your lesson learned, big
idea, or product.
After: recap or recall

50. EXAMPLE OF ANCHORING
Anchor word:
Instinct
Big idea:
Instincts are important
Product name:
The Instinct Sock

51. How to test and scale a
story across your marketing
GOT A GOOD STORY? AWESOME. USE IT EVERYWHERE.

52. Press send!
Email gives you immediate feedback.
HOW TO TEST

53. Feedback you are looking for:
1. Sales!
2. Customer responses
3. Open rates
4. Click-through rates
If you get sales AND customer
responses, you are really onto
something
SIMPLE FEEDBACK CHECKLIST

54. Take that story and repurpose
it across ALL of your
marketing:
1. Product descriptions
2. Sales pages
3. Social media
4. Blog posts and other content
(even video)
5. Sky is the limit!
RECYCLE YOUR STORIES

55. The email
RECYCLING EXAMPLE
IG post Sales page

56. LAST THOUGHTS
Final tips:
1. Keep it interesting and entertaining
and nothing can go wrong
2. Subject lines
3. Frequency
4. The few things that people will
definitely read: subject lines, first
lines, captions, the P.S.

57. LEARN MORE NOW
Discover how Kissmetrics can help you optimize your marketing

58. Questions?
ALLISON CARPIO
Product Marketing Manager, Kissmetrics
@allisoncarpio
MIKE RINARD
Copywriter and Marketing Consultant,
Chimp Wolf
@rinardmike