Abstract
Storytelling has long been recognised as a potent tool for persuasive communication in broader email marketing and, precisely, email advertising. This study aims to bridge the gap in the literature by examining how Denning’s narrative patterns are used in marketing emails to attract customer’s attention and persuade them of products or services. Drawing on Aristotle’s persuasion theory and Denning’s framework of narrative patterns, we conducted a qualitative and descriptive quantitative analysis on a corpus of 200 marketing emails authored by email copywriting expert Ben Settle. This exploratory study, which examines the persuasive nature of the narrative strategies of storytelling within advertising emails, reveals that the most effective emails incorporate testimonials, utilise third-party narratives, and feature credible characters. In addition, the findings indicate that crafting stories that align with target customers’ interests may increase engagement and sales, as observed in Settles’ emails. These strategies may also enhance the authenticity and credibility of the advertised products, thereby increasing the brand’s selling potential. These findings have practical implications for marketers, highlighting the importance of incorporating storytelling techniques, such as testimonials and third-party narratives, into advertising emails to enhance their effectiveness.
Presenters
Rima Jamil MalkawiStudent, PhD Candidate in Linguistics and Translation, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Communications and Linguistic Studies
KEYWORDS
Storytelling, E-marketing Emails, Persuasion theory, Narratives, Narrative Patterns, Brand Identity
