One of the biggest difficulties entrepreneurs face when creating their customer base is related to customer loyalty. Well, you don’t have to worry – fortunately, email marketing through the soap opera sequence comes to your rescue to achieve this goal.

If you don’t know what it is, just be patient and pay attention because in this article we’ll explain what a soap opera sequence is, why it is important and how to use in your advantage.

It’s nothing complicated if you follow our step-by-step instruction.

Let’s get started!

What is a soap opera sequence?

In email marketing, the term soap opera sequence (SOS) refers to an American storytelling technique consisting of a series of emails, usually five, sent in sequence to the potential customers who have subscribed to a newsletter.

This term comes from the language of television because, just like a soap opera, this type of communication generates a story that creates suspense and keeps subscribers glued to the screen. And again, just like a soap opera this relationship between customer and seller has the potential to last forever.

So, effective use of the soap sequence can give your email marketing campaign the added value you were looking for.

Having said that, we will later explain the steps to follow to create a soap opera sequence.

Why is soap sequence important?

It’s not difficult to understand the importance of the soap opera sequence.

First of all, it gives the buyer a better chance of success. We all know that the reason you are here is essentially to boost the chances of selling the product/service you are offering.

Do you know what generally drives a customer to buy something and turn to one seller rather than another? Trust. They will essentially be driven to buy the good they need from a person they know and trust because they believe they are unlikely to be cheated or disappointed.

Well, the soap opera sequence email aims to create a relationship of trust between seller and his client.

This communication technique is based on an emotional and emphatic attachment between the writer and the reader because the latter identifies with the story he is reading and finds that the solution offered useful, thanks to this bond that has been created.

When to leverage a soap opera sequence

Having said that, it is important for you to understand when it is appropriate to use a soap opera sequence.

You will already know, by now, that it is advisable to make careful use of email marketing. And so, rather than sending random emails without any logical connection, it is advisable to make use of a soap sequence for specific and well-defined reasons:

1. Promoting a new product

If you have decided to promote a new product in your business, we strongly suggest you to use this communication technique.

You could start by telling your customers how the idea came about in response to a personal need of yours that the market was unable to address. All this, will make the customers identify themselves with the story because you have similar needs, it will help you to create that bond of trust you were looking for and encourage them to buy your product.

2. Telling a successful story

You could also use the soap opera sequence to tell a significant experience for your company, for example the story of a satisfied customer.

You should emphasize how your product solved his problem, you could even let the customer speak for himself, if he agrees. Again, the important thing is that this kind of emails are aimed to create empathy and trust.

3. Announcing news

Are you opening a new branch of your company abroad? Have you formed a partnership with another professional?

What better way to communicate the important news to your users than the soap opera sequence?

They will surely be happy and feel taken into account as if they were part of your business project.

4. Telling your Company’s story

Telling the story of your company can be useful to get new customers to know you and start building a relationship of trust with them or to strengthen the existing relationship with loyal customers.

How to create a soap opera sequence: strategy and examples

Perfect. Now you know what a soap sequence is and when you can leverage this marketing technique.

After this great but fundamental preamble, we can move on to the practical part: how do you create a winning soap opera sequence strategy? What are the steps to define?

Let’s see them together with some soap opera sequence examples.

#1 Set the scene

With the first email, everything is at stake. The user has subscribed to your newsletter (perhaps driven by a lead magnet strategy), but does not yet know you well, so at this stage it is essential to introduce yourself and try to make a good impression.

You can start with something like this:

Hello <name>!  Welcome to my newsletter! My name is…
Every week you will receive ……..

But this is definitely not enough.

As if it were a stage, with the first email you have to prepare the set as best you can, letting your readers understand where you want to take them with your history, but without revealing everything.

So, don’t tell the whole story of your brand straight away, but try to create suspense.

For example, you can promise to tell something secret, or present the solution to a problem that has been nagging at you and that you assume will be of interest to the reader.

In this way you will create an emotional connection with your users and you will have a teaser that will encourage them to open the next email.

#2 Be a drama queen (or king)

As promised, now you have to tell something. But no spoilers! The ending will be revealed later.

With the second email of the soap opera sequence is time to create drama and reach a peak of tension. You have to tell your reader who you are (where you started from and what challenges you faced to get where you are).

Strive to be creative and involve your reader as much as possible in your vicissitudes.

Talk about the obstacles you have faced and make them fascinating. Our advice is to talk about issues that might also be of interest to newsletter subscribers. For example, if you have a historical bookshop, you could talk about how you had to deal with the advent of Amazon and e-commerce.

Be careful though: you don’t have to reveal how you solved your problem yet, just what happened, when and why.

Close the email by revealing that you will reveal your big secret next time. In this way you will have reached the point of high drama.  

#3 The epiphany

And here you are at the long-awaited moment: you can reveal your secret. You have informed the readers about your obstacles, now you can explain how you fought to overcome them and what your winning weapon was.

Fine, but if I reveal everything now, they will never read me again! – you might rightly object.

The trick is to tell something but not everything. Explain, for example, the product, service or technique that helped you, but don’t explain in detail how you used it.

Tell your secret, but promise to describe it in the next episode.

#4 The key benefits of your solution

Well, the users who open this fourth email now know you, are emotionally involved in your story and want to know more. In short, they are starting to trust you.

So now you can’t lose their trust. You have talked about a solution that has helped you; now you need to describe it well, highlighting the benefits and details that make it unique and valuable.

For example, you could say:

< with our course at _____ You will not only enhance your ______ skills but also improve your ability to ______  and generate new opportunities to ____ >

At this point, don’t forget to share the link to your website, landing page, ecommerce or social page where they can find all the details to learn more about your product.

#5 Call to action

Here you are at the final step. You got the attention and presented your brand (brand awareness), then you have showed your solution so that the reader is aware of your product catalogue (consideration), now you have to push the reader towards the purchase phase: as funnel marketing teaches, you have to convert prospects into customers.

With this email you have to create a veiled sense of urgency (be careful not to be intrusive or spammy).

To achieve this, you could focus on the added value of your product, or offer something in return (exclusive discounts, ebooks, webinars, etc.).

This will not be your last email, but you need to push for action.

Soap opera sequence: let’s take an example

Do you want an example to be sure you have understood? Good.

Imagine that you are a psychologist, an expert in communication techniques, who started this profession after studying various methods to combat and overcome your extreme shyness. You succeeded and now you hold public speaking courses. And it is precisely this course that you want to promote.

Well, if that’s all clear to you, let’s see what the stages of your emails should be according to soap sequence logic.

1. Lead generation and welcome email: collect contacts who are on target (maybe people with the same problem as you) and introduce yourself by trying to establish a strong emotional connection around your main discomfort,
2. Mail 2: tell your story, what you used to be like, what problems being shy caused you, how many opportunities you lost because of it, how much effort you made and how many times you failed. Try to reach the highest level of drama and remember to stress that you have found a solution to your problem;
3. Mail 3: talk about your achievements and the main solution that helped you to accomplish them (but do not explain it);
4. EmailAn email (or electronic mail) is a method of exchanging communications through the internet. It is one of the most used features on the web and the number one mean... 4: present the results of your efforts and explain your method (it will be the one they will follow with your course). Don’t forget to tell the main advantages that make it unique and include a link to the landing page where you can find more details;
5. Mail 5: propose and describe the course and invite action. Offer a special limited-time discount.

Tips for writing a successful soap opera sequence story

In order for your soap opera sequence email to be successful and help you achieve measurable results, it is good to keep a few tips in mind. Here are our tips that you should be aware of before working on your strategy:

• Develop your character. Study his features and make them real: the reader must be able to put himself in his shoes and share his problems;
• Work on your tone of voice: it has to be engaging and dramatic;
• Create tension: end paragraphs and especially emails with the promise of an important revelation (ellipses are a spelling tool that can be used for this purpose);
• Simple is better: use clear and simple language, write short sentences to create a sense of suspense and an emotional connection;
• Create a sense of urgency (for example presenting the disadvantages of not seizing the proposed offer, emphasising that the supply is limited, etc.). Be careful, however, not to use too many spam words, as they can play tricks on you.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, in order to develop a winning strategy it is essential to identify the main needs and issues of your target audience and to structure a communication strategy that delivers exactly the messages that users need.

If you want to know more about email marketing, stay tuned by visiting our blog. Or, if you need professional support to create and manage your campaigns, Mailsenpai could be the tool for you. Contact us to find out more!

Have you ever used the soap opera sequence for your email marketing strategy? Have you noticed significant results since applying it? Let us know in the comments!