Michelle Mazur
Welcome back to Make Marketing Suck Less, where you're hearing from 10 expert business owners who are pulling back the curtain on what's working in their business beyond the likes and shares. This way you can decide what marketing strategy could work for you. And what you can ditch. I'm your host, Dr. Michelle Mazur, founder of the Expert Up Club, a community for established business owners to create more demand for their work and expertise while doing less marketing. You don't want to be just another email in someone's inbox. You worked hard growing your email list you pour a lot into the emails you send every week. So how do you write an email that people love to open and read an email that they see in your inbox and are excited about and not just excited to delete? You do it through sensory storytelling, and this is a technique that our guest today has mastered. Zafira Rajan is a copywriter and brand strategist who helps entrepreneurs unblock their voice, harness their creative energy and write sensory stories that connect with their audience. Zafira, welcome, I am so excited to have you for the make marketing success event.

Zafira Rajan
I am so thrilled to be here. Thank you.

Michelle Mazur
And we were talking a little bit before about you storytelling can be one of those things that are really hard for people to do. And they think like, Ah, I'm just not a great storyteller. And it's one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you because you have a really interesting approach that I feel like makes stories come alive helps them become more memorable. So what is sensory storytelling?

Zafira Rajan
Yes, I love digging into this and I can't wait. We're gonna have such a juicy conversation. So first of all, disclaimer, I have never in my career had anyone tell me I'm such a good writer, that no, I'm such a good storyteller like that does not roll off the tongue. So we all think we're bad storytellers or we all big could be better. What I love about sensory storytelling is that anyone can do it if you know how. So good stories make you feel something. But sensory storytelling just transports you completely. It's the type of storytelling that allows your reader to be present with you in the moment. It's the type of thing where if someone's writing about food, you're salivating because you're getting hungry reading it. Or if someone's talking about a really touching moment, like reading that gives you goosebumps, or you are writing about a travel experience. And your audience replies them says, Oh, I felt like I was right there with you, you were probably doing some sensory storytelling in that moment. So just like when we touch something, you know, it goes from our skin through our body, and our brain interprets our touch. And when we heightened sensory deep tales, and storytelling, we actually start feeling and interpreting haptic experiences in emotions and memories as well. So for me, I feel like sensory storytelling is actually a full body experience. And why would we not want that for our readers?

Michelle Mazur
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Like, I always tell my clients to write micro stories. And it's always surprising to me like how many times they're just kind of telling a story instead of like, dropping you into a situation where you can feel and experience it. And it's not, it's a really simple concept to understand. It's not easy to implement. So I would love to know, like, how do you use sensory storytelling in your email marketing?

Zafira Rajan
Right, great question. And I love that you're asking this because I think emails are the perfect way to practice doing this, and doing it consistently. And it's the type of medium where your audience will also start to notice and look forward to you sharing certain details because they'll start to be consistent in your storytelling, the things that you talk about, because the lots of consistent things in your life. So there are so many ways, you know, when it comes to sensory storytelling that I could talk about, but I'm going to focus on three for our conversation that I love and I think are so easy for anyone to implement. So, three sensory strategies you can try and your email marketing would be through brand recognition that dialogue or your environment, and I'll break each one down a little bit for you. So, brand recognition is simple, you probably know what I'm talking about right away. But zooming in on details like brand names, like, you know, Supergoop sun screen or a Starbucks cup, or you know what exactly you're eating or drinking as you're writing at the time of day can be so critical and crafting a sensory experience. And it's such a simple strategy, because you don't have to think too hard about it, you just have to be honest, you have to just say, instead of I was having my coffee this morning, you could be like I drove went through the drive thru and picked up an iced milk latte from Starbucks. And that's already something a little bit more sensory. No, maybe you're you're spending your afternoon like frantically picking your kids up from school and you were into your tongue on you know, a macchiato from Starbucks, or you dropped your iPhone in the toilet, or you just, you know, put on your favorite Mac like fuchsia, pink lipstick, or Zoom calls, wherever that is, you know, take your reader to where you are in that moment. And what you're using with the brand is attached to it. And you will start to create instant connection. And I guarantee you that for anyone who is a skimmer on your email list, those are the details that are gonna, you know, jump out at them, because that's what they instantly recognize.

Michelle Mazur
I love that because as you were speaking, I was picturing the fuchsia lipstick, I was picturing the iPhone in the toilet, and hearing the plot of the iPhone go into or seeing the Starbucks or thinking about like, ooh, an oatmeal, oat milk latte sounds really good right now. So it's such a great and easy way to do that to situate people into the story. So I love the brand recognition one.

Zafira Rajan
Exactly. And it's such an easy thing to do. You know, when when people say, Oh, I'm not a good writer, I'm always just like, you just need to write it. A second draft is also when you're editing. Maybe even just looking through your first draft and saying, Oh, were there any brands that you know, would be recognizable to my reader or that I've that I could be talking about or I have talked about here, and you can just do it in your edits, so you don't have to overthink it. Now, the second sensory strategy that I love is dialogue. And incorporating dialogue is such a good way to add a sensory feel, especially in your emails, whether it's to clearly communicate how a conversation went to even showcasing your internal dialogue that you might be having with yourself. And it could even help you draw a nice parallel between a conversation you had with someone versus the conversations you're having with your clients or your audience, for instance. But most importantly, I think it helps create a conversational tone that puts your reader at ease right away. And that's what we look for when we open an email from someone that we really love receiving emails from we want to be part of their world, we want to be, you know, part of their conversation. So when you're narrating that it just puts us in the room with you right away. And visually, it also really helps to break up copy or pattern interrupt what you might be expecting when you open an email. When it comes to the internal dialogue, that's what I find to be incredibly useful and compelling and effective. And especially if you're processing the situation the same way, maybe someone who's reading and might be processing. So let's say you know, you're taking a walk, and instead of saying, Oh, it was the perfect day for a stroll, and I left the house, you might say like, oh, in my head, I was thinking wow, thank God, I decided to get out of the house today and skip my workout like that inner dialogue tells us so much more. And it reveals so much more brings us in closer. So sometimes when it feels harder to talk about what actually happened when you met someone or you went to an event or you went to a conference or you are talking about how successful your last call was with your students or your clients, instead of just trying to summarize it, you can just extract pieces of dialogue. Or you can just tell us what you were thinking and reframe it as dialogue and it brings us in in a totally different way. Yeah, and

Michelle Mazur
I love it because that is also a fairly simple tweak. Like I was thinking as you're talking like I sent an email this morning about basically I enrolled in Amy Porterfield webinars that convert course and she gives you all these great templates right? And I just remember staring at my computer and thinking over and over like I don't I don't know what to say till this out. I don't know what to say in a webinar. Like I don't know what to say on social media, like I didn't know what to say. And it was just like this little bit of dialogue that kind of take that puts you in that moment. And then it was like, Oh, I'm probably not the only one who's ever felt this way, like looking at an email template.

Zafira Rajan
Exactly. And I'm sure as you're saying this and someone is listening right now, they've already found you more relatable than they did like five seconds ago, versus you just saying you bought the course, because they probably are feeling the exact same way no one knows what to say. So it can say so much. And, you know, much like the brand recognition strategy. It's just honest, like, there's nothing you have to do or yeah, there's no magic trick you have to pull out when it comes to copy. It's just being more honest, and knowing exactly what type of strategy to play, right. Like we all have in our thoughts. We're all having conversations. You just have to pay more attention to them. Yeah, yeah, that's

Michelle Mazur
What’s your third sensory strategy?

Zafira Rajan
My third one is my favorite. And I think one that I will say I do pretty well, I think, and it is environment. So when describing your environment, what I'm really talking about as adjectives, I'm talking about textures, sensations. You know, for instance, you know, I start my day with like, a cup of tea every morning, and I love tea. But instead of just saying that in an email, I can tell you that I'm having piping hot Masala Chai, and then class smoke. And that is like a whole different visual in your head right away, right, or I can tell you about the roses that are blooming outside my office. But I could also say, I stop every day to smell the blooming orange, red, pink and yellow roses swaying in the breeze outside my window. And it's different visual altogether, even if it's a physical place or like a physical environment. So full disclaimer, I have fully like white hair now after I had a baby like postpartum. So wow, I have to go to the salon, like every six to eight weeks. And if they want to tell you a story about something that happened there, because something always happens or my experience, instead of just saying Oh, like, you know, while I was at the salon this week, I can just weave in really hyper specific details, like, you know, for talking about texture, my hairstyle is really sharp acrylic nails, or like the smell of the chemicals, or the total amount of time it took the appointment to wrap up or, you know, I was sweating in the leather chair and having those itchy downs that they put on you that are like, you know, bugging me the back of my neck. And so that brings me into room so much more closely. And all those tiny details just start painting a super sensory experience for your reader that just goes beyond the surface. And it's yeah, it's a strategy that I love and have so much fun playing with and knowing the right balance is really important. But I think experimenting with it can be so fun.

Michelle Mazur
Yeah, no, and I love these strategies, because they are simple. And then I also like hear in the back of my head, somebody saying like, Yeah, but how does that actually help? Like, how does that actually help me like market or sell more? So what results? Have you seen in your own email marketing from telling these sensory stories?

Zafira Rajan
Yes, and a great question. And I get those questions quite a lot.

Michelle Mazur
I'm sure you do.

Zafira Rajan
You're like, yeah, okay, that sounds great. But like what is you know, what's the ROI? What's the bottom line here? So I think what anyone is always trying to do in their marketing is be memorable. And that is exactly what sensory storytelling does. It really increases I think the retention of this space you take up in your clients or prospective clients mind minds, because when you weave in hyper specific details, when you start getting consistent with the types of sensory stories that you're telling, you're someone that, like stays top of mind for folks, and is the first person they think of when they maybe see a rose, or they see a cup of chai or they go to the hair salon, like you will be popping into their head over and over again. And in terms of like actual results. My emails have always had a consistently high open rate, my average open rate is 50%. Even through every single launch, I've done, and actually the other week, I sent a really sensory email and someone who I quite admire when it comes to email marketing. Carson K sent me an email and she's like, You know what, you can use this anywhere. So I'll just share it here which I think will best answer your question. And she said, you know, in case I haven't said it lately, your emails are some of the very few that I read and they are so rich with sensory experience and put me right in my body, which is the own Link placing want to be and the opposite of what most emails do. I also think your pace is perfect, even though it's not weekly, which it's not, it doesn't matter. They're memorable enough that you can set the pace that works for you, which is rare. So I was like, wow, okay, so even though I'm not their traditional email marketer, with a weekly email, or bi weekly this on this day, just knowing when I show up, I'm telling really compelling, memorable, valuable stories, not just also for the sake of storytelling, but to really give my reader a great experience and take away something valuable, sets me apart from all the other people fighting for space in someone's inbox. And so I don't know if that fully answers your question. I think so. But the result, I think, is like really engaged subscribers, really, you know, invested readers who genuinely look forward to see what I have to say, and then who make for an easy yes, when I want to sell something. So it's, you know, it's not like a strategy I've employed over the years. It's just the type of writer I am. And now I'm, like, just love to share why it works. Yeah, I think loyalty is a big win.

Michelle Mazur
Yeah, no, loyalty is huge. And I just want to call something out that you're not sending an email every single week. And I bet if you asked your people, it's like a treat when you show up in their inbox, yeah. Right. So I call this a little bit about like, a chaos strategy, because some people just, they're like, the Muppet animal, like, they just can't stay on schedules. And I'm like, that is fine. And if you're doing something memorable, that's like a treat when they show up. People don't care that you're not there every Tuesday morning at 10am on the dot, because the days that you are there, they're like, there's a new email. I'm so excited to read it. It is like this little delightful treat. And I feel like there's such power in that. And meaning for people. Absolutely.

Zafira Rajan
Yeah. Like, I think of it a lot like, like date night, with a partner, you know, you're not going to do it all the time. But you're going to really look forward to it, when it happens, you're going to make space for it, you're going to be really intentional about it. And you know, when I write an email, when I write anything, I really like to roll out the red carpet for my readers, I like to treat it like a valuable experience like something they're excited to save or something, they don't want to just gloss over something, they can just be really intentional about it because it's meaningful. And I'm not, you know, bursting with the wisdom or value each time. But what I'm always doing what I'm always promising is telling a good story. And I'm a I'm a copywriter. That's my job I'm inherently selling, how good I am doing it just by showing them right. Yeah. And so I, I'm quite lucky, but that is my job.

Michelle Mazur
Yeah. And I also think the other thing it does, it helps people know and like you more like know, you as a human. I mean, you're not sharing anything terribly personal. Yeah. And it's really memorable. And I feel like just even having this conversation with you. I know you better.

Zafira Rajan
Yes, exactly. And I think we've seen a big trend in marketing, which can go either way, where I think most people have started to be like, oh, I need to be more vulnerable, and my storytelling and I need to, like, tell everyone everything to be more relatable or to, you know, add more personality to my copy. And it's, the truth is I'm actually a very private person. And there's a lot of things people don't know about me or that I choose to keep, you know, just for me, but that doesn't mean I can't tell rich stories. So I feel like when you take a sensory approach, you can just take that permission slip to go deeper in a different way. And to the folks who are still like, oh, you know, but you know, maybe it sounds like too flowery for me or too poetic or like I don't just that's just not my style. You know, if you zoom out and just look at marketing and stories, and the thing, the stories we love the most have longevity, they extend generations. You know, last year, Barbie came out and everyone went crazy. There was a pink paint shortage people were dressing up to go to the cinema. You know Taylor Swift went on tour and everyone was swapping friendship bracelets. Beyonce went on tour and everyone was wearing silver. Those are all sensory experiences. Those are all sensory stories that those artists as actors were delivering and they have the power to just make you feel seen at different stages in your life. They deliver really tactile expose perience you crave to be a part of. So when you really start to think about the marketing and the stories that work that you remember, I guarantee you there's a sensory component to it.

Michelle Mazur
Yeah, and I also just want to circle back to the vulnerability piece, because I think that's where people get stuck, they're told to be vulnerable. And yet Brene Brown is very clear, like you should only be truly vulnerable with the people you most trust. And this is such a lovely way to get to know someone, while still maintaining your own privacy. And I just really wanted to highlight that, that you don't have to tell all of your horror stories to market your business. But you can still help people get to know you by including some of the sensory details. And that's brilliant.

Zafira Rajan
Yes, more of that instead.

Michelle Mazur
Yes. Yeah. So I would love to hear, like just a concrete example. You've been sharing a lot of examples, but like, can you just walk us through a quick before and after? Because one of the things that drew me to you initially is you have a great blog post where you are like, doing these amazing before and afters with sort of sensory storytelling. And it just gave me such like a clear idea of like, oh, this is amazing. I need to talk to her.

Zafira Rajan
Yes, absolutely. We love to just see a makeover, right. So there's an example like, I shared with someone recently that really seemed to resonate, so I think I will do it here too. My my grandma, grandmother made an amazing curry a few months ago, and I wrote something about it. So here is my first draft, like without the sentences, okay? My grandma's house always smells a little strange. But when she puts a plate of curry in front of me, I forget all about it. And that's usually when I remember serving others with love is something we can all try to do more often in our businesses, right? Like that was just as part of an email. Then I applied what I call a sensory edit to it. And here's what it sounds like. Instead, my grandmother's house smells like tumeric and it seeps into everything. The pink threadbare towels, the squeaky plastic on the sofa, and her windowless bedroom. But when she illegals piping hot chicken curry with roadies that took three hours to make the salt and the tumeric and the green chili chutney fill your belly with love. That's when I realized that in our own way we can all be grandmas and our businesses showing up with care, taking our time with our community and labeling love into their digital bowls. Can you feel the difference in that?

Michelle Mazur
Yes, yes. Because the first story is good, right?

Zafira Rajan
Not bad. But yeah. Yeah, it's different.

Michelle Mazur
Yeah, I guess I'm saying like your grandma's house smelled weird. It's like, okay, is it weird grandma smell smell from the cooking. And it's just so much more specific that you can see it, you can see her labeling the cursor and the steam rising from it. So it's really giving you that? That visceral experience, and it's just, it's gorgeous. Like, it's a gorgeous piece of writing.

Zafira Rajan
Thank you. Yeah. And I think I find it what you just said about, like, you know, what is that smell? And I think what I feel a lot of in copy is leaving too much up to interpretation or leaving your reader with questions versus pulling them into the story and leaving no room for that. Because you have done such a good job at accurately sharing what your experience looks like, you know, from through all the senses, and they just want to be there with you instead of what they think it is. Right? And there's so much power in doing that in your words. Yeah.

Michelle Mazur
And before I wrap this up, I can I can imagine somebody hearing that story and being like, oh my gosh, that was amazing. There's no way I could ever do it. And you and I were talking about that. This is a skill that you build into your writing. So how's the best way to get started learning how to do sensory storytelling? Totally.

Zafira Rajan
And I'm right there with you. You know, I didn't come out of the womb writing stories like this, right? No. So but I think what we often get stressed about is finding stories, finding the right things to write about, like, Oh, I'm not that interesting or that You know, I have something I don't really know how to write about it, like use the fear out. And so what I encourage people to do instead is pay attention to the little moments, and starting to build this skill of sensory awareness. So there's something I do regularly that makes sure I always collect lots of ideas, lots of sensory moments, no matter where I am, or what I'm doing, and then keep what I call a sensory journal, it's nothing on paper, it's just a note on my phone. It's a running note. And as I'm going about my day, or if I'm traveling, or from somewhere new, or I'm, you know, with family, whatever, I'll do like a sensory scan, every now and then. Maybe it's something I can see on the street, or is something that someone said that made me laugh or like laugh, cry, a cool outfit that I was like still thinking about, and I just jot it down. But what's important to write down is just the details, not the story, you can just keep it low lifted, it can just be a bulleted list of sensory details. So that way, the next time I sit down to write or I'm rooting around for a detail, I'm not starting from zero. And the most important part of doing all of this is the way you experience the moment in that moment, it'll never be that rich again. So if you can harness it, and really pay attention to what's going on, it'll make your story so much richer later on. So here are some examples of things we can put on our sensory radar if you're doing a sensory scan, or if you want to just practice doing this once a day or every other day. You know, if you're at a cafe, like what song is playing in the background? Or maybe how does the weather feel like what's the material of like the table that you're sitting on? What are you eating? What are you drinking? What conversations can you eavesdrop on what are you wearing? What's the weather like outside? How does it make you feel? Who are you with? So you know, there's, for example, like I went to New York last year, and it was really chaotic, and the weather was weird. And my, my sensory journal was such a wild a mishmash of things, including things like 9:30pm noodles, and the Thai diner with slow fans or like city, sidewalks dripping with rain collected from thunderstorms are like linen shorts, sticking to the subway seats, you know, stuff like that. Yeah, but I use all of those details and emails and stories for my audience later, but I would have forgotten them entirely. If I was just racking my brain to be like, how do I write about this trip, you know, so it's doing your future self a favor. And the hardest part about writing is getting started. So when you have, you know, a bank of some details, you'll feel excited to write about something. So if you want to do this, and if you want to give it a try, just open up a note on your phone title, it's sensory journal, you can start today, just, if you're listening to this episode, right now, like, take a look at what you're wearing. You know what you're doing about your day, when you're outside and just write it down. You don't have to find a use for everything either. But like I said, the way you capture your moment, is so unique and so hard to recapture. And if you really want to draw in people and tell compelling stories, you want to be the type of person who feels confident doing it, you can just start by building this skill of sensory awareness and picking up on all the details that your audience will connect to later in a really rich way.

Michelle Mazur
I love that. And I just want to say that you said something about how the hardest part about writing is getting started. And I know your free gift for our audience is helping them with that. So why don't you tell us about that?

Zafira Rajan
Yes, absolutely. So my free gift is my freebie called Design your custom writing rituals. So one of the things I never buy is that, you know, one thing works for everyone. I think we're all different people, we have different lives, different privileges, different families, different routines. But at the end of the day, we all want to incorporate more rituals or routines or habits into our life. And it's important to really reflect on what actually works for you. So my freebie is a free mini journal and workbook to help you identify a writing ritual that you can actually sustain and commit to and really helps you get in the zone so you can be excited and inspired and create a nourishing writing practice that actually feels good for you.

Michelle Mazur
Amazing and if you want that it's going to be linked right below this audio. I don't know why I'm pointing down. No one's seeing the video. But it is Link to right below. And writing is just such an important part of having an online business. So if you're I really appreciate this conversation about sensory storytelling. And I love the idea of being able to design your own custom writing ritual, because the way you get better at writing is just by the practice and writing more. So thank you so very much for making marketing subclass for everyone who's listening.

Zafira Rajan
Amazing. Thank you so much for having me, Michelle.

Michelle Mazur
One of the things that surprised me the most when I started my business, is how much writing I had to do. Anything that you can do to make that easier for yourself while making it more pleasurable for people to read. I'm all here for it. So if you're looking to up your storytelling game, then I know you're gonna want to listen to this interview again. So make sure you grab the make marketing suck less kit, you get lifetime access to this interview with Zafira and all of our interviews, plus the private podcast feed so you can listen to this event, anytime, anywhere you want. But most importantly, every single cent of this kit goes to the senior cat Action Network. This nonprofit is doing incredible work providing medical care to super senior cats who are surrendered to the shelter. And these are the least adoptable cats. The network is giving them a chance to have a happy retirement and to live out their days in a loving home. How great is that? That you could save the life of a senior cat and make your marketing suck less. So if you want to support this amazing cause? Be sure to upgrade today at Dr. Michelle mazur.com/kit