Story-Based Email Marketing

A few weeks ago, I was in Fort Lee, New Jersey for a mastermind with Mike Kim and a small group of entrepreneurs.

If you've never been in a mastermind, here's how it works: someone takes the "hot seat" – meaning they bring a real problem they're wrestling with, and the rest of the group focuses entirely on helping them solve it.

No pitching. No small talk. Just a room full of smart people locked in on your challenge for 20 or 30 minutes.

It's incredibly generous. And sometimes a little intense.

When it was my turn, I shared how the traditional content marketing doesn't work as well as it used to (sounds familiar?).

Email open rates dropping. List engagement down. Consumers having shorter attention spans than ever before.

And that's when Mike said something that made everyone pause.

"Story-based emails are outperforming everything else right now. And it's not even close."

I looked around the room. People were nodding. A few started scribbling notes like their business depended on it.

And honestly? It might.

Here's what I've been hearing from practitioners lately:

"My open rates are tanking."

"Newsletter subscribers are churning faster than I can grow the list."

"I feel like I'm shouting into the void."

If that's you, I want you to know you're not imagining it. And you're definitely not alone.

Email has become harder. Lists are shrinking. The inbox is noisier than it's ever been.

And here's the uncomfortable truth about why:

AI has made it ridiculously easy for every clinic to pump out "health information."

That educational post about cortisol? There are now 47 versions of it in your subscriber's inbox and everywhere on instagram.

That "5 Signs Your Thyroid Is Struggling" email? They've seen it from three other practitioners this week.

What used to capture attention... now blends into the blur.

But here's the thing I keep coming back to…

People aren't tuning out because they don't care.

They're tuning out because they're overwhelmed and starving for something that actually feels like connection.

Not more tips. Not another protocol breakdown.

Connection. Recognition. The feeling of "oh… they get it."

That's what story does.

And that's why, starting into 2026, the practitioners who learn to tell stories in their emails are going to stand out – not by being louder, but by being more real.

Now, I know what you might be thinking.

"Great, Uli. So now I have to become some kind of amazing storyteller on top of everything else?"

I get it. That sounds exhausting.

But here's the good news: you don't need to be a master storyteller.

You just need a few cheat codes.

I've been diving deep into a book called Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks – Mike recommended it at the mastermind – and it's already changing how I think about content.

Matthew is a 36-time Moth StorySLAM live storytelling champion (yes, that's a real thing), and his whole approach is about finding stories that are already inside you.

You don't have to make anything up. You just have to know where to look.

Let me share one of his simplest techniques, something you can use today to start building a bank of stories for your emails, your videos, even your discovery calls.

It's called: First, Last, Best, Worst.

Here's how it works:

Pick a category – any category – and ask yourself four questions:

• What was my first experience with this?
• What was my last (or most recent) experience?
• What was my best experience?
• What was my worst experience?

That's it.

What makes this so powerful is that these 4 lenses tend to surface moments that actually mean something. Firsts are full of nervousness and discovery. Lasts carry weight and reflection. Bests remind us why we do what we do. And Worsts? Those are often where the deepest transformation lives.

Matthew Dicks calls these "five-second moments" – tiny turning points where something shifted inside you. And that's where the story lives. Not in the big, dramatic events – but in the small, specific, human ones.

Let me show you how this works in practice.

Let's say you choose the category: Patient.

Ask yourself:

• First patient: Who was the very first patient you saw in your own practice? What were you feeling that day? What surprised you?
• Last patient: Who did you see most recently that reminded you why you do this work?
• Best patient: Who's the patient whose transformation still gives you chills when you think about it?
• Worst patient: Who's the one that broke your heart – or taught you something hard about boundaries, or burnout, or your own limits?

Each of those holds a story.

And each of those stories could become an email that emotionally connects – not because you're educating, but because you're being human.

Here are a few more categories to try:

• Diagnosis: First one you got right when everyone else missed it. Worst time you were stumped. Best "aha" moment in a case.
• Moment of doubt: First time you wondered if you were cut out for this. Last time you almost gave up. Best reminder that you were on the right path?
• Tears in the office: First time a patient cried happy tears. Worst time you had to deliver hard news. Best reaction to a lab result.
• Your own health: First time you realized conventional medicine wasn't working for you. Worst health moment before you found functional medicine. Best decision you made for your own body?

You see how this works?

You're not brainstorming "content ideas."

You're excavating moments of meaning – the ones that made you who you are as a practitioner.

And those moments? That's what your patients actually want to hear.

Because when you share a real story – even a small one – you're not just filling their inbox.

You're making them feel less alone.

Over the coming weeks, I'm going to be sharing more of what I've been learning from Storyworthy – and showing you how to pair these storytelling "cheat codes" with AI to save time and develop your own voice.

Because here's what I believe heading into 2026:

The clinics that thrive won't be the ones who shout the loudest.

They'll be the ones who make people feel seen, understood, and  emotionally safe to take the next step.

And story is one of the best ways to do that.