{"id":22941,"date":"2023-04-28T23:21:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T23:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/?p=22941"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:20:23","slug":"star-story-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>Star Story Solution <\/strong>formula is likely the most <strong>storytelling-driven cold email copywriting strategy<\/strong>\u00a0you\u2019ll ever use.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, storytelling can be an <em>incredibly<\/em>\u00a0effective sales technique \u2014 when it\u2019s done right. It can <strong>hook a recipient emotionally<\/strong>\u00a0and form a <strong>quick, powerful, personal relationship<\/strong>\u00a0that <strong>drives fantastic results<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>But when it\u2019s done wrong, you\u2019re going to wind up with a cold email that\u2019s much less compelling than more straightforward copywriting approaches (like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/aida-formula\/\">AIDA<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/pas-copywriting\/\">PAS<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-chain-hook\/\">Star Chain Hook<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>And while there are similarities between the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/before-after-bridge-copywriting\/\">Before After Bridge copywriting method<\/a>\u00a0and Star Story Solution, the latter is much more focused on sharing one heroic journey to success.<\/p>\n<p>In this article, I\u2019ll cover the <strong>keys to writing Star Story Solution cold emails<\/strong>\u00a0that grab a prospect, draw them in, and compel them to take action.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m also going to <strong>analyze a Star-Story-Solution cold email I received<\/strong>\u00a0and <strong>rework it<\/strong>\u00a0to create a more effective template to show you this framework in action.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"star-story-solution-cnqf\">Star Story Solution: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#what-is-the-star-sto-ggtt\">What Is the Star Story Solution Copywriting Method?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#1-star-how-i-faced-a-lwzg\">1. Star: How I Faced a Challenge Just Like You\u2019re Facing Right Now<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#2-story-the-journey-uakd\">2. Story: The Journey Through Failed Solutions and False Hope to an Epiphany<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"what-is-the-star-sto-ggtt\"><a href=\"#3-solution-the-mega-daar\">3. Solution: The Mega Happy Ending That Solves Our Star\u2019s Problem Once and For All<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#4-call-to-action-wit-pljq\">4. Call-to-Action: With the Problem Solved, Time to Close the Deal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#the-sequel-automated-vpml\">\u201cThe Sequel\u201d: Automated Follow-Up Ideas for Star Story Solution<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#star-story-solution-dxbk\">Star Story Solution Copywriting for Cold Email: Takeaway and Next Steps<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Is the Star Story Solution Copywriting Method?<\/h2>\n<p>Star Story Solution is a copywriting technique that uses storytelling to emotionally engage a reader by describing how someone who was once in their shoes took a journey and ultimately found the ideal answer to their problem.<\/p>\n<p>The elements of the email are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Star<\/strong>, who is the main character of the story, facing the same problem as the prospect receiving the message.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Story<\/strong>, which covers the journey the character took as they tried and tried to fix the problem.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Solution<\/strong>, which is what the character did that finally worked (aka using your product or service).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The email should also then <strong>include a call-to-action<\/strong>\u00a0to give the prospect their \u201cnext step\u201d to take so they can achieve the same outcome as the Star.<\/p>\n<p>The Star Story Solution method is <strong>often at its most effective with a founder-driven product or service <\/strong>telling a first-person story \u2014 where <em>you<\/em>\u00a0had the problem, toiled endlessly to find the solution, finally found it (or created it), and now you\u2019re sharing it.<\/p>\n<p>And while most cold emails are ruthlessly succinct, the <strong>Star Story Solution method is one scenario where you might find more success going a little bit longer with your copy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t <em id=\"1-star-how-i-faced-a-lwzg\">have<\/em>\u00a0to \u2014 but if you\u2019ve hooked someone with a good story, sometimes they won\u2019t <em>want<\/em>\u00a0you to get in and out in the standard 150 words or less.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Star: How I Faced a Challenge Just Like You\u2019re Facing Right Now<\/h2>\n<p>Good storytelling doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re telling the story to the wrong person.<\/p>\n<p>For this cold email copywriting method to work, you\u2019ll need to apply the same fundamental principles as you do with every other copywriting method. <strong>That is: You need to understand your customer\u2019s pain point.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Because even though the \u201cStar\u201d character in your email is going to be you (or another character) \u2014 <strong>the real Star is the prospect receiving the email<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>They need to <strong>immediately<\/strong>\u00a0put themselves in the Star\u2019s shoes. Whatever big problem the star has at the beginning of the email? That\u2019s the big problem the prospect should be facing now.<\/p>\n<p>We need to see the Star at the end of their rope. They have a problem. They know they have a problem. It\u2019s eating at them. And that\u2019s their \u201cbefore\u201d world\u2026 which sets up the rest of the email, taking us on the journey to the \u201cafter.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"how-does-personaliza-hykv\">How does personalization factor in?<\/h3>\n<p>Star Story Solution lends itself less to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/mail-merge-personalization\/\">mail merge personalization<\/a>\u00a0than a lot of the other cold email copywriting techniques you might use. After all, <strong>you\u2019re telling a story about yourself (or a character) \u2014 not the recipient<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, the Star is a not-so-thinly-veiled avatar for the recipient. But you\u2019re still writing about someone else.<\/p>\n<p>There are, however, <strong>still opportunities for personalization<\/strong>\u00a0here \u2014 and <strong>a necessity for it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>First, the <strong>subject line<\/strong>\u00a0is a good place for personalization.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, let\u2019s say you\u2019re selling social marketing services. Your subject line could be: \u201cHow I finally got 10,000 loyal Instagram fans (and {BusinessName} can too).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But second, and more important, <strong>you can personalize by showing you genuinely understand the prospect\u2019s pain point<\/strong>. If you show you\u2019re not just sending a generic mass email but you\u2019re targeting them specifically because you understand <em>their<\/em>\u00a0unique business (its size, its challenges, its needs) \u2014 <em>that\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0personalization.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"subject-lines-in-sta-afcg\">Subject lines in Star Story Solution emails<\/h3>\n<p>The subject line of a Star Story Solution email needs to be a <strong>hook that sets up what the prospect is about to read<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, this isn\u2019t a situation for one of those popular generic cold email subject lines like \u201cQuick question\u201d or \u201cWant to increase revenue for {BusinessName}?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Try to <strong>present a teaser for the story (and the solution)<\/strong>\u00a0that will make the prospect want to open the email to read more.<\/p>\n<p>Notice in the example I gave a few paragraphs ago I began the subject line with \u201cHow I finally\u201d \u2014 that\u2019s a good opening for a Star Story Solution subject. It presents the solution while indicating there was a journey involved.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s ok to <strong>make the subject line a spoiler<\/strong>\u00a0for the end of the story. Because the recipient doesn\u2019t know <em>how<\/em>\u00a0you\u2019re going to arrive at that solution \u2014 if they had the solution, they wouldn\u2019t have this current pain, and they wouldn\u2019t need your help.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"putting-together-the-zwga\">Putting together the Star portion of a cold email<\/h3>\n<p>Throughout this article I\u2019m going to share an actual Star Story Solution email I received. I\u2019ll point out where it\u2019s not quite getting things right. And then I\u2019ll write a new version that better uses this technique for a more effective message.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"the-star-in-the-orig-ofwx\">The Star in the original email I received<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Subject: <\/strong>I had to hire a salesman yesterday. Yes, had to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Message: <\/strong>Sam,<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been getting so many reaches for our marketing services I couldn\u2019t keep up with them. True story.<\/p>\n<p>So I hired a guy.<\/p>\n<p>I knew I could get more clients if I was out there on social media. But I never had the PR power behind my social media before.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-star-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-star-tinified.png\" alt=\"Star-Story-Solution: Original email star\" width=\"1600\" height=\"555\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>This email is a bit all over the place. Basically, it\u2019s a guy from a marketing agency who\u2019s an affiliate selling a social media PR software product. And he\u2019s using his personal example to demonstrate why the software is effective.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I actually like his subject line.<\/strong>\u00a0Though it\u2019s not personalized at all to me \u2014 and doesn\u2019t exactly speak to me and my particular business \u2014 it <em>is<\/em>\u00a0an eye-catching subject and one that fits a Star Story Solution cold email.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the Star section, however, misses the mark. He goes with the technique of reiterating the \u201cI hired a salesman\u201d bit at the top of the email. Perhaps he thought that was effective, but <strong>he already jumped to the end of the story with the subject line<\/strong>. I don\u2019t need him to jump there <em>again<\/em>\u00a0at the beginning of the message itself. (Especially because, as you\u2019ll see later, he does <em>not<\/em>\u00a0repeat this Solution in in the correct spot later in the email.)<\/p>\n<p>From there, the remainder of the Star section is pretty weak as well.<\/p>\n<p>Getting more clients by being \u201cout there on social media\u201d isn\u2019t a real pain point for me. And having \u201cPR power\u201d behind social media is never something I\u2019d really considered \u2014 nor something I\u2019d ever believed was a harbinger of business success. He needs to prove that to me.<\/p>\n<p>Plus he\u2019s <strong>making a lot of logic leaps here<\/strong>. We went from a salesperson to social media to PR awfully quick, and those aren\u2019t three institutions I necessarily see flowing into each other in this manner.<\/p>\n<p>So while I like the idea of having clients beating down my door so aggressively that I have no choice but to hire someone to handle them\u2026 this roundabout path via social media PR seems odd to me.<\/p>\n<p>That means there are <strong>two fundamental problems for me with this Star section<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\">\n<li>I <strong>can\u2019t put myself in the Star\u2019s shoes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m <strong>not finding the Star a particularly compelling or credible main character<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The subject line was a good hook\u2026 but he lost me after that.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"my-rewrite-quba\">My rewrite<\/h4>\n<p>Here\u2019s how I\u2019m going to rewrite this email to do a better job getting me into the story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Subject: <\/strong>I had to hire a salesperson yesterday. Yes, had to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Message: <\/strong>{FirstName},<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t get into marketing to spend all my time hustling for clients. I\u2019m sure you didn\u2019t get into {Industry} for that either \u2014 you wanted to {Task}.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s where I found myself last year. Endlessly fighting for customers, rarely ever getting to work on the stuff I loved. The stuff I was good at. The stuff I was excited to wake up to work on every day.<\/p>\n<p>I was frustrated. Wasn\u2019t there any way I could get new clients to find <em>me<\/em>\u00a0and reach out to <em>me<\/em>\u00a0instead?<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-star-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-star-tinified.png\" alt=\"Star Story Solution: Revised email star\" width=\"1600\" height=\"562\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I\u2019ve reframed the Star here quite a bit.<\/p>\n<p>I kept the subject line (though I did make the inclusivity tweak from salesman to salesperson) because I like how it sets up the email.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the subject line gives me the freedom to spread my storytelling wings a little bit here. Normally with cold email I\u2019d get in and out as quick as possible \u2014 but as I mentioned earlier in this article, since I\u2019m telling a story, I\u2019m not afraid of going a little longer because I know I\u2019m getting the recipient on the hook.<\/p>\n<p>I also <strong>added some hefty personalization to the Star section here<\/strong>. I felt it was important with the story to leave <em>no doubt<\/em>\u00a0about how the prospect could be in the Star\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n<p>So for the personalization section, <strong>I\u2019m hitting what I believe is the <\/strong><em><strong>actual<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0pain point of the prospect<\/strong>. I don\u2019t think their pain is not having a PR engine behind their social media, like the original email suggests.<\/p>\n<p>I believe their pain is: They started a service business doing something they loved and at which they excelled. But now, they spend far too much time grinding for customers rather than doing what they love.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, if this email was going to a copywriter, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/google-sheets-mail-merge\/\">mail merge tags on my Google Sheet<\/a>\u00a0might be: \u201cI\u2019m sure you didn\u2019t get into <strong>the writing business<\/strong>\u00a0for that either \u2014 you wanted to <strong>write brilliant copy<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And at the end of this revised Star section, I set up the journey. Now that I\u2019ve established the Star\u2019s problem, I <strong id=\"2-story-the-journey-uakd\">also frame the Solution I\u2019m after<\/strong>. My desired result is inbound leads, rather than all outbound sales work. That\u2019s what my Star is searching for during the Story.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Story: The Journey Through Failed Solutions and False Hope to an Epiphany<\/h2>\n<p>The Story portion of a Star Story Solution email needs to be just that: A story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stories are compelling because they have ups and downs<\/strong>. They have twists and turns. They have false triumphs and dark moments but, <strong>ultimately, our hero triumphs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to ignore all that when you\u2019re writing a cold email; after all, you\u2019re selling a B2B service, not writing the next <em>Divergent<\/em>\u00a0series.<\/p>\n<p>But you shouldn\u2019t neglect the most basic of storytelling beats. For your Story to work, it needs to be compelling \u2014 and <strong>for it to be compelling, it needs to hit the storytelling notes that our brains are programmed to love<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why a good Story section should often include:<\/p>\n<p><strong>The \u201cobvious\u201d solutions you tried<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 which failed you (much like <strong>your recipient has probably tried them with little success<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>solution that <\/strong><em><strong>really<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0seemed like it was going to work<\/strong>, but let you down just like all the others, leaving you feeling like the problem was <strong>hopeless<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>An <strong>epiphany<\/strong>, where you heroically discovered a new path. Whether this was a solution you came up with yourself or that you found through tireless effort, as the hero, <strong>you <\/strong><em><strong>earned<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0this epiphany through all the earlier struggles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Optionally, if it makes sense for the story, <strong>some early signs of success post-epiphany<\/strong>. You don\u2019t want to fully reveal the \u201cafter\u201d world yet \u2014 that comes in the Solution \u2014 but you may want to tease it.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"putting-together-the-uymo\">Putting together the Story portion of a cold email<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s the Story in the email I received, as well as the revisions I\u2019ve made.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"the-story-in-the-ori-whgf\">The Story in the original email I received<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Message:<\/strong>\u00a0It happened after I started working with this company, [redacted] and their PR kit. Take a moment and click on the button below. Watch the video and check out all the things this PR kit does.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-story-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-story-tinified.png\" alt=\"Original email story\" width=\"1600\" height=\"682\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>This isn\u2019t much of a story.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than take me on a journey, this email jumps right into telling me how \u201cit happened.\u201d From there, the emailer directs me to watch a video to learn about what the kit does.<\/p>\n<p>The email started with so much promise for storytelling \u2014 <strong>I thought I was going to get to see this journey from struggling to hiring a salesperson<\/strong>. Instead, they gave me the ending but haven\u2019t given me much else. I\u2019m left unfulfilled by this story. I\u2019m not relating to it. I\u2019m not hooked.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"my-rewrite-teuy\">My rewrite<\/h4>\n<p>I invested in a new website and SEO. No luck.<\/p>\n<p>I tried Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Spent a fortune, didn\u2019t have much to show for it.<\/p>\n<p>I even bit the bullet and a big time PR agency. They got my name out there\u2026 but no one was calling.<\/p>\n<p>Then, one day, when I was standing in line at the grocery store, a random thought popped into my head and I posted it on LinkedIn. Two hours later, I got a call. Someone who saw my post wanted to hire me. The next day, another call. Another client. Two clients from one sentence.<\/p>\n<p>I immediately started experimenting with social media. And I found the more reach my posts got, the more calls I got. So I tested every social media promotion tool on the planet. They all flopped.<\/p>\n<p>Until finally \u2014 <em>finally<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 I found the ONE that worked.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-story-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-3\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-story-tinified.png\" alt=\"Revised email story\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1130\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I\u2019m not doing anything revolutionary with the story here. I\u2019m merely telling it in a relatable way \u2014 probably <strong>hitting a lot of points on the journey my prospect has hit<\/strong>. I\u2019m giving my Star credibility.<\/p>\n<p>And then, I set up the perfect epiphany moment. The Star has <strong>unexpected success<\/strong>! But that\u2019s not the end of the Story. It\u2019s a <strong>false victory<\/strong>. Because while the Star has the victory, it\u2019s not sustainable.<\/p>\n<p>So the Story continues. Now the Star is trying to replicate the success from their grocery store post. But they\u2019re failing. All the tools are failing them. Until they find the one that works.<\/p>\n<p>And thanks to the <strong>story I\u2019ve told<\/strong>, thanks to the <strong>journey I\u2019ve presented<\/strong>, thanks to the <strong>credibility I\u2019ve acquired<\/strong>, thanks to the <strong>relatability I\u2019ve engendered<\/strong>\u00a0along the way \u2014 by the final sentence of the Story, <strong id=\"3-solution-the-mega-daar\">the reader trusts me when I say I found the one and only one solution<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what a good Story does in this type of cold email. Even if it takes extra words to get there.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Solution: The Mega Happy Ending That Solves Our Star\u2019s Problem Once and For All<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Solution section of the email is the big reveal<\/strong>: Our Star was down on their luck, went on a journey, had an epiphany, and now\u2026 the happy ending!<\/p>\n<p>In this section, you <strong>present the Solution that completely fixed the Star\u2019s problem and made their life (or, at least, their business life) significantly better<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The Solution section can take different forms, depending on how your story goes. You may want to include any of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hard numbers that show results<\/li>\n<li>A link to a case study<\/li>\n<li>A list of benefits (or other major benefits)<\/li>\n<li>Social proof<\/li>\n<li>A definition of success<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ultimately, <strong>you want the Solution section to be aspirational for your recipient<\/strong>. However you present the Solution \u2014 <strong>your recipient should crave <\/strong><em><strong>that<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0result for themselves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Your recipient is currently in the \u201cBefore\u201d world. The Solution is the \u201cAfter\u201d world. Make the \u201cAfter\u201d world so enticing that they can\u2019t resist working with you to get there.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"putting-together-the-nfep\">Putting together the Solution portion of a cold email<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s the Solution from the example email I received, as well as my rewritten version.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"the-solution-in-the-gctz\">The Solution in the original email I received<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Message: <\/strong>This is what they create (though a friend of mine shot the video).<\/p>\n<p>They have various programs available with which you can use this kit.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-solution-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-4\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-solution-tinified.png\" alt=\"Star Story Solution: Original email solution\" width=\"1600\" height=\"860\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Structurally, the Solution portion of this email are the two lines I\u2019ve highlighted here. Although really, they led with the Solution in their subject line and opening \u2014 the Solution is hiring a salesperson to handle all the inbound leads.<\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned earlier, I like that as a Solution. <strong>I wish they structured the email differently, so the solution was here, in its more logical place<\/strong>, at the end of the Story. But it\u2019s a good Solution.<\/p>\n<p>Needing to hire a salesperson is a compelling definition of success for the product this email is selling. Yes, the email takes a roundabout path to selling the product. But the cold emailer is striking a good chord with the Solution.<\/p>\n<p>He just didn\u2019t put it in the right spot.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"my-rewrite-fvst\">My rewrite<\/h4>\n<p>[redacted]\u2019s social media PR kit is a set of software tools I now use to promote my posts and grow my accounts. They use techniques I\u2019ve never seen anywhere else to find targeted followers, influencers, and audiences.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, it\u2019s gone so well, I had to hire a salesperson yesterday. Yes, had to. I\u2019ve been getting so many people reaching out about my services I couldn\u2019t keep up.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-solution-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-5\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-solution-tinified.png\" alt=\"Star Story Solution: Revised email solution\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1365\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>In my Solution, I reveal the software and <strong>give a quick description of what it is<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 something I felt was missing from the original email. I also give a one-sentence <strong>differentiator<\/strong>, which I felt was necessary in a competitive product field.<\/p>\n<p>And then I bust out the ultimate Solution line, about the salesperson. I\u2019m <strong>using it in the right spot here for maximum impact<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>(Though I got rid of the sentence from the original email where he says, \u201cTrue story.\u201d It\u2019s a personal thing, but I always avoid using lines like \u201ctrue story\u201d or \u201chonestly\u201d in my sales copy. I feel like that implies everything <em id=\"4-call-to-action-wit-pljq\">else<\/em>\u00a0you\u2019re saying might or might not have been honest.)<\/p>\n<h2>4. Call-to-Action: With the Problem Solved, Time to Close the Deal<\/h2>\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve told your story with a beginning, middle, and end, it\u2019s time to exit the storytelling world and jump fully into the sales copywriting world. You need to <strong>offer up a call-to-action so the email recipient knows what to do next<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>You can use any call-to-action technique here; whichever works best for you and your offer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Urgency and\/or scarcity are always best<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 as long as they\u2019re credible.<\/p>\n<p>You could always go with a more casual call-to-action, like asking someone to reply to learn more, or to schedule a meeting to discuss. (Or even to click a link to watch a video.)<\/p>\n<p>However, <strong>after a Star Story Solution email, you\u2019ve generally earned a bigger investment<\/strong>\u00a0from someone. They now know your story and feel like they know you a little better. You\u2019ve opened up to them. <strong>This is a situation where you can feel more emboldened to jump right to scheduling a sales call or a demo<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 you can skip the \u201cgetting to know you\u201d soft CTA step, since they already got to know you via the storytelling.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"putting-together-the-luhn\">Putting together the call-to-action portion of a cold email<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s the call-to-action from the example email plus my rewritten call-to-action.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"the-cta-in-the-origi-gfzu\">The CTA in the original email I received<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Message:<\/strong>\u00a0Call them and check it out for yourself. Ask for [redacted], he\u2019s the president and a friend ([redacted]). Tell him I recommend you.<\/p>\n<p>And \/ or, check out their service at the link below.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not often that I find something this effective. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been communicating so much about it to friends and associates.<\/p>\n<p>Note: At the risk of sounding like a used car salesman, on Friday the company told me that on May 1st, they are raising the price on the kind of social media kit I have from $400 to $499. $99 may or may not be a big deal to you, but wanted you to know.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-cta-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-6\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-bad-cta-tinified.png\" alt=\"Star Story Solution: Original email CTA\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1373\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>This email has a long call-to-action section. And it\u2019s not even the only call-to-action; earlier in the email, he encourages me to click to watch a video.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>CTA is too scattered<\/strong>\u00a0here. Am I supposed to watch the video, call this company and ask for his friend, or check out their services at the link below?<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, <strong>he wants me to take action soon<\/strong>\u00a0because he throws in the urgency-driven section about the price increase.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a salty old veteran of cold email, so I smell B.S. immediately here; it might work on some people however. (Though I suspect even he knows it\u2019s a weak attempt at creating urgency, which is why he distances himself from the bit with that \u201cused car salesman\u201d framing.)<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"my-rewrite-uypg\">My rewrite<\/h4>\n<p>Let\u2019s get <em>you<\/em>\u00a0on the path to hiring your own salesperson.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at <a href=\"#\">this site<\/a>\u00a0I set up. You can see a video there of everything the PR kit does and grab a time to chat with me on that same page.<\/p>\n<p>(Try to do it soon, too, [redacted] has raised their prices the past two summers so I\u2019m guessing it\u2019s going to jump again this year.)<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-cta-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-7\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-cta-tinified.png\" alt=\"Revised email CTA\" width=\"1465\" height=\"1600\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>I added a one-line transition to <strong>complete the jump from the Story being about the Star to being about the prospect<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 I tell the prospect I want to get <em>them<\/em>\u00a0their salesperson.<\/p>\n<p>Then, because I felt this product does require a video demo, I went with the landing page call-to-action. Here I\u2019ll send them to a page with a video demo along with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/calendly-zapier\/\">Calendly embed<\/a>\u00a0where they could book a meeting.<\/p>\n<p>I feel quite confident in my Star Story Solution copy, so much so that I might not even include an urgency trigger. However, since I\u2019m rewriting the email I received, <strong>I decided to stick with the original sender\u2019s plan and create a sense of urgency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>I aimed for urgency phrasing that felt more realistic and honest and less sales-y in mine; more of an \u201cinsider tip\u201d approach than the \u201cused car sales\u201d approach.<\/p>\n<p>Also: I\u2019d almost certainly use a <strong id=\"the-sequel-automated-vpml\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/cold-email-signature\/\">cold email signature<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0here. This email is just begging for a picture of you to really round out the story.<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cThe Sequel\u201d: Automated Follow-Up Ideas for Star Story Solution<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s an idea for your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/auto-follow-up-emails-until-reply\/\">automated follow-up messages<\/a>\u00a0to your Star Story Solution cold emails.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Give us the sequel \u2014 just minus the drama<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In your first follow-up, it\u2019s great if you can <strong>give evidence how you\u2019re continuing to thrive thanks to the Solution<\/strong>. Ideally, you\u2019re soaring to even greater heights.<\/p>\n<p>If you can give a quick \u201csequel\u201d story in your automated follow-up, you\u2019ll continue to reinforce the initial story \u2014 and continue to push the recipient to take action.<\/p>\n<p>So, using my example above, the emailer could send an automated follow-up like this:<\/p>\n<p>It just keeps working.<\/p>\n<p>Remember how I told you about the salesperson I hired? Even he\u2019s getting overwhelmed now too. April is going to be my biggest month ever \u2014 and May already looks like it\u2019s going to be bigger.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t worry. I have a very small list of clients I still want to work with, and I\u2019m leaving room for you and {BusinessName}. Grab a time here\u00a0(https:\/\/website.com) so we can talk!<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-autofollowup-tinified.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-8\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"star-story-solution-dxbk\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/sss-good-autofollowup-tinified.png\" alt=\"Auto follow up example\" width=\"1600\" height=\"883\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<h2>Star Story Solution Copywriting for Cold Email: Takeaway and Next Steps<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Star Story Solution copywriting method<\/strong>\u00a0is a cold email technique that uses traditional storytelling beats in a sales context to evoke a personal and emotional response.<\/p>\n<p>The method works best when you can <strong>describe your own journey<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 how <strong>you were once mired in the same problems as your recipient but found your way out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Star Story Solution breaks from most other cold email copywriting methods in that it\u2019s <strong>looser in structure<\/strong>, <strong>often goes longer<\/strong>, and gives <strong>much more room for improvisation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>However, when you <strong>tell a compelling story<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 and <strong>keep it personalized enough<\/strong>\u00a0that your recipient can truly put themselves in the shoes of the Star \u2014 it can be a <strong>fast way to forge a powerful, personal connection<\/strong>\u00a0with a new lead.<\/p>\n<p>To review, the elements of Star Story Solution are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Star<\/strong>. The main character of the story \u2014 generally you, serving as an avatar for the customer.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Story<\/strong>. Identify the problem your Star (and email recipient) is facing. Discuss the journey your Star took to fix the problem: The failed attempts, false hope, and then, the epiphany and discovery of the answer.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Solution<\/strong>. Share the one and only hard-earned solution to the problem.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>call-to-action<\/strong>. Now that you\u2019ve revealed the solution, give the recipient a chance to take action to get that solution for themselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, as is my tradition in my articles on copywriting techniques, <strong>I\u2019ll use Star Story Solution to explain why you should use GMass<\/strong>\u00a0as the cold email platform to send your Star Story Solution outreach campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>1,000 cold emails sent. 8% open rate. 2 replies. No leads.<\/p>\n<p>I couldn\u2019t believe it. It happened to me again.<\/p>\n<p>I was <strong>spending a fortune<\/strong>\u00a0on cold email software. It was <strong>too complicated<\/strong>\u00a0to teach my team or a VA, so I did everything myself. And after all that, my results weren\u2019t just bad. They didn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I felt trapped<\/strong>. Every time I wanted to switch to a different platform, it felt like I\u2019d have to learn a whole new complex system. And who even knew <strong>if they\u2019d have the features I wanted<\/strong>. Or if my emails would wind up in people\u2019s inboxes (I was pretty sure <strong>I was always going to spam<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>I asked everyone I knew in the sales world what they were using. And one name kept coming up over and over. Not from the people who always chase the trendiest new thing or who like to overspend their company\u2019s VC-funded budget. <strong>From the people I trust the most<\/strong>. The real pros.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGMass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I checked it out. OK, <strong>400,000+ active users\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0that\u2019s a good sign. <strong>4.8-star average<\/strong> across <strong>9,000+ reviews<\/strong>\u2026 that\u2019s a very good sign.<\/p>\n<p>So I gave it a shot.<\/p>\n<p>There was <strong>no learning curve<\/strong>. It <strong>worked right inside Gmail<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 I didn\u2019t have to learn any new software. Everything was intuitive and easy. My team could also learn it in minutes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Any feature I wanted, I found<\/strong>. Quick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/auto-follow-up-emails-until-reply\/\">automated follow-ups<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/features\/gmail-scheduling\">Scheduling<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/recurring-automated-email-campaigns-gmail-sheets\/\">Recurring campaigns<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/features\/ab-testing-gmail\">A\/B testing<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/features\/reporting\">Full analytics<\/a>. I could even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/you-can-now-send-10000-emails-with-gmass-and-gmail\/\">break Gmail\u2019s sending limits<\/a>\u00a0if I wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>And\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/cheapest-cold-email\/\">GMass cost so much less<\/a>\u00a0than my old, expensive cold email software.<\/p>\n<p>But the real test would come when I sent my emails. The <strong>deliverability was everything<\/strong>. GMass says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/features\/deliverability-optimization\">99% of users report the best deliverability they\u2019ve ever had<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and I get why. The <strong>emails go through Google\u2019s servers<\/strong>. They have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/spam-solver-tweaks-emails\/\">Spam Solver<\/a>\u00a0that catches problems before your campaigns go out. They gave me a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/tracking-domain\/\">custom tracking domain<\/a>\u00a0with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/tracking-domain\/\">free SSL<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I had to see it in action myself though.<\/p>\n<p>The results? 1,000 cold emails sent. 42% open rate. 48 replies. More than two dozen leads. My calendar was full for the next two weeks straight.<\/p>\n<p>And you can <strong>get started on a free trial of GMass with no credit card required<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 you don\u2019t even have to fill out a form. Just <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/gmass-powerful-mail-merge\/ehomdgjhgmbidokdgicgmdiedadncbgf\">download the Chrome extension<\/a>\u00a0and you\u2019ll be up and running in minutes. (The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/quickstart-guide\">quickstart guide<\/a>\u00a0can also walk you through the initial steps if you want).<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll be <strong>sending your first Star Story Solution cold email campaign in minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Star Story Solution formula is likely the most storytelling-driven cold email copywriting strategy\u00a0you\u2019ll ever use. Fortunately, storytelling can be an incredibly\u00a0effective sales technique \u2014 when it\u2019s done\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":22956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5428,9155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cold-email","category-email-copywriting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Star Story Solution is a copywriting strategy for cold email that uses a first-person story about solving a problem (one the recipient themselves has).\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Star Story Solution is a copywriting strategy for cold email that uses a first-person story about solving a problem (one the recipient themselves has).\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GMass Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GmailMailMerge\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-28T23:21:11+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T19:20:23+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/sss-feat-tinified.png\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2002\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"934\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sam Greenspan\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GMassForGmail\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GMassForGmail\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sam Greenspan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"24 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sam Greenspan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de82c1ac2f78713b569bb57bfb313c98\"},\"headline\":\"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-28T23:21:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T19:20:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":4848,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/sss-feat-tinified.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cold Email\",\"Email Copywriting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/sss-feat-tinified.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-28T23:21:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T19:20:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de82c1ac2f78713b569bb57bfb313c98\"},\"description\":\"Star Story Solution is a copywriting strategy for cold email that uses a first-person story about solving a problem (one the recipient themselves has).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/sss-feat-tinified.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/sss-feat-tinified.png\",\"width\":2002,\"height\":934},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/star-story-solution\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"GMass Blog\",\"description\":\"Tips and tricks for sending mail merge and mass email campaigns directly from Gmail\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de82c1ac2f78713b569bb57bfb313c98\",\"name\":\"Sam Greenspan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/544dc4a3d6b96b537586cdde9d818feb8f0de187faed221fdb0dee3a356bf41a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/544dc4a3d6b96b537586cdde9d818feb8f0de187faed221fdb0dee3a356bf41a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/544dc4a3d6b96b537586cdde9d818feb8f0de187faed221fdb0dee3a356bf41a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sam Greenspan\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gmass.co\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/sam_greenspan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)","description":"Star Story Solution is a copywriting strategy for cold email that uses a first-person story about solving a problem (one the recipient themselves has).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)","og_description":"Star Story Solution is a copywriting strategy for cold email that uses a first-person story about solving a problem (one the recipient themselves has).","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/","og_site_name":"GMass Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GmailMailMerge\/","article_published_time":"2023-04-28T23:21:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-13T19:20:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2002,"height":934,"url":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/sss-feat-tinified.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sam Greenspan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GMassForGmail","twitter_site":"@GMassForGmail","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sam Greenspan","Est. reading time":"24 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/"},"author":{"name":"Sam Greenspan","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de82c1ac2f78713b569bb57bfb313c98"},"headline":"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)","datePublished":"2023-04-28T23:21:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-13T19:20:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/"},"wordCount":4848,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/sss-feat-tinified.png","articleSection":["Cold Email","Email Copywriting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/","name":"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/sss-feat-tinified.png","datePublished":"2023-04-28T23:21:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-13T19:20:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de82c1ac2f78713b569bb57bfb313c98"},"description":"Star Story Solution is a copywriting strategy for cold email that uses a first-person story about solving a problem (one the recipient themselves has).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/sss-feat-tinified.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/sss-feat-tinified.png","width":2002,"height":934},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/star-story-solution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Star Story Solution Copywriting Formula for Cold Email (Tips, Templates)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/","name":"GMass Blog","description":"Tips and tricks for sending mail merge and mass email campaigns directly from Gmail","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de82c1ac2f78713b569bb57bfb313c98","name":"Sam Greenspan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/544dc4a3d6b96b537586cdde9d818feb8f0de187faed221fdb0dee3a356bf41a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/544dc4a3d6b96b537586cdde9d818feb8f0de187faed221fdb0dee3a356bf41a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/544dc4a3d6b96b537586cdde9d818feb8f0de187faed221fdb0dee3a356bf41a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sam Greenspan"},"url":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/author\/sam_greenspan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22941"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26054,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22941\/revisions\/26054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}