From last few days, I have been asked; will social media mean the death of email marketing? Then let me reply you a big NO.
Email marketing remains one of the most effective and commonly used marketing tools for small businesses. In a May 2012 survey for small businesses, more than 73% of respondents claimed to use email marketing, with the majority reporting it to be a highly effective tactic for customer acquisition.
In addition, if you are making waves on social media; then honestly speaking, amalgamating your social media with email marketing can take your business to the top of the mountain. Truly speaking, the duo can work together like Batman and Robin and can save your business from all the negative bullets.
In short, email marketing and social media marketing are the two important parts of one business. Social media is just one of the many tools at your disposal and it makes a great complement (not replacement) to other marketing tactics that work for you. Especially email marketing. In fact, you can’t really talk about social media marketing without highlighting the importance of email marketing.
Why to Integrate?
Including and promoting social sharing or share with your network options in an email are important for the following reasons:
- They extend the reach of your emails: The more people share your email, the more potential you have for opens, clicks and conversions.
- They allow you to identify key influencers: Most email service providers (ESPs) include metrics on who has shared your emails the most often, as well as the effect their sharing has had on other key stats (opens, clicks, conversions, etc.). Armed with this data, you—the marketer—can be better informed as to who your key influencers are. If appropriate, you can then send dedicated campaigns to your biggest supporters.
- They provide an opportunity for list growth: The more eyeballs on your emails, the better chance you have of gaining new subscribers.
How to Integrate?
Making social media work with email marketing isn’t automatic and it’s not easy. It requires careful planning and content management. Yes—many email service providers offer what they describe as “social media integration” and this works well for many people with smaller lists and smaller budgets.
However, for the larger business with a bigger digital footprint, integration requires more effort plus a deeper and more detailed strategy. Let’s say you’re a large company and you have a strong digital marketing platform that includes:
- 1,000,000 Facebook Likes
- 2,000 Twitter followers
- 4,000,000 email addresses
Now What? – Continue Building the Platform??
The numbers above are excellent and admirable, but let’s remember—the company with the largest database of engaged followers has a huge advantage over the competition. So here we go with 5 killing tips to use the deadly duo.
- Use email to encourage people and give them an incentive to “Like” you on Facebook and follow you on Twitter.
- Use your Facebook platform to persuade people to sign up for the email database – and let them know you’re also on Twitter.
- Use Twitter to encourage followers to engage with you via email and Facebook.
- Include “Re-tweet This!” Snippet in Email
- Send a dedicated email campaign: There are times when including some links or buttons – asking your subscribers to socially connect or share with their network – is not clear enough. If you are not having much success, try sending an email that is dedicated to a particular social network.
- Use your email list to “jump-start” your social media presence: Your blog should be the gate way to your agency. This is the place where you want to generate a consistent flow of targeted traffic. The use of your email list to send your email newsletter will provide you with a spike in your blog’s traffic, as you introduce those on your list to your rich, helpful content.
They’re Both Precious!
It’s best when you can get someone to opt-in to email and connect through one or more social channels. That’s because email is still the best way to get your message heard and social media is the best way to get your message spread.
