Social Media & Email Marketing Integration Part 3: Ways to Integrate

To succeed in digital marketing today, email marketers must work in tandem with social media managers to create the ultimate digital customer experience. Why? According to research by the marketing agency Merkle, 42 percent of social media users actually check their email four times a day, whereas only 24 percent non-social media users do the same. This presents a huge opportunity for email marketers to grow their databases.

In “Social Media & Email Marketing Integration Part 2: How to Get Started,” we outlined three strategies email marketers can use to improve their email results by listening to customers, adding value and engaging in meaningful communication. Here, we expand upon that list:

Encourage Sharing

Always add social sharing buttons to every email. And the more buttons, the better: A recent study by GetReponse showed that emails that included three or more social sharing icons generated 28 percent more click-throughs than emails with just one icon and 55 percent more click-throughs than emails with no icons.

Loren McDonald, Silverpop vice president of industry relations, says marketers should be deliberate in designing their emails with sharing in mind. He explains, “Design the emails from the subject line to the offer, the copy and the sharing link placement to encourage sharing – particularly from your most influential sharers.”

On the social media side, be on the lookout for social media content that can be shared by email. Consider highlighting a “Fan of the Month,” featuring the social conversations generating the most buzz or alerting your email subscribers to contest winners or promotions you hosted on your social networks.

Target Your Messages to Your Audiences

Don’t just assume a social media follower is the same as an email subscriber. Wilton, maker of baking accessories, nearly made this mistake – but stopped itself just in time.

Wilton’s newsletter subscribers are typically highly engaged consumers; they’ve usually taken one or more in-person cake or cookie decorating classes and own many Wilton products. Wilton had assumed its Facebook fans were similar. But after carefully monitoring Facebook conversations, it realized that wasn’t the case. The company’s Facebook fans tended to be more casual in their interests. So while email newsletter subscribers devoured lots of hands-on, how-to information, Facebook fans were less experienced with Wilton products and reacted well to new product promotions.

Measure and Tweak

As with all email marketing, success seldom happens overnight. So don’t be discouraged if it takes a while to gain traction. Rather, focus on learning everything you can. See which messages get reposted or shared most often, and use that insight to create new messages that encourage even more sharing. See what you can learn from your most active sharers, and work hard to give them more of the content they are most likely to repost. Then keep plugging away!

Ultimately, the goal of any marketing strategy is to engage with your prospects and add relevant value. By integrating email and social media, you’re encouraging your readers to continue the conversation with their peers – expanding your reach and magnifying your efforts.

Get social with TowerData! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Photo Credit: Barbara Krawcowicz