Editorial Articles

Kristin Hersant, VP of Corporate Marketing at StrongMail explains the importance of an integrated approach to email and social media

Ever since people began flocking to Facebook and Twitter, marketers have been trying to find ways to leverage social media channels to acquire new customers and convince existing ones to buy more. Giants in the retail space initially piloted the trend by offering exclusive coupons on Twitter and Facebook. Eventually this led to every major company having a Facebook page and Twitter feed, and email marketers began sharing links to their emails.

The question remains, is it wise to integrate your email and social media marketing? Yes. Here are five reasons why:

The early numbers back it up. One study noted that click-through rates improved from 7.2% to 8.7% when a social sharing option was included. Another reported that a clear majority of email marketing firms found that marketing results were better after integrating social media and email.

Integration expands an email list to interested parties. People sign up for e-mails from Facebook and other social media sites, which of course increase the chance that they will read your material.

Integration expands the ways in which people can interact with you. The goal of most marketing is direct interaction with a potential customer. With integration, the reader of your latest email can go to Facebook and join a conversation, and someone else in that conversation can find out more about your product via email. And both are just one step away from your website, which is where most conversions happen.

Integration helps to refine your message. When you have to make sure your Facebook posts, emails, and website complement each other, you are more likely to stay “on message.” In other words, it’s a good communications strategy.

Integration fulfils two key marketing needs at once. Email engages potential customers directly while social media nurtures brand advocacy. Integrating them helps customers seamlessly pass from the one to the other.

Although there’s little doubt that email and social media integration will eventually become the norm (some would say it is already), no one (to my knowledge) has come up with really compelling statistics to back up its effectiveness. The industry as a whole is, for the most part, still in “anecdote mode” when it comes to integrating email marketing and social media marketing. However, it is safe to say that social is not killing email; they are not natural foes, but rather complementary channels that work hand in hand with their own strengths helping amplify the benefits of each.