Email marketing and social media should be integrated
October 12th, 2011
A social media campaign supported by email marketing is a great way of increasing traffic to a company website.
Research by Experian CheetahMail suggests the average company has 32 times more contacts on their email list than they have Facebook fans.
Email as the foundation of a social campaign is therefore crucial, according to Experian, which also found adding the word Facebook to the subject of email marketing can increase site traffic.
Six in ten companies that sent such correspondence reported a 27 per cent rise in website visitor numbers the week after it was sent.
Dwell time on websites also went up after a social media campaign, Experian said.
The benefits of integrating email marketing with social media were also highlighted by Econsultancy analyst Sam Dwyer.
He claimed nearly eight in ten mobile users who check emails on their devices also visit social networking sites regularly.
"The rewards for integration that generates engagement across multiple touchpoints are steep," he wrote on the Econsultancy blog.
Mr Dwyer also said that adding links to social media in emails – and vice versa – is not enough to successfully integrate the platforms.
"It also means designing compelling multi-channel campaigns," he added.
Small businesses and email marketing
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who rely on email marketing should tailor the content of their messages to the target audience, according to Gareth Case, head of marketing at tech firm ONI.
Writing on Social Media Today, he said personalisation should go beyond the addition of the recipient's name at the top of the email.
"With a good knowledge of your customers' needs and wants, your emails should render dynamic content based on the segment of people you are sending it to," Mr Case said, adding that CRM (customer relationship management) plays a key role in doing this effectively.
More ContentPlus email marketing tips for SMEs:
The importance of mobile in email marketing
How to communicate in email marketing
Email as a solution to small marketing budgets
What do you think?