Using Social Marketing and Email Campaigns to Increase your ROI
If you are anything like the average marketer, you are probably more experienced with your email campaigns than you are with social media marketing. That is okay because these two channels are a perfect match. In fact, sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can help you acquire more subscribers, while your existing marketing platform can help you build your following in the social world. It is a win-win in many aspects, but this article will introduce three simple ways social networking can be used to boost the ROI for email campaigns.
1. Make Your Email Content Sharable
Sharing has become a common activity on the web, providing an easy way for articles, video and various other types of content to “go viral”. The popularity of social networking has extended the sharing concept to the email platform, and creating this environment in your marketing message is easier than ever before. ESPs are increasingly rolling out features that make it simple for readers to share your content in their social communities. According to a recent study conducted by Marketing Sherpa, sharing buttons increase subscriber interaction for email campaigns by as much as 25% and greatly increase traffic coming in from social networking traffics. This could be traffic that helps you rack up conversions in the form of more subscribers and sales.
2. Include Social Call to Actions
Implementing sharing buttons is not the only way social networking can boost the ROI for your email campaigns. Another method that will help you increase your return involves simply including links to all your online hangouts in your message. Links such as “Connect with Us on Facebook” or “Follow Me on Twitter” will act as call to actions that let subscribers know that you want to connect with them via other channels. The more subscribers that bite, the larger your audience in the social networks. This also gives you the opportunity to introduce your email subscribers to special offers and other exclusive content that is reserved for your social following, putting your products or services in front of more potential customers.
3. Commit to Cross-Channel Promotions
No social email marketing strategy can succeed without dedication to cross-channel promoting. Doing simple things such as reminding Facebook fans, MySpace friends, and Twitter followers about your newsletter and other email content can only benefit your marketing efforts in the end. Integrating these two channels is all about promoting brand awareness and building relationships, so the more you cross-promote, the more you put your business out there, and the better chance you have of making an impact. The nature of social media makes ROI difficult to measure, but the overall results are obvious when consumers in this channel start spending and advocating on behalf of your brand, neither of which can happen without a dedicated effort.
The key to succeeding with social-email integration is producing content others want to share and understanding how todays consumers want to be engaged. Between valuable content, easy sharing capabilities, and diligent cross-promotional efforts, this is one marriage that can help you increase ROI, and keep your business soaring high.
