As Facebook launches its ‘social inbox’, marketing technology specialist, E-Village reminds email marketers that email marketing and social media both have a place in the marketing mix.
The company, which created CRM-based digital marketing tool Clang (www.createaclang.com), has launched a white paper, ‘Why email marketers should embrace social media’, available to download for free.
The move comes as the profiles of communities such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn continue to grow, resulting in suggestions that email is outdated and no longer a tool to be taken seriously. E-Village points to the facts that show otherwise:
• Email now accounts for 17 percent of digital marketing budget, up from 14 percent in 2009. (Econsultancy’s Email Marketing Industry Census 2010).
• 36 percent of consumers are prompted into making an online purchase as a result of receiving an email, and 27 percent report that an email was the cause of an offline purchase. (Econsultancy, ‘How We Shop in 2010: Habits and Motivations of UK Consumers’).
However, in addition to email marketing, E-Village believes that consumers also expect their favourite brands to have a social media profile.
Rogier van der Veen, UK business development manager for Clang, explains: “The enduring effectiveness of email marketing does not mean that digital marketers should regard social media as ‘hype’ or just the latest fad of which consumers will soon tire. Rather they should be considered as powerful tools that complement each other in the ongoing quest for customer engagement.”
The E-Village white paper looks at the advantages and limitations of the two channels, and reminds marketers that effective communication involves innovation and integration.
It also offers the following tips for implementing a strategy that ensures email marketing and social media are working together for maximum effectiveness:
• Define realistic goals and devise a strategy that will enable these to be met. Ensure these are understood throughout the organisation.
• Be present on social networks, following and contributing to relevant discussions, etc (but always remembering to keep the tone ‘non-salesy’).
• Ensure the email marketing platform enables integration, making it easy for recipients to share some or all of the content via social networks.
• Create accessible processes, for example by embedding ‘sharing icons’ in emails that encourage recipients to also follow on Twitter, post on Facebook, etc. Equally, make it easy for people finding the website via a social media site to sign up to the newsletter, for example.
• Engage with followers and fans on social media sites by actively asking for feedback, such as requesting their participation in the selection of topics to be covered in the email newsletter.
• Remember that there is no substitute for compelling content when it comes to engaging an audience, whether they are email recipients, Twitter followers or Facebook fans.
The full version of the white paper is available to download from: http://www.createaclang.com/en/Downloads/
www.e-village.eu