E-mail + Social Media = Results
by Lauren Amundsen

There can be no doubt for email marketers that email strategies for 2010 must include social media. While only 13% of email marketers used integrated social media campaigns so far in 2009, 46% said they will do so by the year's end.1 And why not? There is money to be made by using social media networks. ReadWriteWeb reports that Facebook visits rose 194% this year and Twitter is up a staggering 1170%; LinkedIn users are getting younger while Facebookers are getting older.2 Your customers, your kids, your spouse, your co-workers, and even your Great Aunt Edna are Facebooking, Tweeting, Digging, and Linking In like never before.

So what does this mean for your brand? Members of social media sites follow and discuss their favourite brands and businesses, creating online networks that span the globe. Products are released, consumed, and reviewed for all to see, and your email plan for the year ahead should take this rapid turnaround into account.

A few tips on smooth integration of email and social media:

• A "Share to Network" button is the simplest way to put your email content onto a customer's personal network page. Marketers using one particular ESP's "Share" tool have reported that one-quarter of email newsletters posted to social media sites resulted in extra traffic. Bill McCloskey of ClickZ tracked the trend and found that in 2007, less than 1,000 marketing emails had links to either Facebook or Twitter, but in 2009, more than 80,000 did.
• Send the email newsletter directly to your brand's social networking pages to ensure all customers are receiving (whenever possible) the same discounts, coupon codes, and goodies available in the email newsletter. In the world of real-time social media, hurt feelings travel fast. And if you are monitoring your brand name like you should be, you'll be aware of any negative tweets, posts, or blog posts that still occur.
• Include links to your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter stream, etc. in your newsletters. Conversely, ensure that these social media pages have links to the corporate website. Maybe your first 500 Twitter followers get $5 off their next purchase; to claim the coupon, they click the link to the corporate website and enter their email address. Sears tried this tactic with tremendous success.
• When you send your permission-based email newsletter with links to all of your social media pages, remember that those who opt in again by following your tweets or becoming a friend on LinkedIn are doubly self-selected. They will likely be much more attuned to your profile and products than the average customer.
• Consider mentioning your local branches in the newsletter, then, add links to individual social media pages for each location. Whole Foods is an excellent example of this idea, with local Twitter pages alerting followers to in-store specials.