Integrating Email & Social Media for Effective Marketing in 2019 

Email marketing, a decade old practice, is still as useful as ever before. Though you might feel that users are now more addicted to social media, but they haven’t stopped reading emails.

Everyone uses emailing for varied purposes. And so, the marketers must target this channel for getting more business.

Conversely, even researches on social media trends indicate that social media is a part of daily routine for almost everybody. Brands are also fully aware of the potential of social media for a wide outreach.

If this confuses you on whether to use social media or email marketing for effective brand management, you must accept that choosing either of the channels exclusively is not the solution. It is the combination of both that can bring in the desired results.

So, 2019 is going to be about Omni-channel marketing.

And, how do you do that effectively?

1. Share Social Media Links on Emails

Have you tried this? Start a story on email but don’t conclude it there. Instead, post a ‘read more’ link to your social media page. The interested user will click on this link which will take him to your social media page. So, this is how you can increase your social media followers through the email marketing channel.

Isn’t this also a good way to identify the users who are interested in your content? Won’t this also help you assess what type of content drives more engagement?

But, you have already been including social media links to the footer of your emails. Though, this hasn’t brought in much user flow to your social media pages. So, what could be going wrong with the tactic?

Now, this is one of the biggest mistakes made by email marketers. Customers are accustomed to ignoring the clichéd content in the email footers! So, believe me, they won’t even notice your social media links in this part of the email.

Don’t panic! The solution is easy. You must include the social media links naturally as a part of the email content. It can do wonders! And, if the user likes your content, he will follow these links to engage with you on social media.

2. Invite User Feedback

You will find some users who have chosen to subscribe to your email lists but don’t follow your social media activity. Ever wondered why is it so? Can we answer this conclusively? Why not ask the users directly, instead!

Feedback is an integral part of any strategy implementation. Without feedback, we could go terribly wrong and still continue to keep doing the same. This is the reason why all marketers crave for feedback. But, how do you take feedback from those users who aren’t actively following you on social media anyway?

You can send emails to your users asking them why they don’t follow you on social media. An open-ended questionnaire can help you get significant insights. The responses can also help you evaluate what kind of content you should share on social media.

Even if the user doesn’t respond, it is a great way of showing that you care about their presence on your social media profiles. And never know, that could even prompt the user to join you on social media!

And, if the user is accessing your mail and filling this feedback, you are assured that your email marketing campaign is going on absolutely as intended.

3. Invite Users to Subscribe to Your Mailing Lists

One of the biggest problems with email marketing is to identify the right users. Once such users are identified, you can easily create mailing lists to target these users.

While you have already included a subscribe option on your website, the challenge is how to get your users to your website. And, then a subsequent challenge is to make them subscribe to your mailing list.

But, social media helps you overcome these challenges. If you post something engaging, you can get your content shared on social media by not just the users who are following you, but also those who happen to see your content shared by other users.

So, this is where you can include a call-to-action, asking your users to subscribe to your email lists. Those who like your content would not mind subscribing to your emails. And, the best part is that only the interested users are expected to subscribe to your email lists. So, the ROI is better. And, this will ensure that your email marketing gives the desired results.

Once you have a list of subscribed users, the trending email marketing tactics can bring more engagement for your brand.

4. Multi-Channel Contests

Have you ever tried running contests on social media? This is one of the best ways to get more user engagement. Users love to compete with each other on social media. Tempting prizes add to the motivation. Ask yourself! Don’t you wait for such social media contests?

And, if you are making emails a part of this contest, you can increase your email audience as well.

You just have to send emails inviting your users to participate in the contest. After they start following you on social media, share engaging content which will encourage them to share it with their friends.

Contests are fun and can incite a very high level of engagement from the users. And, you can make them multi-channel in simple ways. So, why not try it now?

Conclusion

Social media and email marketing are like two sides of the same coin for marketing. You have to use both the sides to make the coin effective for your brand.

A balanced marketing attempt through both the channels is like spinning the coin. Like equal probability of getting a head or a tail, whether email marketing gets more business or social media does, is never certain till you actually complete the task. But, you can be sure that at least one of these will bring good results.

So, don’t miss either of the channels. Using them in combination is the perfect marketing strategy.

I have shared some simple ideas for a combination of email and social media marketing. If you have any experiences, of using these two channels together, do share it with us!

Author Bio

Jin Markov is an experienced Content Writer with GoodFirms.co, a research firm in the USA. He writes on areas related to social media marketing. His quest for knowledge makes him a lifelong learner who loves to experiment with varied subjects.