Email marketing is a tried and true marketing strategy and one of the most effective forms of advertising available. It’s also a highly diverse medium, lending itself to nonprofit work of small entities and efforts of large businesses.
The one thing about email marketing that could be considered a slight con, however, is that it’s entirely email-based. This means that it’s not always easy to spread the word if something piques a reader’s interest. As well, readers may prefer to move on with their day rather than copy/paste information to their Facebook.
There is a solution, however — a way to have your metaphorical email marketing cake and eat it, too.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing refers to marketing efforts that take place on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. These sites boast billions of visitors per month and can dramatically spread the exposure of a brand or campaign.
The best thing about social media is that posting to one network also tends to make it incredibly easy for followers to read and share the information to other networks. Most social media websites have integration to help make this kind cross-posting a breeze.
It’s worth noting, of course, that traditional social media marketing strategy does not tend to utilize emails. Instead, the campaign is run entirely upon social media channels. This means that social media marketers might be missing out on reaching those people who avoid social media and place more emphasis on their email inbox.
The Best of Both Worlds
The question that I pose to you now, of course, is the following: why can’t we have both? Who says that social media marketing and email marketing can’t be combined to create an incredible hybrid of a campaign?
When you marry social media and email marketing strategies, you create an interactive and responsive campaign that takes place over a variety of mediums. This increases its appeal dramatically, and its ability to draw in an incredible number of potential customers.
Think about how often you make an online purchase. What does your normal process look like? Personally, I tend to first read reviews from a variety of sources. Next, I like to visit the social media profiles of the particular company/brand to see what kind of presence they have. I always feel infinitely more comfortable when I see a savvy business that makes great use of their social media channels.
Being able to handle both social media marketing and email marketing is a talent, and one that, at the very least, gives off the impression that the company in question has their act together.
Upload Subscriber Lists
One way to combine your email marketing campaign with social media marketing strategy is to upload your subscriber lists to Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook. This helps you to put a face to the name, and also gives you the opportunity to learn a little bit more about your readers.
Retarget Email Subscribers
Retargeting email subscribers is a great (and easy!) way to meld the worlds of email and social media marketing. This allows you to show ads to individuals who clicked through your email on social media websites like Facebook. This is super effective because the individuals you retarget are already interested in what you’re offering; the ad on their social media channel only reinforces their interest.
Reuse & Recycle Your Content
If you already have content that has proved very popular in your emails, consider repurposing it! Turn that content into social media posts, and allow them to reach a new audience. You can, of course, do the opposite: if you already have great social media content but want to integrate email marketing into your campaign, take that Facebook post and turn it into an email.
Social media marketing and email marketing are perfect compliments. Use them in conjunction to appeal to broader audience groups and to increase your overall brand exposure!
