Some things just work better together. Peanut butter and jelly, fish and chips, the United Kingdom (well, perhaps the jury is out on that one until after the Scottish Referendum next week). In online marketing circles, email marketing and social media are near perfect bedfellows.
Despite many social media pundits initially dismissing email marketing as an outdated technology, it’s hard to imagine the two more complimentary mediums. Some of these pundits are now even suggesting that email was the very first (albeit closed) social network.
Both email and social media share many similarities.
They are both extremely cost efficient, two-way communication channels which help you distribute content (with the potential to go viral), retain and strengthen existing relationships and maximize customer lifetime value (CLV).
But it is perhaps the differences between email and social which make them work so well together.
Email Marketing
Email provides a formal business environment where people are happy to receive relevant, engaging and timely marketing messages and services, host importnat conversations, store transactional receipts and send invoices. The email marketing inbox is very much a place of work.
Although social media shares many of the attributes of email (permission, relevance, etc.), it offers a less formal environment and therefore is less welcoming to direct sales an marketing pitches.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a place where friends and family get together to hold conversations and share ideas and memories. If you can compare the email inbox to an office environment, social media is more like a bar or coffee shop, a place to hang out and not be bothered by people trying to sell you something.
Social media does not provide the formal environment required to position itself as a highly valuable sales venue. It is however, a valuable influencer and will help keep your audience engaged until you have something to sell.
First Steps to Building a Cohesive Strategy
Many marketers are now integrating their email and social media marketing efforts to help spread their message beyond the reach of their list of email marketing subscribers and social media followers.
As birds of a feather flock together, a socially shared email has the opportunity to reach a massive, potentially receptive audience. In an ideal world you will have the same people following you on social media channels as you do in your email marketing list.
Learn how to build a cohesive email, social media and content marketing strategy by registering for this special Viralheat webinar on September 22.
Photo credit: Annie Mole
