Use Your Email Universe to Generate Your Social Followers

Email Marketing and Social Media marketing are like parallel universes. The most effective marketing strategies are multi-dimensional – they reach into every corner of the web multiverse.

It’s not a question of whether email marketing is more effective than social media marketing, or vice-versa – the question is how to link the two universes to extend influence.

If you’re not already supplementing your email campaign with social media links, consider the following:

Sheer size

As of the first quarter of 2016, Facebook had 1.65 billion monthly active users.

Higher engagement rate

Social media lets you interact with your audience in a more engaging environment than email. It’s an effective mid-funnel channel with one purpose: To boost higher conversion rates.

The power of sharing

Email isn’t often shared with friends or colleagues, whereas social media is all about sharing. Let’s say that your social media content was shared by a few hundred people who collectively have 10,000 followers. Those shares reached 100,000 followers that may have shared it again… Suddenly your universe is expanding.

Best of all

When your message is shared by someone’s friend it carries more weight and increases the level of trust.

Social Media Examiner points out two slightly different aspects of the integration process: Sharing and Connecting.

Social Sharing is when you include an option for the subscriber to share the entire email or a specific content block with their social network(s).

Social Connection means asking your email subscribers to like your Facebook page, follow you on Twitter, subscribe to your YouTube channel, etc.

Here are just a few practical ways to link your email universe to your social media channels:

• Start by including sharing buttons in your mail. Make them bold, clear and unmissable. Don’t be afraid to tell people what they’re supposed to do with those buttons either – and keep it as lighthearted as possible.
• Offer incentives. Providing a good reason to share your message will be more effective than just asking. Offer discounts, free resources or something useful in exchange for the favor.
• Add social sharing links to your email signature or email footnote as a standard feature. The more often it’s seen, the more clicks it will get.
• The links go both ways – so make use of the integration features on Facebook, Twitter and all the other social networks to tie back in with your mail marketing. This useful article from Buffer walks you through how to do that. This lets you grow your subscriber list even further.

Social Media Marketing is more than just a temporary fad. And it’s set to keep growing.

Make sure you’re using a marketing tool that lets you leverage your email universe to grow your social media following.