What is Social Email?
If managed properly, social email exchanges information between your email marketing database and social media sites to help serve your subscribers just their cup of tea.
Social Email Definition
Social email combines social media with email data to increase email relevance, improve targeting effectiveness, enhance overall engagement and drive online sales.
Don’t confuse your social media pages with your subscribers’ social media playground. The two concepts are subtly different.
Social sharing links (links that represent your subscribers’ social circle: send to a friend, share this, and like) invite email subscribers to share their inbox content with their friends and colleagues. Header and footer sections of your emails should weave share links into regularly featured content, limited time discount offers, sneak peeks at anticipated new products, and exclusive gifts for the sharer to engage interest and clicks.
Email sign-up forms on your social media pages further feed your subscriber list. Along with a personalized welcome campaign, you can optimize expectations, solidify your email relationship and collect the type of data that will help you continue to engage your subscribers.
Do you have a blog? If so integrate your email with your blog as much as you can so that both your readers and Google are happy. Read more about how blogging and email are joined at the hip.
Segmentation – Divide Your Social Email List
Socially engaged email subscribers are frequently among a brand’s most valuable customers. What are you waiting for? Get started! A true social email campaign — one that matches content with a subscriber’s social preference and activity — needs a segmented list. The information you collect will continue to help you increase loyalty and customer value over the lifecycle of your brand’s product or service.
Consummate email subscribers will continually share your messages with their social circle. Single out these customers through behavior tracking and reward them with double discount coupons, free accessory vouchers, VIP event invitations, special drawings and completely free merchandise. Make them honorary members of your sales force!
Follow Us – Add Social Icons to Your Email Template
Place social icons at the top and foremost section of your email template, link them to your social media pages (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, your Blog…), and dress them up as calls to action. Turn the very concept of sharing content into a singular campaign that introduces your social sites, invites subscribers to visit and connect, and tells of the various benefits your subscribers will derive from visiting. The stronger the incentive in your social email, the more motivated your subscribers will be to click and visit.
Keep on Truckin’ with Your Social Media Email Campaigns
You can’t expect to send out a newsletter with one social link and fill a football stadium with followers. Like everything in life, sharing results will take time. But don’t despair… hang in there and you may ultimately master the art of the effective social media email campaign and reap the benefits that lie within.