5 ways email and social can help each other out

If you’re reading this, you likely already know how great email is as a channel. So, how can you link up with other channels in your arsenal to spread that success, and gain some other insights? Another leading marketing channel you should be learning from is social media. Starting out as a bit of fun, a way to stay up to date on old friends and share your holiday pics in one go, social media is now a crucial channel for businesses to drive revenue and increase engagement. As of January 2022, there are 3.96 billion total social media users across all platforms. The average time adults worldwide spend on social media is higher than ever at 147 minutes per day. And social media is continuing to evolve, with new kid on the block TikTok being the most downloaded social media app of 2021. It’s certainly a channel to take seriously. Marketing is vast, some of us work across all channels, others are specialists in one or two. However your team is set up, cross-channel marketing is where it’s at. In this blog we’re going to share five key ways you can make your email marketing campaigns and social media marketing work together to improve both channel’s impact.

1. Add links to your social profiles in your email marketing campaigns

This is a quick, easy, and completely free way to get your email recipients to connect with you via social media. Adding your social channel links to the footer of every email campaign you send is a subtle way of pushing people towards your other channels – thereby increasing your reach and touchpoints. If they decide not to take immediate action in your email, a social post later down the line may be what reminds them, and encourages them towards a conversion.

2. Social media email capture

Social media channels allow for you to capture email addresses easily. The options vary by platform, so consider your best performing platforms and start there. Some examples are Twitter card ads, Instagram story ads, and Facebook forms. Make sure you include a strong incentive, such as an exclusive email-only discount code to use on their next order, or highlight the value of the content shared in your newsletter. Be mindful that just like any other ad, people won’t click through unless your text and creative are both on point – so make it enticing and direct. Make sure your landing page is looking top-notch too, and you’ll be capturing new leads in seconds.

3. Social influencers

Reach out to social influencers relevant to your brand or chosen topic. Getting them to promote your business will help increase your online reputation and overall brand awareness. This can lead to more traffic on your site and, with a handy email popover in place, more sign-ups. Plus, the great thing about social is its sharing and conversation capabilities. Influencers can leverage your best brand content and share it with their followers who in turn will share it with theirs. Before long your message will permeate through your target market, stirring potential customer audiences.

4. Marketing automation

The ability to target specific groups of people exists on both channels. Automating your marketing lets you schedule, track, and use insights from communications to target leads and customers. With email, you can use an array of segmentation tactics to tailor the message to individuals. When it comes to social media, the advertising capabilities are now pretty sophisticated across the main platforms, so you can target and segment in a very similar way. This means you’re able to get in front of motivated segments of your audiences.

5. Cross-channel followers

If you find yourself with considerably more email subscribers than social media followers, or vice versa, consider a cross-channel initiative. Utilize engagement across the platforms and link up on your content. This could be running a competition on your social channels, and shouting about it in your email campaign with a clear CTA to the relevant post. Another option is to share information about what’s coming up on your social channels in your email campaigns. Is an industry leader doing an Instagram live Q&A soon? Let your email subscribers know about it. Equally, if your social presence is strong, but your email list is looking a little sparse, shout about how great your emails are on your social media channels. Do you send out a weekly email full of style advice, or tips and tricks related to your industry? Tempt people by chopping up the content into a social media friendly style, such as an Instagram carousel or a Twitter thread to engage them, and then finish with a clear link back to your email signup page.

Conclusion

Email marketing and social media marketing aren’t all that different – character count aside. A good marketing strategy is a cross-channel marketing strategy. Your channels shouldn’t be working in silo, they should be complimenting each other, and email and social media are a great opportunity for this. Be sure to create engaging content, and harness the power of both channels by using cross-channel initiatives to grow your engagement across the board.