Being a marketer you probably have struggled with a dilemma: whether email or social media is more effective in communicating with customers and prospects. Well, who told that there is a winner? These are two completely different channels, each having strengths and weaknesses, but working together they can greatly increase the overall success of your marketing efforts.
In this article, we will dive you deeper into the advantages of email marketing and Facebook integration, reveal the tips on how to do it, and showcase the examples of combining this duo.
3 reasons to integrate Email and Facebook
Statistics show that 60% of the marketers believe email marketing outperforms social media, while the remaining 40% are convinced that email marketing and social media are just different. Email marketing drives more conversions than any other social media. Social media, in its turn, is better for engaging with the audience and sharing. Just so you know, 57% of global content sharing activities occur via Facebook.
Despite these differences, email and Facebook are two marketing channels with the highest number of active users 3,7 billion and 2,07 billion, respectively. This fact can’t be ignored and should encourage you to at least try to join forces of email and Facebook.
The reasons to combine email and Facebook:
- Improvement of email campaign performance
Why should you limit the potential reach of your communication. The more subscribers share your content in social networks, the higher is the open rate and CTR of the email sent. Moreover, since Facebook is the channel, the main purpose of which is to engage, it will further help you to drive more conversions with email. - Possibility to detect the most engaged subscribers
Email service providers give statistics on sharing emails in social media. Consider this data to segment your mailing list and elaborate custom-tailored content based on users engagement. - Growth of your mailing list or Facebook fan base
Invite your Facebook fans to subscribe to your newsletter and vice versa. By providing the subscribers with the opportunity to choose the channel they prefer for interaction with your brand, you can build a base of more active, engaged customers.
Are you ready to discover 5 ways to combine Email and Facebook Let’s go…
1) Add social media icons
Add social network buttons leading directly to your social pages. Using social media tools can improve your brand awareness and reputation.
Loft invites new subscribers to stay connected and introduces the brand’s hashtag.
You can make such keep in touch email a part of your welcome series to invite your new subscribers to follow you on social media channels.
2) Include Share buttons
Extend the reach of your email marketing by integrating social sharing options. It’s easier and more preferable for subscribers to click “Share” than to use forward to a friend link. The more trust you build with people in social networks, the more likely they are to open your emails, click through to your landing pages, and convert.
Guiding Selling Blog sends emails to announce new articles on their blog. These emails always include the sharing option under each piece of content, making it easy for the reader to tweet, like and share. The CTA is clear, the subscriber just needs to click, review the message and confirm to share it.
For you to think about: emails with social media sharing buttons have a 158% higher click-through rate than emails sent without them.
3) Run a social-focused email campaign
Sometimes users ignore the icons or simply don’t scroll the email down to the bottom to see the link leading to social networks. Motivate users to follow you by creating an email campaign dedicated to promoting a specific social media page.
CoastalContacts launches email campaign purely concentrated on its Facebook page and motivates subscribers to follow this channel by promoting a contest.
4) Offer incentives for sharing
Encourage your subscribers to share the content you send by offering special bonuses, discounts and perks. A financial incentive is not the only option. For instance, give readers a chance to be featured in your upcoming email campaign. The bottom line is to give subscribers a good reason to share.
True Citrus invites subscribers to participate in a social campaign. This campaign includes 3 levels of sharing activity: True Fan, Super Sharer, and Social VIP. The company provides various perks for a specified level of social activity: test drives, exclusive discounts and promotions.
Lush, a handmade cosmetics retailer, runs a contest to drive engagement to social media. The company offers customers a chance to win a trip to Lush factory in Vancouver. All they need to do is to share photos of their baths after using the brand’s Christmas products with a dedicated hashtag.
5) Use Facebook Sign Up button
With an opt-in tab, Facebook fans can sign up for your newsletter without having to visit a website, as it all happens within a Facebook page.
Mud Pie takes advantage of this opportunity to grow the mailing list.
Create a shareable, fine-tailored content, discover the benefits of integrated email and Facebook campaigns and see your brand’s engagement growing.
