I’m glad to introduce you to a new contributor. If you’re an email marketer, you probably have come across some of his posts already: join me in welcoming Remy Bergsma.
In his first post for this blog, Remy confronts us with a very relevant issue regarding the use of social media in email marketing. I bet it will make you think…
The usage of links to sharing content on social media channels has grown explosively in the past months: more and more ESPs are adding functionality to their software to let subscribers share many types of content on social networks.
That's only one part of the growth: the other part is the actual 'follow us on Twitter' and 'become a fan on Facebook' (now changed to 'like' instead of 'fan'). That type of social media promotion means that you're asking people to get connected through other means than email: in other words optin for another communications channel.
What do people get when they follow us on social media?
What many companies forget however is the golden rule of 'what's in it for them': why should anyone follow your company on Twitter, subscribe to your YouTube channel or 'like' on Facebook?
I sorted through many email campaigns to do a little analysis on this matter, and of about forty of them only five told me what I could expect.
Instead of just 'follow us on Twitter' they said 'follow us on Twitter for more promotions' or 'follow us on Twitter to get product news' and such. A good upfront notice so people know what to expect.
The trouble is that some companies have spoiled it a bit for all the others who try to do well: those 'misbehaving' companies promote those social media channels, only for you to find out that those channels are just a timeline of their press releases, promotions or…nothing at all.
Social media is not a one way street: engage!
That last example is probably the biggest let down: checking out a company that has taken time and effort to register and promote a social media channel only to find that it's more or less inactive.
If you promote a channel, make sure you take time and effort to really build it up, nourish it and engage with the people who get there: they actually want to connect! It's not a one way street you know.
All of this ties in with your general online marketing strategy: what are we communicating through which channels and how, how often, to whom?
If you are promoting your social media channel(s) make sure you think ahead and let people know what to expect and that those channels are with following, watching and liking.
This will make it all worthwhile for both you, your employees and especially all the people who'd like to connect with your company.
Remy Bergsma is a professionally trained multimedia producer turned email marketing specialist, having 4 years of experience in the Dutch email marketing business working at an ESP (Blinker). His areas of interest include email design, end user experience and campaign management. Remy further is very community and people minded. Personally sports, photography, music and movies keep him busy. You can connect with Remy via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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