Social Email Marketing

Everyone is talking about this week’s big royal wedding, but the hottest romance for marketers is social and email marketing.

Well, to be honest, these are just two of the channels marketers should be romancing with a multi-channel approach.

According to eCricle’s European Social Media and Email Marketing Study:

95% of the people with an email account check their emails at least once a day.
One quarter of email receivers check their emails via a mobile device every day.
Most of the social networkers still use their email account for ecommerce (85%).

The online survey was conducted late last year and had just over 1000 European respondents ranging in age from 14 to 69 years.

As you can see from the numbers above, email is still the one channel which seems to reach just about everyone practically every day. In fact, everyone taking part in the survey (and this will likely come as no surprise) uses email.

Older target groups lean towards email and newsletters as the preferred channel, while the 20-49 demographic are best reached via a combination of email and social media marketing.

The numbers keep supporting the conclusion that multi-channel marketing is a must if you want to reach the widest possible audience. Of course, it’s not just about reach! It’s also about choice. Putting the power of choice in the hands of the consumer and allowing them to decide when and where they want to interact with you is one powerfully positive message!

Email and social networks are actually closely linked. You can’t even register for a social network unless you have an email account. The notion that every new communication channel must kill the previous one is rather myopic. Historically, mass communication channels don’t die, they evolve. It’s certainly true that some traditional channels are in trouble, such as print, but it’s not likely they will simply cease to exist anytime soon. There will certainly be a shake out and those who can’t keep up will die, but a mass extinction any time soon is unlikely.

So email marketing has quite a few years of relevance left and in fact, smartphones are likely to invigorate email as people use email along with social and SMS to stay in touch and keep informed. One word of caution, as more and more people become smartphone users, I suspect they will become less and less tolerant of irrelevant information from marketers via this platform. The smartphone is a very personal device and we would all do well to respect the personal space it occupies.

When the survey asked what people use email for, the number one response was to communicate with family, friends and acquaintances. Online ordering and purchasing was second and coming in at number three was notifications from social networks. It appears email and social can live happily ever after or at least shack up and share the rent.

The same survey found that the reason most people are fans or followers of a brand is because they are looking for discounts and special offers. Right behind that was a desire to be informed about company and brand news.

Marketers just can’t rely on one channel anymore. A multi-channel approach where the choice is in the hands of the consumer and you are there when they want to interact is the key to a happy relationship.

Some will say that the whole idea of a conversation just muddies the waters of marketing and we should be focused on the conversion. Certainly, if marketing doesn’t result in conversions than what are we being paid for? However, as any top salesperson will tell you, a good conversation is often the first step to a sale.

If we do believe that a conversation is a good way to at least engage subscribers, then are enough of us listening? Ask yourself how much talking you are doing with your email and online marketing and how much listening. This is one of those questions which I think is good to ask yourself every now and then — it might even prove an inspiration for something new.

The power of the internet offers brands the ability to involve consumers as never before. It actually provides the opportunity for your customers and prospective customers to contribute to a better product and better marketing of the product. This power is not something to be intimidated by, but something to embrace and leverage for greater success.

The value of word-of-mouth is growing thanks to social media and the web. People talk about the good experiences and shout about the bad ones on any number of channels today. For example, I certainly read user reviews when I am researching a purchase and when I have a strong opinion about a brand I’ll even submit one. I don’t do this because I love your marketing. The marketing may get my attention, but it’s the experience with the product which will get my approval.

Social media has taken word-of-mouth out of the neighbourhood and given it the power to influence countless others. It can help people make dramatic political and social change or simply help someone make a purchase decision.

Every online channel today can be used for a two-way conversation. Accessibility is extremely important via email or any other social channel. The choice of how to interact with a brand should be up to the consumer. Keep all the lines of communication open and make sure that when someone does interact with you, they get a quick and thoughtful response. The worst possible thing you can do is tell people you are listening and then take so long to respond that they feel ignored. If at all possible, you want to respond the same day or faster depending on the channel. If you need time to investigate then respond and let the person know you are on the case.

In email marketing or any kind of online marketing today, your ears should be bigger than your mouth. You’ve got email, a blog, Twitter and Facebook as primary ways to share information with and from your customers.

Offer the consumer the choice of which channels they want to use, but leverage your blog as the hub for those conversations. Showcase the big wins where people are raving about your product or your service online. But don’t shy away from being honest and demonstrating that you can deal with problems too. How well you handle a complaint and resolve a problem for someone can carry a very positive message to many others.

Tie all the channels into that hub and cross-promote them. Let people know you are listening and that will get them thinking and hopefully talking about you.