Social Media is changing the face of communications. It can not be avoided, nor should you hide from it. Instead, harness the power of social media and benefit, taking your message to a wider audience. Email has never been about one to one communication – if the content is relevant, it will always be shared. Having said that, social media has increased the speed at which you can share. Instead of forwarding an email to a select number of contacts, readers can now use in built social sharing options to post content, for their friends and followers to view. Facebook states that the average user on the platform has 131 friends – following this logic, sharing your email will reach a large and wide range of potential customers, which can benefit your campaign.
The Drawbacks
There are numerous books and papers relating to “Return on Investment” (ROI), of social. It is difficult to quantify the profits and potential of this market. Social Media is current, meaning that your message may get lost as more and more information is filtered through, for example, Twitter works on the basis of what is happening “right now” and anything that was Tweeted about previously is lost (unless someone decides to share the message).
Unlike social media, email is constant – once delivered to the recipient, the message is available at any stage and the source is identifiable and easily reached. It gives you the power to control the list of recipients and ensure it is tailored to their interests.
In summary, email is constant and social media is a great bolt on for email but social can not stand alone in delivering your message to your audience. There must be a balance, and this is catered for by incorporating sharing options in your email messages.
At Circulator, we work with your organisation, to ensure that the sharing options are placed in strategic points throughout the email. This is an important aspect of design to increase the viral aspect of your email marketing campaign.