How Does Email Marketing Fit Your Social Media Strategy?

Social media and email marketing are a marriage made in heaven — the two fit so nicely together that it’s silly to not integrate both into your marketing strategy.  But, it may not be obvious how to effectively integrate your social media and email marketing campaigns.  Here are some best practices:

DO’s of integrating social media and email marketing

DO use consistent branding

Your email marketing and social media marketing should carry your consistent branding through from your website and blog.  Use a consistent color palette, font, logo, and wording.  For instance, I use the phrase: “at the intersection of marketing and social media” everywhere I am — my Facebook fanpage, my Twitter, my blog, my email newsletter (BTW, if you’ve not subscribed, please do so here).

Notice, I use the same header as on my blog — Hausman Marketing Letter.  And, if you check my Fanpage, you’ll see similar branding.

Humans are visual animals and consistent branding helps them build a complete picture of your brand — brand image.  By associating the great content across social media platforms with the image, you help them transfer their positive image of your brand in 1 platform with your brand in other platforms.

DO include other social networks

Your email marketing should encourage readers to connect with your brand on other social platforms.  Using social share buttons allows them to connect with you on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest or Google+ — wherever you want them to see you.  By the same token, you should include an email sign-up form on all your social platforms.  I have 1 on my blog and another under the “SPECIAL OFFER” tab on my Facebook Fanpage.

Do include unique, valuable content

Don’t just share your blog posts or posts made on other social networks in your newsletter.  Sure, it’s ok to share a few things from your blog, but think about it.  If subscribers just wanted your blog content, they’d sign up for your RSS feed. So, give them something new and valuable in your newsletter.

I like to share great content I found on other websites — great tools, great infographics, good advice, and upcoming conferences that look good.  I also share links to my ebooks and videos and offer discounts on products to my subscribers — SEE, don’t you want to subscribe?

Do provide incentives to build your email marketing list

Create some great content to encourage folks to subscribe to your mailing list.  I give subscribers a FREE ebook containing some of my best stuff on creating a sound social media strategy to make money online.

Don’ts of integrating your email marketing with your social media strategy?

Don’t use your newsletter for the hard sell.

I remember a conversation with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner who advised you not sell AT ALL on your newsletter until you hit 100,000 subscribers.  I’m not sure there’s a magic number, but certainly you shouldn’t abuse your subscriber list by constantly selling.  You’ll soon find folks unsubscribing and your list dwindling.  If you notice a lot of unsubscribing going on, ease off on the selling and increase the value of your content.

In my newsletter, I very rarely offer anything for sale to my subscribers.  And, I always use a soft-sell.

Don’t fill subscriber’s inbox with email marketing

Face it.  We’re all busy people with inboxes overflowing with messages that we must deal with.  The last thing we want is more junk to week through.  So, be respectful of your subscribers’ time.  And keep the ratio of content to noise really high.

Very few companies have enough great content to warrant a daily newsletter.  Of course, that doesn’t mean many folks don’t send out a newsletter EVERY day — sometimes multiple times a day.  These folks get an unsubscribe from me very quickly.

With my newsletter, I prepare a monthly newsletter to subscribers that I fill with as much great content as I can.  I think once a month is enough that people remember me without being so much they’re overwhelmed.