Conversations are happening. About you, about me, about the text we got last night, and what our dad just said.
In the social realm, not only content, but conversational content is king. It’s worth sharing and responding to. But how do you effectively grab people’s attention in a medium with so many voices? How do you even start the conversation when people won’t listen to an unfamiliar brand? They only listen to their friends who have interacted with them.
Email
Start with your current supporters – your email list. Email is still the most effective way to talk directly to your contacts. It begins the conversation with the people who gave you permission to talk to them by signing up for your newsletter or purchasing a product.
But email is very one-sided. After you’ve engaged them with your newsletter, you leave no ability for your contacts to respond – to say how great you are, to discuss your downfalls, or even to share with their friends the experience with your brand.
Social
But where email lacks, social thrives to continue this conversation. The integration of social media within your email campaigns allows the email conversation to not only be publicized, but to be shared, responded to, and to help create awareness of your content.
The combination can be very powerful, but it’s not this simple. Today, many marketers carelessly put social media links in their email design. And then they cross their fingers and hope for the best. Without a strategy, the best never happens, and they walk away disappointed that email isn’t boosting their social media efforts.
Why should their contacts retweet the message on Twitter or clutter more content on their Facebook profile? There’s no clear reason to care.
The Benefit
With email, people are part of your contact lists because of the exclusive information you provide: deals on products, notifications of upcoming events, or insightful perspectives. This is the reason they give you permission to continuously talk to them.
Social is no different. But, your contacts must believe your email content benefits their network. They will not make this connection, so you must state the benefit clearly:
- For the bargainers:
Share this with your friends to enjoy a 20% savings. - For the expert voices who want to gain recognition for their ideas:
Tweet @otoinc to share your insightful comments. - For the difference makers:
To provide ideas on how tor resolve the issue, provide comments on our Facebook page
This gives reason to share. And by doing this, you are able to get in front of your contact’s network, reaching people you wouldn’t have been able to reach without their help.
A combination for growth
So, the next time you have compelling information to share, combine email and social together to build a platform for a content ecosystem. Email initiates the conversation with your contacts, and your contacts continue this conversation within their network for you. Through each conversation, your following continues to grow which is a double-sided benefit. So show value in your content and be bold on why it should be shared.