Looking for a better response rate for your email marketing? A recent study from the email marketing technology firm GetResponse shows that you can improve your click-thru rates by including social media sharing options within your emails. While it’s always a good idea to cross-promote your marketing channels for greater influence, this research shows how effective it can be to let your customers do the talking. Small to mid-sized businesses that added at least one social network sharing link improved click-thru rates (CTRs) by 30% with a 9.4% CTR. In comparison, promotional emails without any social network links generated a 7.2% CTR. By adding in at least three social sharing icons, the email generated a 55% higher CTR than messages without any sharing options.
The Email Marketing and Social Media Integration Report also identified the most effective channels. Emails that could be shared on Twitter returned a 10.2 CTR, while Facebook returned a 9.1% response rate. It’s worth adding the social sharing links to your arsenal as most small to mid-sized business marketers do not. A mere 18.7% link campaigns to their Twitter accounts, while only 13.5% include links to other social media networks.
Consider the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing and make it easy for your customers and prospects to share your message among their friends and networks.
What to expect in 2010.
December 30, 2009
My email has been brimming over the past few weeks with recaps of the past year and insight into 2010. Salon magazine captures the best viral videos of the decade, reminding me that you can do more on a treadmill than just sweat off those extra holiday pounds. The New Yorker’s quiz on the year’s bizarre political events reminded me of a few incidents worth forgetting. And according to a Marist poll, the most annoying word or phrase of 2009 was not “tweeted,” or “octomom” but “whatever.”
The past year also saw social media come into its own. Facebook grew from 100 million users in August 2008 to 350 million just one year later. Its fastest growing demographic was the 40+ crowd. Although Twitter’s growth has slowed somewhat, it is still growing by seven million new users each month.
Certainly not all status updates are newsworthy, but as information and ideas flow across the web it has altered the way we spend our time over a cup of coffee each day. Search has evolved alongside the rise of social media, with real-time Twitter newsfeeds now flowing into search results on Google and Bing. Facebook fan page updates are soon to follow on both search providers as well. Google’s introduction of their Social Search option reflects a growing appreciation of the influence of social networks. Referrals and online customer reviews make an enormous impact on purchasing decisions. For businesses, these real-time newsfeeds offer a real opportunity to respond with timely, useful content that can be picked up and shared across the Internet. This is nothing new, really. It’s just the technology that’s changed and given our words and opinions greater traction.
I purchased my first iPhone this past year and, apparently, I’m not an early adopter. The iPhone has already sold more than 57 million units worldwide, the fastest uptake in the history of technology. As smartphones become faster and less expensive, they will continue to change the marketing landscape. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, the total U.S. dollars spent on mobile marketing will grow from $1.7 billion this year to $2.16 billion in 2010. While smartphones are still a small niche, mobile is giving advertisers unique ways to reach their audience, with geo-targeting and an open platform to develop branded applications. Who doesn’t love their handy level or restaurant reviews?
With so many options for reaching out and touching someone, the art will be integrating digital media with traditional media. Consumers are blurring the boundaries of their media consumption patterns, accessing the web over their mobile devices, viewing TV online, and reading newspapers and magazine in both print and digital formats. With good planning and consistency of message, you can maximize your marketing efforts across every medium for the greatest outcomes in 2010.
