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Will E-Mail Marketing Converge With Social Media Marketing?

There is a lot talk surrounding the importance of social media marketing at present with many predicting it will replace inbound links as a measure of authority in the not too distant future. At the same time, there appears to be an acceptance of e-mail marketing by the public at large. Many local businesses are now finding it easier to acquire e-mail addresses at the cash register than in years gone by. Will the time come when e-mail marketing and social media marketing have a convergence.

I believe it will and I believe it is already starting to occur. What do I mean by convergence? The two coming together and feeding off each other. At present, most e-mail marketing focuses on getting recipients to a web page. Like wise, social media marketing is also focused on getting people to a web page, often the very same web page.

There are a small number of businesses that are having success by using the occasional e-mail marketing campaign to send people through to their social pages instead of their sales pages. The e-mail marketing focuses less on product (or branding) and more on the benefits of social networking. The aim of course is to build a large number of supporters on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

How does this benefit the business? E-mail marketing from these businesses is not seen as being a hard sell  since the aim is to drive recipients to social pages. Social pages then are becoming the ‘landing pages’ for these campaigns. Is this a smart move? I think it is. E-mails land in letter boxes and then, generally, the trash can. Social media contacts have a tendency, over time, of being viral.  Others will find you through contact with those on your contacts list – e-mail marketing often is not as viral as effective social media marketing. Viral is, however, viral.

How does social media marketing help e-mail marketing? First, being very much the soft sell approach, social media marketing helps to validate friendly, helpful e-mail mail outs. A growing social media base of contacts will help to boost your e-mail lists if directed properly. The two then begin to feed off each other with e-mail marketing boosting social media numbers and social media numbers boosting e-mail lists.  A win for the business, which is acquiring an ever larger base to market its products too.