Email + Social

"Hey, your social media got in my email!" - can you imagine marketers ranting about this? Email is the top channel tactic marketers expect to increase spend in 2010 (69%), according to eMarketer, followed by social media (59%). While many marketers are pursuing both, very few area planning their channel mix with an integrated email-social approach. Why?

Some of the usual suspects play into this, including a fear of the unknown, inability to integrate technically, or a lack of ability to measure and pull-through on an integrated approach. But email remains a strong tactic when used the right way, as a permission based, relevant and user centric (I'll click on it when I'm in the right mindset or time allows). Social media is more engaging and relevant, sparking high viral pass-along value and interactivity or "buzz". Leveraging social media to increase email engagement rates or product / brand conversation makes sense - it's a combination of two great ingredients.

This can be as easy as including a link to a social media destination, which can be a corporate one if med/legal/regulatory concerns are present. Within pharma/healthcare marketing, this integrated tactic is a natural for unbranded or condition related communications. For example, an email could highlight patient stories then link to a site (either unbranded or a 3rd party support organization) to view more or post your own story to motivate or support others.

According to eMarketer, 4 out of 10 marketers plan on integrating the two tactics - but will they be able to deliver on this? Will they be able to measure and optimize from this? It's possible, but it must be planned as an integrated effort that is sustainable due to the social media component, and not viewed as a finite campaign or one-off communication.