Media Mash-up Merging social networks with e-mail marketing can maximize your exposure.
By Gwen Moran Edited by Frances Dodds
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When Ashley Beckman and Minka Robinson Stevens, owners of Los Angeles herbal skin-care products company Golden Path Alchemy, put the word out about a new product, they make sure everyone gets the news.
"Once a month, we highlight a special product, and we put the content on all of our tools," Beckman says. The click-through rate on e-mail marketing has gone up 6 percent since they integrated media, she says.
Integration of social networks and e-mail marketing is essential, says Kristin Seigworth with SolutionIQ, a marketing and social media consultancy in Davie, Fla. She suggests these methods:
Use icons. Be sure each e-mail has links or icon buttons that direct the reader to your company's Facebook and Twitter pages, LinkedIn profiles and blogs.
Help them share. "If you have something to promote, draft a line that is less than Twitter's max of 140 characters and suggest that recipients tweet it if they like the offer," Seigworth says.
Recycle content. Beckman makes sure each product highlight is shared on every social outlet. "People like to get their information in different ways," she says. "Maybe they read Facebook all the time or live on Twitter. We want to be there."
Use abbreviated URLs. Bit.ly, Ow.ly or other URL shortening services both conserve characters and allow you to track click-throughs.
Always work with your e-mail marketing provider to check analytics, Seigworth says, so you can refine your message and focus.
