There are some things we know about people in the modern world. For one, we know that most people have a presence on social media. We also know that email marketing works: Most people check their email at least once per day. This means there are two clear and well-used ways to reach your audience, and combining them makes it even more effective.
Steer Them In Both Directions
Today, the people who receives your newsletters are often the same people who follow you on Facebook. Both are based on making active choices that somebody is interested and curious enough about what you may deliver in the form of information, competitions, products, services and so on. An interest in your company means somebody made the active choice to subscribe to your newsletter or follow you on social media. This is something you should exploit. Somebody who follows you on Facebook, is likely to be interested in the information in your newsletter, and the people who receive your newsletters are likely to want to follow you on Facebook, assuming they have an account.
What you can do is to first create separate content that works on each platform, but also content that's cross-platform. For example, you can use your newsletter to inform people what's going on with your Facebook, or use Facebook to spread the word about unique offers, competitions and so on, that are exclusive to your newsletter, on your Facebook page. Both newsletters and social media are good platforms on their own, but combining them makes your marketing even stronger.
How To Get Subscribers
The starting point of this article is how to convert users from newsletters to Facebook, or some other social network. The main reason for sending a newsletter isn't necessarily to gain new customers. Sometimes, it's about building a lasting and stable relationship with the customers who receive your newsletters. Loyal and recurring customers is what most companies look for, and to achieve that you need to nurture your customer relations. Social media is an excellent way to do this, and directing your customer to content that's more personal, on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, means you're slowly building a relationship with your customers. Here follows some tips on how to create a good foundation for relationship building, and increase your number of followers, both in social media and newsletters.
Add Social Links On Your Confirmation Page
As mentioned, there's a very high likelihood that the people who tell you they want your newsletter, will also become followers of your company on social media. The best way to ensure this happens is to make sure it happens right when they sign up for your newsletter, by adding this option on the confirmation page. Make sure these buttons/links follow your graphical profile. Your graphical profile should permeate everything you do, including your opt-in buttons for social media.
If possible, make sure the people who get to this page won't have to log into the various social media to follow you. Having to log in means an extra step that has to be performed, something we know is bad from a usability perspective. And of course all these opt-in buttons for social media should be present on every page on your web site.
Add Social Links In Your Welcoming Email
When somebody has made the decision to subscribe to your newsletter, they are at the highest level of engagement with you and your company. This will be a great time to give them further ideas where to find you and your content. You'll give these people more channels where they can interact with you, while you get more possibilities to communicate with them directly, when they're not buying something from you, or using your services.
By really emphasizing the social links in your welcoming email, along with the most important things you can offer readers and presumptive customers, the recipients will be clear on what they can expect, and what they need to do. This is the perfect time to use creative copy, when you explain why they should follow you. Using a short, personal, CTA for each social media link makes it more likely the readers will follow them.
Start Thinking Creatively!
Even though it might seem like a burden, or a scary monster, to many, social media is supposed to be fun. Social media provides your company with many opportunities to broaden your brand, and be more personal in your customer contacts. This is something that fits well with the idea that social media should be both close and fun. This gives you the possibility to be creative not only on social media, but also in your newsletters, when you ask people to follow you on various social networks.
It doesn't really matter how many different social media you use. It's perfectly reasonable to use these techniques, to get people interested in both you and social media, only for one single channel. The important thing is to make it possible for the recipients of your newsletters to find new ways to follow you, and see what you have to offer, and to find flexible ways of communications they use privately. Even if a newsletter is good at driving sales, it's on social media that it's possible to build trust and loyal customers.
