• by Blaine Mathieu , March 1, 2010

Some email marketers see the rise of social media and mobile communications as a threat to email's dominance. Not so! Each channel can integrate with your email marketing program to expand its reach and ROI.  

But, which channel should you choose? You could opt to spread your messages via social media -- Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks. Or, should you first add mobile marketing and optimize your email messages for viewing on mobile devices?

The answer, as it is with so many aspects of marketing, is "It depends." There's no single solution that meets all market needs. Each one can help you build your brand, acquire and retain more customers and deepen engagement.

In the end, base your decision on the type of people you market to, (customers, subscribers, users or prospects) and what you hope to accomplish with your campaigns.

Knowing and understanding your target audience -- who they are, their wants and needs, where they hang out (virtually speaking) -- is your first step when creating an effective marketing initiative.

Adding Social Media to Email Marketing

Social media can extend the reach, authority and shelf life of your marketing program. When your subscribers post your email messages to their social networks, they broaden your exposure to new viewers and indirectly endorse your message. Your messages also live longer as they spread through your subscribers' networks.

An example: When your market skews toward professionals in a tight market vertical who coalesce around a social networking community, using social media to extend your reach to prospects makes sense.

Customers and prospects in this market niche are likely to be on their computers more often than their phones. These professionals, who are often experts or aspiring to advance in their fields, use social networking to get and give advice, share experiences and connect with their peers. Here, you can consider a strategy that calls for your company to participate in online groups.

Adding Mobile to Email Marketing

Integrating mobile with email marketing means your subscribers will likely see your messages faster.

Your mobile messages can also tout the benefits of your email marketing program and help you build a bigger mailing list.

Mobile marketing is also more heavily regulated and requires opt-in, which takes care of the permission angle that's less strict in email. And consumers are becoming more receptive to it. A 2009 Juniper Research report predicted mobile coupon redemption could reach $6 billion by 2014. Redemption rates also can be higher than those for either paper or email coupons.

An example: Suppose you market to a younger and female consumer audience: teenagers and young adults who rely on texting on a continual basis.

With this group, integrating an email marketing campaign with a strong short-code messaging system (SMS) makes sense. One campaign on mobile devices targeted younger office workers, inviting mobile users to opt in for offers and newsletters by texting "yes" to a custom short-code number that spelled out part of the company name.

 The Best Solution: "Tri-Messaging" (Email + Social Media + Mobile)

Email as a channel has tremendous flexibility. That's one of its great virtues and one of the reasons it continues to reign over all other marketing channels for ROI ($43.62 returned per dollar spent in 2009, according to the Direct Marketing Association). However, the digital messaging world has changed in the last few years. You can miss out on lucrative opportunities if you limit your marketing program to email marketing alone, or complement it with just one channel.

To reach and influence today's buyers, you need to engage them in more ways, and across more channels. You need an integrated strategy that facilitates conversations and commerce that can be measured and monetized.Here's where the concept of "tri-messaging" comes in. Tri-messaging is marketing messages optimized for email, social and mobile channels to stimulate outbound and inbound engagement.

Many of your email subscribers are accessing social networks on their mobile phones, so they're already tri-messaging. You need to remain ahead of the game to provide the best user experience.

With tri-messaging, you can tap into the lucrative synergy that happens when you create a core email marketing program with social and mobile components.

By taking a tri-messaging approach, marketers can gain the maximum synergies from their online marketing efforts.