6 Keys to Successful Integration of Social Networks and Email

Brian Brown, ideapark @idpkbrianLoren McDonald, Silverpop -@LorenMcDonald

IM

Overloaded inbox

Facebook

CAN-SPAM Act

RSS

SPAM

Mobile

ChangingDemographics

Email is Dead, Right?

Twitter

Twitter is Hot, But Email is Ubiquitous

Twitter has roughly 50 million users

*The Radicati Group

Email has more than 1.4 billion worldwide users*

In Fact, Social Usage = More Email Usage

Email marketing outperforms virtually all other media in terms of

ROI*

*DMA, CMO Council

Email Still Rules Dude

Social Email is The New Viral

Less than 0.1% CTR0.5% CTR

One to One to Many

Extends the Reach of Email

Social network users are, on average, connected to

between 150 and 200 friends

24% average

increased reach

High-Value Sharers Emerge

Agenda and Goals

Agenda

• How Does Share-to-Social Work?

• The 6 Keys to Success• Key Takeaways• Q & A

Goals

• Provide context• Better understanding

of sharing• Share best practices• Provide benchmarks

Share-to-Social (S2S)/Share With Your Network (SWYN): How it Works

This is NOT Share-to-Social/SWYN…

But this is…

Insert Share Links

http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/iland/2008/10/coding-emails-and-landing-pages-with.html

ESP Or Custom Coding

Personalized by recipient

Shared with Friends

The 6 Keys to Successful Integration of Social Networks and Email

6 Keys to Successful Social/Email Integration

Know What Motivates People

to Share

Target the Right Networks

Educate Subscribers on

Sharing

Optimize Design/ Link

Location

Create Shareworthy

Content

Test, Analyze & Refine

1. Understand What Motivates People to Share

What Motivates People to Share?

Contributing to the Conversation

Sharing benefits people through the value of the information shared in return

Self Interest

Sharing rewards the pocketbook

Altruism

Sharing makes them feel good

Validation

Sharing feeds the ego

Affinity

Sharing makes people feel more a part of the "community"

Prurience

Sharing makes people feel less guilty for gawking

2. Target the right social networks and media

Facebook Links Included 100% of the Time

B2B EmailsLinkedIn = 83%

Are 4 to 5 Networks the Right #?

Smaller Networks Generate Higher Share of Clicks

# of Share Clicks / Message Unique Clicks

…But Facebook is Most Effective

Which social networks drive the most additional email “views/opens”?

Facebook has highest social network effectiveness:• Average = 68%• Top Quartile average = 195%

Keys to Targeting the Right Networks

• Utilize third-party research

• Survey subscribers/Monitor network

activity

• Test and analyze click/share activity

• Identify subtrends

– e.g., High-value sharers

• Kill the losers

3. Educate subscribers on how/why to share

Why Education is Key

• Despite growth, “sharing” is still early

• Different levels of social adoption

• Sharing features/networks can differ in

approaches

Share to Social in Action

Announce…

Explain...

Encourage

4. Optimize email sharing design and link location

Link Location - Top, Middle or Bottom?

Content, Content, Content

Eat Better America - Bottom

Eat Better America - Top

Dinner Made Easy - Bottom

Dinner Made Easy – Near Top

Consider Blocked Images

5. Create shareworthy content

TrustworthyThe brand and

source of content or offer is widely

known and trusted.

Taps into Tribes

Message content speaks to tribal

groups within your subscriber base.

ObviousEssence of the

email content to be shared is obvious, simple to grasp.

Easy to ShareSharing links are easy to find and

use.

Social AcumenTargets the right

social networks and social acumen of

subscribers.

Creates ValueMust provide value or recipients will

not share with their networks.

Rewards/Incents

Incentives are naturally viral, but

come at a cost.

Great ContentWell-written, timely, unique content that

jumps out of the inbox.

8 Keys to Shareworthy Emails

What B2B Emails Are Shareworthy?

Relevant Articles

News / Press Releases

Event /Webinar Notifications

B2C - Recipes Are Naturally Viral

What’s Not Shareworthy?

× Long newsletters

× Highly Personalised Emails× Transactional

Emails

× Negative News

“Dough” + Valentine = Shareworthy

6. Test, Analyze and Refine for Increased Sharing

Test – What’s Working/Not Working

• Copy

• Link Style

• Link Location

• Broad versus Narrow Focus Messages

• Viral-Only Messages

• High-Value Sharers…

Identify Key Influencers

• Identify recipientswho shared yourmessage

• Create lists of key influencers

• Target them with future offers andincentives

How to Measure Success

Process• Email share click-

through rate• Network opens/rate• Network clicks/rate• Performance by

network• Who is sharing –

influencer rates

Output

• New subscribers

• Additional reach

• Conversions/revenue

Takeaways/Resources

What to Tell Your Boss

$0

5X

25%

...but it does require more than just inserting links

Key Takeaways

• Narrow your network focus

• Make it easy to share

• Determine what your subscribers find most ‘Shareworthy’

• Identify and reward your key influencers

• Test everything and don’t be afraid to fail

Resources

• Whitepaper, Email Marketing Goes Social

• Emails Gone Viral, Social Sharing Benchmark Study

• Shareworthy card

Q&A

lmcdonald@silverpop.com@Silverpop

@LorenMcDonaldwww.slideshare.net/

silverpopwww.silverpop.com

brian@ideapark.com@idpkbrian

www.ideapark.com

Contact Information