Blogs

The blogosphere is a buzz with tired arguments over whether or not social media signals the death of email marketing. The most recent prediction comes from Matt Cain of Gartner, signaling that “by 2014, social networking services will replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for 20 percent of business users.” This very well might be true, for the 20% that need to collaborate, however it in no way replaces the need for bi-directional communication.

Anyone that engages in a debate over which channel is superior is approaching this from the wrong angle. Not only do both email marketing and social media complement each other, they are significantly more powerful when used together than either channel alone. What’s most interesting is that while the talking heads continue to debate the value of one channel vs. another, the 800 pound gorillas in the email marketing and social media spaces are answering this question for us by taking convergence to the consumer.

The Market is Shifting
In the past three weeks, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have all announced plans to integrate email and social media for their end users. Google and Microsoft plan to integrate social functionality into Gmail and Outlook respectively, and Facebook is rumored to be launching its own webmail service. These announcements are significant in that, if all three are successful, the consumer’s view of email and social media will become highly integrated during the next year or so. As email marketers, it is important to prepare for this shift by developing an integrated marketing strategy for the two channels now. Get ready for your social and viral marketing programs to become exponentially more powerful.

StrongMail has created a whitepaper on this topic that you might find useful called Email in the Age of Social Media. Other email marketing whitepapers that can help you ensure that your program strategy is current include:

22 Quick Tips for Better Email Marketing >>
The New Rules of Email Deliverability: 2011 and Beyond  >>