Blogs

Yet another report touting the integration of social and email was released recently by eMarketer. The article shared some ideas and trends around integrating social media and email marketing. However, I would like to ask that we all please stop throwing the term "integration" around so lightly.

The functionality or "integration" points considered in the article are a far cry from truly leveraging the power of Email + Social. "Tweeting" a link to a newsletter or inserting a "share" button on an email is similar to what direct-mail marketers did in the early days of email: Take a direct mail piece, create an HTML version of the mail piece and send it to an email inbox rather than a postal mailbox. True integration should allow marketers to create new workflows that drive customer retention and acquisition.

We are working with a number of clients to truly integrate these channels; consider this scenario:

I visit my favorite online electronics store and purchase a product (let’s call the store "Orange"…I am sitting in line waiting to buy an iPhone 4, so Orange seems appropriate). Within minutes, I receive an email confirmation of purchase (thanks transactional email team).

The confirmation email is dynamic in nature and the template "knows" that I am a preferred customer. (Thanks ecommerce, CRM and email team for creating a relevant and personalized transactional email.)

As a preferred customer, I am presented with a referral offer: "Thanks for purchasing Ryan. We are offering our best customers a $20.00 gift card if you refer your friends to our store. Click here to participate." (Thanks social strategist for understanding that social advocacy starts with a brand's best customers and that rewarding them for their loyalty is key.)

When I click the link, I am told that in addition to my gift card for referring friends, I can earn pay-per-view coupons for DirectTV if I refer three friends or more. I click a link and am presented with an embedded sharing experience that allows me to easily share my brand experience with my friends. (Thanks to the social strategist and CRM team for realizing that I am more likely to refer if my reward is relevant). The store knows I own DirectTV, and I am into movies as I have purchased a number of DVDs in the past year. They use this data to introduce a referral incentive that is personalized to me.

As my friends click the links I share via email, Facebook, Twitter and other channels, they are taken to a landing page that states: "Ryan thought you would appreciate this." (Thanks to the social strategist and web teams for tying my friend's website visit back to me, making it relevant to them.)

As my friends actually purchase based on my referral, the store sends me an email that updates me on my reward status. (Thanks to the email and social teams for understanding that I want to know how close I am to earning my reward.)

Finally, the Brand is tracking all of this activity back to me, the Influencer. They know how many invitations I have sent, how may transactions I am responsible for, and how much revenue my referrals drive. This is all sent back to the CRM systems to be used for future segmentation and program development. (Thanks ecommerce, CRM and email teams for identifying influencers and planning to treat them differently.)

The point is that creating an integrated experience between these channels takes just that – integration (of communication channels, data, site experiences, etc). Let’s not confuse integration with tweaks to template design; they are two very different things. If you are ready for truly integrating, let me know and we can get started right away!