Social + Email = Double Marketing Effectiveness

Social media is a partner, not a threat, to email marketing because it provides new avenues for sharing and engaging customers and prospects.

"Even though people are spending more time using social media, they are not abandoning e-mail,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, "Maximizing the E-Mail/Social Media Connection." "The two channels can help each other, offering the opportunity for marketers to create deeper connections."

So far, the consensus of the value social media adds to e-mail marketing has been in the area of softer metrics. 81% of marketers surveyed by MarketingSherpa in summer 2009 said social media helped to expand the reach of their e-mail content, most likely because of sharing buttons incorporated into e-mail newsletters. A further 78% said social helped to increase brand awareness.

Bottom line? Social Media helps build your brand, email marketing get people thru your door.