In December 2009, I wrote Email Beats Twitter and Facebook for Sharing Content according to ShareThis.
While emails may be more easily shared by recipients (via email forwarding), it is wise to allow options for social media sharing of your emailed content/ newsletters.
Add Social Media Share Buttons in Email
Allow email recipients the option to easily share your email content to their social networks.
Do this by adding social sharing icons or buttons to your email content— when they click the icon it uploads a link to a social media site, such as Twitter or Facebook.
So, if you send out email, whether using MailChimp, eCampaign Pros, Constant Contact, or any other (tell us who you use which allows social media share buttons), you should add social media icon links so readers can share your email with their social media sites. These could include buttons such as:
- Share this on Facebook
- Share this on Twitter
- Share on LinkedIn
- Digg it
- Stumple it
- Fark it
Here is an example of a Nike email using social media share buttons:
Smith-Harmon found that among those retailers that did provide social network sharing links, Facebook was the clear favorite. Every campaign studied that had a SWYN capability had a link to Facebook. Twitter came in second, at 67%, while only 44% of sharing-capable e-mails linked to MySpace. (eMarketer)
You can also include buttons to allow email recipients to connect with you on your other social media hangouts —
- Follow me on Twitter
- Join our Facebook Page
- Link Up with me
- Join our Meetup group.
Links to Related Blog Posts or Website Conversion Pages
It is also wise to add links to related blog posts, especially if you can have thumbnail images, and website conversion pages.
Here is an example of email which has links to Related Stories: (click image to enlarge)
Video Email– The Next Frontier
While email newsletters with social media sharing buttons increase the spreading of your content, you can go a step further by incorporating video in your email. Some of my clients use TalkFusion, which lets them create branded email players. [note: TalkFusion pays affiliate income, which is shared with clients]
Here’s a video email I once sent at Christmas: (click to play) This email was forwarded like crazy.
While the social media sharing of email is meant for emailed newsletters, I am waiting for Google to let me send regular g-mail which includes social media share buttons. I wonder if they could do that?
Sources and Further Reading:
Share-to-Social Buttons Increase Newsletter Interaction: 6 Steps (Marketing Sherpa)
Making your emails go viral (eMarketer)
How to Take Advantage of Social Media in Your Email Marketing (Mashable)
Image source: Design Strike.
Technorati Tags: email marketing, twitter, facebook, email, social media
