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# The Power of Pairing Email Marketing and Social Media

Updated late 2022.

## Combining email and social media campaigns
Properly combining social media campaigns with email can generate a greater than 1 ROI on your efforts.   Theoretically, the easiest way to decide is to determine what channel delivers a higher ROI for your business. For instance, according to Campaign Monitor, for every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI. On the other hand, according to a study from Social Media Examiner, over 50% of users surveyed said social media helped them improved their sales, and 90% of the same users reported that more exposure was gained for their businesses from social than any other avenue. Additionally, since 73% of adults are active on social networking sites, not leveraging social media for business can result in missed opportunities to get in front of a large number of potential prospects. Finally, social dominates when it comes to marketers’ top lead sources:

![emailvssocial.jpg](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/emailvssocial_45cd11d991.jpg)

It is clear to see that there is inherent value in both channels, and it isn’t a matter of using one channel or the other - social media and email marketing should work together to elevate your business. In this post, we are going to discuss how pairing social and email together in your marketing efforts will build your list on both channels, create more successfully targeted campaigns, and allow your company to speak to your audience on the platform they prefer.

## Grow your following via email
Without investing in social media ads, it can be difficult to organically grow your audience and user interactions. However, email can serve as a powerful medium to grow social media channels without investing any dollars into these growth efforts. Below are a few ways to harness email subscribers already interested in your brand, and have them engage outside of their inbox.
**Include social icons in emails**
For every email campaign, it’s advantageous to incorporate mentions of your social media profiles to encourage your audience to interact with your brand on those channels. Adding your brand’s social profiles to the footer of the email template is an incredibly easy tactic to implement and can reap lots of rewards. Typically, it’s best practice to place these social icons at the bottom of the footer to not distract from the main message of the email. However, if the purpose of an email campaign is to get more following on your social channels, placing these icons higher up in the messaging is encouraged.
**Encourage users to share your email content**
Another way to grow your social following via email is to incorporate social sharing capabilities in the email. According to GetResponse, emails with share buttons have a 158% higher click-through-rate than those without. The share buttons with the highest CTR are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. Below is an example below from Fancy, a social photo sharing webstore, using this tactic.

![fancy-email-sharing.png](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/fancy_email_sharing_e14311f848.png)

You can take it a step further when using social sharing links by offering an incentive for sharing the content. Chris Penn offered users a chance to be featured on his website, as illustrated in the example below.

![featured-in-newsletter.png](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/featured_in_newsletter_c2102eccbe.png)

**Find your email subscribers on social media**
Finally, you can use email to grow your social list by exporting your entire email database and uploading it to your social accounts. From there, you can then create look-alike audiences based on the demographics (and other details) of your email list. Targeted social media ads can then be served to the look-alike audience to encourage opt-ins to a newsletter, interact with content or make a purchase. The possibilities are endless. In a later section, we’ll touch on how marketing towards look-alike audiences can create more laser-focused social campaigns.
## Grow your database via social
When it comes to your email list, it’s about quality, not quantity. That is why it is best to grow your list organically, with people that have expressed interest in hearing from you via email. The problem some companies run into, though, is it takes time to build your list this way and some may get impatient and be tempted to buy a list. Avoid going down this route as it will most likely hurt your email metrics, or even get your account blacklisted, if enough people mark your emails as spam. So how do you quickly and easily capture email addresses? By harnessing the power of your social media audience.
**Embed opt-in forms on social**
An incredibly easy way to capture the addresses of your social followers is to add an opt-in form on Facebook. Ella Bliss, a local beauty bar, does a great job of this by embedding an email sign up form on Facebook and encourages fans to opt-in to their email list.

![ella-bliss-email-optin.png](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/ella_bliss_email_optin_d07ec30888.png)

**Create gated content**
Another powerful tactic to grow your email database on social is by gating content. Gating content is nothing more than creating an opt-in form for users to fill out (remember to require their email!) before they receive a free download. Gated content is great to promote via both organic posts or paid campaigns. Below is an example from Kaneka, a manufacturer of high quality, yeast fermented CoQ10 and Ubiquinol ingredients, which features the offer of a healthy cook book in exchange for the user’s contact info.
![gated-content.png](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/gated_content_22dc87596a.png)

**Create a contest or sweepstakes**
If you would like to kick your efforts up a notch, trying using paid ads and posts to collect email addresses. Since you’re putting money into these ads, it may be a good idea to run a contest or sweepstakes and capture a large number of emails. Curious Gardener hosted a contest on Facebook and is offering a 12-piece Grower’s Set to a lucky winner that opts in to win!

![Curious-gardener-contest.png](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/Curious_gardener_contest_fed0c95f08.png)

## Create highly targeted campaigns
Relevancy is key when it comes to marketing. You aren’t going to grow your list and audience as successfully if you are sending out ads and posts to just about anyone. That is why it is important to concentrate your messaging on users who are more likely to convert. But, since marketers aren’t in the business of mind reading, how do you know who is a more qualified prospect? One way to deliver a more laser-focused message to the right audience is through look-alike audiences on Facebook.

**Target look-alike audiences**
By using social and email simultaneously, you can create targeted campaigns across devices and on platforms. By applying the tactic of uploading your email database into Facebook, for example, you can use a targeted list of users to create similar audiences for your paid campaigns. These look-alike audiences will have similar characteristics as the individuals on your email list, making them the perfect persona to advertise to. This tactic is beneficial because you are targeting an audience that is similar to users already engaged with your brand, making your efforts extremely targeted. In fact, compared to the average online reach of 38% for narrowly targeted campaigns, Facebook’s custom lookalike audiences are proven to score an 89% accuracy.
**Exclude current subscribers from social campaigns**
Another great benefit to uploading your email list to your social accounts is that the list of current email subscribers can be excluded from your Facebook ads, which helps avoid duplication in messaging by otherwise serving ads to a user who is already part of your database. Excluding current customers and subscribers allows you to have the right guard rails in place so no ad spend is wasted either. Email lists can also be uploaded to Twitter and LinkedIn. Although, creating look-alike audiences on these ad platforms isn’t yet an available option, users who match the email addresses can still be targeted. Keep in mind that you can choose to use a purchased email list as well, however be warry of this practice and abide by all rules and regulations.

## Reach the consumer on the RIGHT channel
Another reason why combining email and social efforts is a successful practice is because it allows you to talk to prospects and clients on the channel they prefer. 77% of consumers prefer to receive promotional messages from companies via email, but not everyone fits in a box. It is encouraged to optimize your digital strategy across all channels, as 23% of users may want to hear from you through different methods, like social media, direct mailings or other avenues. For example, let’s say someone decides they’ve had enough email from your company. In the below example from Gilt, a safety net was put in place when users proceed to unsubscribe from email. Instead of just taking the unsubscribe lying down, the contacts are given options to connect with the brand outside the inbox.

![Gilt-email-unsubscribe.png](https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/cdn.fruition.net/Gilt_email_unsubscribe_c3ca970c19.png)

It’s important for your overall digital success to allow prospects to engage with you on the medium of their choice.
## It’s not one or the other, it's both!
We’re living in a digital world where people want to receive the right message, at the right time, through the right channel. If you’re only targeting prospects through one digital medium, you are missing out on a large number of potential conversions. Email and social, when paired together, can create mutually beneficial results; so if you are only pouring your investments into one marketing channel, think again. Pair these two powerhouses together and you’ll see the increase in revenue and positive impact on your bottom line!
**References:**
 GetResponse   MarketingLand

Email and social, when paired together, can create mutually beneficial results and a great bottom line for your business.

Should You Use Email or Social Media Marketing for Your Business?

# Fruition Team Member Spotlight: Terrence Dobbs

When you partner with Fruition, you have so many resources at your disposal, including our phenomenal team, (or FruCrew, as we affectionately call ourselves). We strongly believe that our people are what truly sets us apart from other agencies. Across all channels, our team members approach the work we do with years of experience in their fields. We take pride in the work we provide for our clients, so we’re highlighting each member of our team so that you can get to know us a little better.  Related: About Our Team This month, we’re getting social with one of our most innovative Social Media Specialists, the inimitable Terrence Dobbs.

## For Terrence, Social Strategy Means Change
Terrence Dobbs Digital Marketing Paid Media StudA KU Jayhawk, Terrence became part of the FruCrew almost a year ago, but he’s already made himself a cornerstone on our social team. This is in part thanks to his expertise in social media content strategy, honed through years of work in several industries, but also because of his infectious personality. Always looking for a challenge, for something new to learn from his work, Terrence says that his favorite part of working in social media is that its constantly changing nature means no one day of work is the same. In his role at Fruition, Terrence likes getting to share his knowledge with the rest of his team as much as he enjoys learning from them as well. “The people I work with are very smart, kind and supportive,” he says. “You can do digital marketing just about anywhere these days, but the people at Fruition make it an ideal place to work.” The rest of the social media team feels much the same about Terrence himself.  While Terrence likes the personal nature of social media, he also is excited about the data side of the channel. There are so many ways that data informs social media strategy, and ever-evolving tools that make social media channels more interesting to work with. For Terrence, these new realms of social media work are exciting.  Read more: The Marketer’s Guide to Social Media Chatbots

## Terrence’s Key Value: Keep Going
Terrence says that his motto is “Keep going.” This tenacity dovetails well with one of Fruition’s key company values—Get Sh*t Done, or GSD. As a team, the FruCrew takes pride in our work, and we all pull together to make what needs to happen happen. Terrence’s hard working spirit and dedication to moving forward through tough tasks make him a perfect example of this value, and his clients benefit from his work ethic every month.  For Terrence, keeping himself moving forward is both an intellectual and physical pursuit. His drive across the board is unmatched. As hard as he works in the Fruition office, Terrence also puts in work in the gym and on the stage. 

## When He’s Not Building Content Calendars, Terrence Likes To…
As much as Terrence is a fitness enthusiast, you’re just as likely to find Terrence pumping iron at the gym as browsing the stacks of comic books at Mutiny Comics on South Broadway. He’s also a fledgling stand-up comedian and a particularly talented singer.  If Terrence suddenly won the lottery, he says he’d schedule a world tour, starting with some pretty fabulous beaches. First on the list? Ibiza and Singapore, followed by London and Paris, maybe even Paraguay. He’d call up all his nearest and dearest, then together they’d hop from place to place, living it up and always embracing the opportunity to try something new. Who knows? Maybe if Terrence hits it big, we’ll be lucky enough to get to follow along with his adventures on social media.  We are proud of the skills we bring to the table, and we know that we can help your business grow and thrive, no matter what industry you’re in.

What sets Fruition apart is our amazing team. Learn more about one of our amazing Social Media Specialists, Terrence Dobbs.

Fruition Team Member Spotlight: Terrence Dobbs

# The Marketer’s Guide To Social Media Chatbots

Over 2 billion messages are sent to businesses over Messenger every week. The days of sitting on hold listening to Opus Number 1 on repeat are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Today’s savvy customer wants fast, efficient service they can use on the go. That’s why more and more people are using social media and messaging apps to connect with brands to help get their burning questions answered. Does this all affect your bottom line you ask? You betcha. A recent study shows people are 21% more likely to buy services from a company if they are reachable on social media. It’s a daunting task to be expected to have lightning fast, accurate responses ready to go at any minute of the day, especially if you’re a small business. Luckily, this is where chatbots come in to save the day. 

## What Are Chatbots?
Chatbots are software applications that are designed to communicate with humans. While most chatbots are used to assist with customer service, these friendly applications can assist with a wide variety of functions including product recommendations, booking appointments, assist with generating leads, and even act as a companion if you’re having trouble falling asleep. They’re not just limited to social media either; chatbots can be used on your website, mobile application, or at your check-in counter. 

## How Do They Work? 
When you get down to the nuts-and-bolts of it all, there are two types of chatbots: rule-based and AI chatbots:
### Rule-Based Chatbots
Rule-based chatbots have limited capabilities and interact with users based off of a predetermined script or decision tree. Typically these bots only allow users to choose from a limited menu of options or need to be told a very specific command like “Location and Hours.” These types of chatbots typically don’t require any type of prior IT knowledge, are quick and easy to set up, and best of all, inexpensive. 
### AI Chatbots
AI chatbots use artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand, learn, and interact with customers. These types of chatbots can simulate natural human conversation and can help solve more complex queries. While these chatbots offer a better experience for you and your customers, they do require a significant amount of time, money and resources to implement. 

### Best Practices To Using Chatbots  
1) Define Your Expectations and Goals
It’s easy to get carried away when making dialogue-trees or looking at the sparkly list of features a chatbot developer can offer. Make sure you have a clear vision for the role your chatbot will play in your organization.
2) Analyze Your Customers
Be thoughtful and analytical about how your customers interact with you online and in-person. What are the most common questions you get asked? How do they ask them? What’s often misspelled? If you don’t have data at your fingertips, make a list over the course of a few weeks of every message, phone call, and in-person interaction and go from there. 
3) Be Transparent
Have you ever tried to tell a joke to a robot? It’s awkward. No one likes to feel tricked into believing they are talking to a human. Be up front and honest about who your customer is talking to from the get-go. 
4) Have a “Talk to a Person” Option
Technology has come a long way, but everyone still needs a little human TLC here and there. Always have an option to get in touch with a person, whether that’s automatically connecting to a live representative or sharing your businesses’ phone number in the chat. 
5) Find Balance
Have fun and give your chatbot a name, personality, and tone of voice that makes sense for your brand. But, don’t go overboard to the point it’s distracting or annoying for a less-than-happy customer. No one likes the feeling of being approached by an especially peppy person when you’re having a bad day. What innovative ways could your business use chatbots? For inspiration, take a peek at these 50 Innovative Ways Brands Use Chatbots. If you’re interested in learning more about setting up or maintaining social media chatbots, reach out to our team! 
Lets rock some chat bots together.

Chatbots can make your brand even more accessible to customers. Learn what social media chatbots are, how they work, and best practices for using them.

The Marketer’s Guide To Social Media Chatbots

Here are some additional micro influencer related articles from the team at Fruition. 

Related Social Media Tips

# Updated Guide on Working with Micro-influencers

If working with a well-known influencer is outside of your social media budget you can turn to using many micro-influencers to reach your company's social media goals. We've leveraged micro influencers for many years dating back to our first social media work for FOX Studios.

## What Is A Micro-influencer?
Micro-influencers have a following of less than 10,000 followers per platform. They also typically have a niche subject and audience.

## What are the benefits of working with micro-influencers?
Working with smaller influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok can get you the same, if not better, results as working with a social celebrity because of their loyal and targeted following. With less than 10k followers it is more of a community than an ad platform that you'll find with influencers that have larger platforms.One reason micro-influencer campaigns are so successful is because these types of influencers are more effective at building authentic relationships with their followers. One Adweek study found that content produced by micro-influencers is 6.7 times more effective at engaging audiences than bigger influencers. This is great news for brands, because this earned trust translates into better awareness and more engagement and clicks when compared to a big name social celebrity.

## Budgeting For Micro-influencer Campaigns
Budgeting for an influencer campaigns is difficult. Influencers typically do not share their fees publicly. However, businesses do not always need to put up cash to recruit an army of influencers. Instead, businesses can send influencers free products or extend a discount in exchange for a social post or blog review. For cash payments expect to pay between $10 to $25 for every 1,000 followers an influencer has on any particular social media platform. This is confirmed by recent surveys that report 84% of micro-influencers charge $250 or less for each sponsored post on Instagram. This means that even with a small campaign budget of $2,500, your brand can work with at least 10 different influencers and easily reach 100,000 new, highly engaged potential new customers for your business
.
## Setting Influencer Campaign Goals
Before you begin your search for influencers, your brand needs to set clear goals and objectives. This will ultimately inform the kind of influencers you should work with, what social platforms you’ll engage on, and how you’ll collaborate. Setting broad goals, like increasing awareness or sales is not enough. You need clear goals with your influencers to establish benchmarks. For example, your SMART goal should sound something like: “At the end of 90 days, our site will see an 5% lift in traffic by collaborating with local influencers using affiliate links.”

## How do you Find Micro-influencers?
The best place to start is by reaching out to influencers who are already advocates of your brand. Reach out to those loyal followers who always tag you in their posts and comment on your feed. To find influencers outside of your current following, try searching for relevant hashtags or keywords on the social platforms your brand wants to advertise on.

## How To Work With Influencers?
From PR packages, gift cards, social takeovers and affiliate links, there are endless ways to collaborate with influencers. To determine what kind of strategy is best for your business, you will need to consider goals, budget, and resources for the entirety of the campaign. Remember that the more complex your campaign is, the more time and money your band will need to spend. It is generally recommended to keep it simple, especially if your business is new to the influencer game. For example, if you have a physical product like chocolate, clothing or makeup, send a small set of influencers a beautiful PR package with your product and a bit about your brand. If you’re a local business like a chiropractor, gym, or coffee shop, extend a special discount for your service in exchange for a post.

## Micro-Influencer Considerations
Always keep in mind that micro-influencers are so valuable because of the trust they have earned from their fans. While it is great for your brand to offer some key talking points or points of purchase, it’s very obvious and alienating when brands force their voice on influencers. In a recent, not super scientific study, 12% of influencers reported that they have little to no control over the creative copy for a brand’s sponsored post. Giving influencers creative freedom helps them build trust with their fans, which in turn helps your brand win more customers and ensures the highest level of success for your campaign. Another item to keep in mind when working with influencers is transparency. Companies are responsible for informing collaborators of the FTC guidelines on how to properly disclose ads. Remember that many of these influencers are new to collaborating with brands too, so it’s important to work as a team to ensure you’re both following and abiding by the social platform’s terms and conditions. As a general rule, influencers need to have "simple and clear" disclosures. For example, this means using the hashtag #ad at the beginning of an Instagram caption or starting a YouTube video with the disclosure. Finally, remember you are reaching out to real people who have their own personal brand and motivations to consider when choosing to work with brands. Some influencers may provide reasons for saying “no” to your brand, and some may not. It’s totally normal for some influencers to decline your offer - just keep reaching out to other influencers in your space. However, if enough influencers are declining your proposal, it might be time to reconsider how you’re approaching influencers or what you’re offering them. 

## Measuring Influencer Campaign Results
The way you measure the results and success of an Influencer Campaign will depend on your brand’s goals for the campaign. However, the most commonly tracked Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include a mix of Reach (followers, engagement rate, impressions, traffic), Engagement (clicks, likes, reactions, shares and retweets, comments, mentions) and Sales (business performance, tracking and conversion rate). There are a few ways to collect and record this data manually. Your business can simply ask the influencer to share their reach and engagement information with you after a certain amount of time has passed since the post went live. Alternatively, you can also track success by using affiliate links, promo codes, or UTMS when collaborating. This makes calculating ROI significantly easier because everything can be neatly pulled in from a Sales Report or Google Analytics dashboard. For an easier, more automated solution, consider looking into an Influencer Campaign Management tool. There are a plethora of options that will track and format all your KPIs into a nicely organized report, which cuts down on manual labor and guesswork. Many even offer free demos or trials to help ensure you are using the best tool to fit your marketing objectives and campaign needs. Partnering with influencers is a great way to help your brand engage more people, build brand loyalty, and land more sales. There is a lot to consider when planning an influencer outreach program, but the return on investment can be high, especially when working with several micro-influencers. If you are interested in working with micro-influencers, contact us. Our Social Media team can help you form a sound outreach strategy that will give you the best possible results. Let's get a microinfluencer campaign going for you today.

**References on micro influencer data**
1. Micro influencer pay
2. best practices
3. study on control of brand messaging

Learn the benefits of working with micro-influencers and how to set influencer campaign goals. Plus, get top tips on influencer outreach and partnership.