In prior articles we talked about the challenge of building a content marketing program and provided some ideas on how to accomplish that task. Now lets take a step back to a subject I enjoy the most: email and email newsletters. Specifically let’s examine how email newsletters have evolved from where they were to where they should be in today’s world of content marketing. The impetus for this article is from a recent conversation I had in the beautiful city of Warwick Rhode Island. I was there to speak at an event for the regional AMA chapter.
During this presentation I touched on the important role that email newsletters should play in your content marketing strategy and how email newsletters are evolving due to the adoption of social networks.
Does adding links to your social media sites do the trick? Many people have started adding links to their social media into their newsletters. This ties the newsletter to your social content – but it is only a loose thread. The content on the newsletter is entirely separate from the content being posted to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The connection is only incidental.
What is a truly social newsletter? I argued that this was not a true social newsletter and likened it to a caterpillar whose evolution was interrupted and came out with just a single wing. I would suggest that in order for your email newsletter to be truly transformed it needs to have social content and social conversations embedded directly within it.
When I mentioned this to the audience and demonstrated a sample they all seemed to be impressed – but that quickly changed to concern. How could they possibly pull that conversation into an email template? Well, it is very doable… you just need the right tools to do it (shameless plug: www.contentmx.com)
Why were people impressed and even excited by this concept? Because it provided a clear understanding of how an email newsletter could play well with all of the efforts they are putting into their social marketing. They saw how it would increase the engagement that they yearn for and even increase potential sales.
Getting people to participate in online conversations is a great way to increase sales. We have seen this demonstrated through numerous client engagements. What do you think? We would love to hear your thoughts. Have you tried using conversations from LinkedIN or Facebook in your email newsletters? Has it helped? What are the elements that make your newsletter social?