Marketers often talk of a relationship whereby social media is used to grow email databases and increase the medium’s engagement. But what if you have a large database and a fledgling social media following? Can the vice-versa also ring true?

The answer is yes; you can bolster the power of your social media through email marketing, and here is how.

Include social media buttons

Including social media buttons is a simple yet effective way of directing traffic to your social media pages. It’s also best practice. In fact, doing so has been seen to increase Facebook fans by about 325%.  These buttons should be present ideally email’s footer. However, you should also include them on confirmation pages, especially if someone is signing up to become a member of your database.

Use emails to promote competitions being run on social

If you’re running a competition on social media, email marketing can bring plenty of traffic to the page. It allows you to also include valuable information about the competition that might otherwise be too cumbersome to include on other platforms. It’s highly customisable features also means that you can design it in a way that appeals to the target audience, encouraging them to click to your social media page, enter the competition and like your page.

Make use of creative and strong calls to action

Just including a button might not cut it; you need have strong calls to action that encourage people to go to your page and like or follow it. These CTAs can include incentives such as discounts or how fans get exclusive deals. By doing so you have a stronger chance of increasing your following. That is because most people who like your page do so to receive discounts.

Case study

Sony Achieves 3000 Pins on Pinterest

However, the proof of email marketing’s social strength is in the proverbial pudding. A great example would be one of Sony’s email marketing campaigns. The electronics giant had launched a Pinterest page, and wanted to generate interest for its upcoming Viao range. The solution was to integrate Pinterest buttons in its emails and send it out to Sony’s subscribers. As a result, the achieved 3000 pins and an astounding 172% revenue per delivered email.