Brands have more to gain from e-marketing
European email marketing agency eCircle has conducted research into combined social media and email marketing techniques, and found that many brands are still failing to harness the combined power of email and social media.
The study draws attention to the significant overlap between the number of people who can be reached through email newsletters and social media marketing, with 56% of internet users accepting marketing message via both these channels.
While 73% of respondents can be reached through social networks, almost all (95%) said they check their email at least once a day. Overall, the study's findings support the idea that email forms the most effective backbone for all digital dialogue with consumers.
The research also found that 32% of those who are active on social networks are 'fans' or 'followers' of a brand. The majority of fans or followers are motivated by functional reasons (for example, to gain discounts or to keep up to date with the latest information). Of those that were fans or followers of company or brand profiles, only 25% were motivated by the desire to demonstrate and share their attachment to the brand with their network of friends.
Worryingly, very few consumers are using sharing features, which suggests that brands are failing to effectively optimise tools such as 'Share With Your Network' (SWYN). Some 33% said they would never share information on principle, and a further 32% said they post only their own content on social media sites. This may be due to the content, as 35% agreed with the statement that "the branded content was not relevant enough".
There was also significant variation between the different channels on the amount of sharing that takes place. Twitter had the highest rate of sharing of branded messages and content at 18%.
According to Volker Wiewer, CEO for eCircle, "The majority of studies on social media have only looked at what consumers use social networks for. In this research we investigated who is using different social networks and what motivates them to publish and share information."
The 'European Social Media and Email Marketing Study' is a three part study conducted in six countries throughout Europe, aiming to map the digital dialogue between email and social networks. Part two of the study will survey 'digital influencers' and is due to be launched in early 2011. The study has been made available for download from eCircle's web site - click here (free registration required).
Sources: ECircle / The Marketing Factbook.
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