Is email marketing on its way out?  This is a question I hear posed often. With the rise in social media and marketers beginning to dedicate more of their budget to social media programs and with the onslaught of unsolicited email, is email becoming a less effective way of reaching customers?  Absolutely not. In fact, it’s more important than ever.

Consumers are pickier now about which email lists they subscribe to and what they spend time reading, but when a customer opens your email, for that moment, you have their personal attention.  And in a world where marketing messages are thrown in front of your customer from every direction, that moment of undivided attention is priceless.

Social media doesn’t eliminate the use of email for marketing, but what it does give you is a powerful opportunity to integrate the two and cross promote while interacting with your customer on multiple levels. With the use of your email list you can jump-start your following on your social media sites, then use these sites to invite more people to sign up for your email list.

Build a social media presence by inviting your email subscribers to follow you on Twitter, become your fan on Facebook, and join you on LinkedIn.  Not only will this help to grow your social media presence quickly, but email messages that include links to social media sites get a better reader response.

According to a study by GetResponse, email messages that include a social media sharing icon, such as Facebook or Twitter, generated a 30% higher click-through rate than those without sharing icons and messages with three or more social sharing icons generated a 55% higher click-through rate.

Your social networks are a great way to connect with potential new customers, share content and engage in conversation. But use these sites as well to invite people to subscribe to your mailing list.  Emails can then be used to create and build meaningful relationships with these potential customers over time by providing them with valuable, targeted, useful content.

Below are a few tactics you can use to begin integrating your email and social media campaigns:

- Add email sign-up forms on your social media pages like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

- Tweet your email newsletters

- Announce new blog posts to your email list

- Include “follow us” links in your email messages

- Place a link to each email message on your social media sites

- Include social media sharing options in your email messages

By integrating your social media and email marketing campaigns, you make it easier for potential customers to connect with you, to delve in and become further engaged with your company. Together they deliver a one-two punch that become a powerful part of your marketing mix.