You will have noticed how many emails include "share to social" buttons as a limited form of integration. Often they are not so effective as this report on viral and community links in Emails from Chad White at Responsys shows. Oftentimes, the links are in the header or footer and get little traction.
In the report, Chad argues that since folks do like to share, creative can be designed to integrate social sharing and give it more emphasis. Here are some examples to inspire:
First, an example from the report. The social sharing is still fairly incidental, but it has got more prominence than many.
Here's another social email example from Chad's Retail Email blog. It may not win design awards, but the integration is there. As Chad says:
Ignoring the word cloud (which is feeling pretty dated at this point), this email does a great job of supporting its invitation to connect with real-world examples from each social network. It becomes a lot less abstract with an example, in the same way that a pitch to sign-up for emails is strengthened by showing a sample email. Including tweets, wall posts and other items from social networks in emails is definitely a growing trend.
The third and final example is the best, I think, with good integration of social into the message, integrated with copy to support the campaign goal. It gives it a human touch and feels like a fresh approach.
It's from another good source for inspiration - the Email Design Review site by Elliot Ross (Twitter). Elliot is Senior Creative Designer & Strategist at eDialog London.
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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