Brands: Why social sharing is more important than ever

"We always say that email is the largest social network in the world," said Amber Whiteman, Metia. "Social integration has taken on increased importance for marketing plans in general - not just to email. Email integration with social is simply another way for marketers to integrate their approach. Social media transcends marketing channels."

For many email service providers (ESPs) the addition of social sharing tools is one way to make it simpler for brands to socially integrate. And consumers still like email, especially for promotional messages. One recent survey found 62% preferred to receive promotional messages via email - that is more than those who preferred Facebook, the largest social network. With so many people logged on to socnets for long periods of time, why the continued draw to email?

"Consumers know that unless they monitor their myriad of social feeds 24/7, they will miss out on promotional campaigns," said Whiteman. "Consumers look to their inbox to find deals and coupons. Social networks increase the sharing of deals and promotions but the best mechanism for sending and receiving promotions is email."

This integration of email and social will likely only become more hand-in-hand as we move forward because it makes it simple for consumers to find the messages they want and then share them across their networks.

"If you make it easy [for consumers to share information], they'll do it," said Whiteman. "There are two places you can use social - direct customers to your social pages or encourage them to share what you are promoting in their social networks. Know what you want your customers to do, and then help them do it."

More from Amber and Metia tomorrow, including her top tips for freshening up an email message.

Tags: email marketing, email trends, Metia, social integration, social marketing, social marketing trends, social solutions