How to freshen that email campaign

"Integrated marketing is critical," said Amber Whiteman, Metia. "It's also the beauty of the digital age - integration and data management have been simplified . . .We've seen a spike in requests from customers to repurpose content across a variety of channels to produce an integrated campaign. It's the next logical wave from the branding revolution in the past decade."

With that integration comes changes to how marketers approach email - and social - right? Not necessarily, says Whiteman. The first priority for marketers remains the optimization of messages and, from there, to offer content that customers actually want. Don't throw a message about back-to-school sales to customers whose children have grown up, for example.

"Create content that has meaning and value for your customers," said Whitehead. "If your goal is to 'make something go viral' you have already failed. Your goal should be to do something great for your customers."

Finally, don't forget those social links - make it simple for customers to find and share your content, deals and information with their network.

As for the actual messaging, Whiteman notes that subject lines are still very important and that mobile functionality is a growing concern, too.

"Subject lines will always matter because they are the first impression that a consumer has of your offer," said Whiteman. "Including images and proper landing page links are Email Marketing 101. Aside from that mobile email is a game changer. [People use mobiles] to text and read or send email. There are significant design implications with mobile email."

So know how your content is displaying.

Finally, make the content relevant - personalize it by using data from your client lists so that the right message reaches the right consumer.

You can read part one of my chat with Metia and Amber, including her thoughts on integrating email and social, here.

Tags: email marketing, email trends, Metia, social marketing, social sharing, social trends