Integrating Social Media and Email Marketing (Without Overcomplicating It)

Are your social media feed and email newsletters so disconnected that they could come from different companies? 😬

One team manages your socials, with one set of goals, while another handles your email list with their own strategy and objectives. It’s all very “east is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet.” (Pretty sure Kipling was referring to marketing strategy when he wrote that.)

But here’s the thing: Email marketing and social media are BOTH better when they work together. Really, they’re a match made in heaven: Social media starts the conversation and sparks new relationships; email marketing keeps the party going (a.k.a., nurtures those new relationships).

If your email and social media have been estranged, it’s time to bring them back together.

Let’s explore what integrating social media and email marketing can look like and why these two branches of marketing work so well together.

Why This Combo Works

As I mentioned, social media and email marketing are made for each other.

Social media is all about increasing brand visibility, discovery, and engagement with your audience.

Email marketing deepens the relationships you build on socials and provides an opportunity for more extensive conversations.

🤝Together, email and social media can create a much smoother, more enjoyable customer journey. Think of it less like two separate marketing strategies and more like one really effective tag team: Social media gets the race off to a great start, then hands the baton off to email marketing to bring it across the finish line.

4 Ways To Start Integrating Social Media and Email Marketing

1. Start With One Clear Goal

Whatever you’re trying to do — grow your email list, sell a certain product/service, build awareness — use both social media and email to move toward that goal. Let each platform play a role.

For example: Let’s say you want to grow your email list. You might try:

• Encouraging your list to forward your emails to their colleagues, friends, or family members.
• Including a link to your email sign-up form in your social media profiles.
• Running a Facebook ad to bring attention to your email newsletter (include a link to sign up).
• Posting a link to your sign-up form in your Instagram stories, and telling your followers why they should join (what’s in it for them?)

This is only a short list to give you an idea of how you can use both social media and email to reach for the same goal.

2. Keep Branding and Voice Consistent

Make sure your voice and branding are consistent throughout your marketing — including social media and email. That means using the same color scheme, logo, style, tone, and message everywhere.

The last thing you want is to sound like different brands on different platforms. For example, if your social media posts are full of fun but the writing in your email is stiff or boring … there’s a huge disconnect there.

No matter where someone finds you, they should encounter the same brand personality.

3. Plan Content Together

Are two different people or teams planning your social media and email campaigns? Bring them together.

Don’t stress, this doesn’t mean putting everything on one person’s plate. It simply means the two people or teams should be planning content together. One way to do this: use a shared content calendar to make sure everything lines up.

4. Let Your Data Do Some Work

Social media gives you a treasure trove of info about what your audience likes (and doesn’t). What they like on socials can give you clues for what to send them via email. This can help make your emails feel a lot more personal (and a lot less spammy).

Now, I’m not talking about cutting-and-pasting your social posts into an email and hitting send. Instead, pay attention to the content people seem to gravitate toward on social media, and use that to inform the kinds of emails you send.

For example, say you get a lot of love on an Instagram Reel you did giving a tour of your offices and introducing your team. That tells you people like seeing behind-the-scenes stuff. Take that and run with it by giving them more via email (think: employee interviews, team outings, showing off your office holiday decor, etc).

Next: Use Smart Cross-Promotion To Get Results

Use Email to Boost Your Socials

Invite your email list to join you over on social media, if they haven’t yet — but give them a good reason to do so.

You should definitely have links to your social profiles in every email (at the bottom is fine), but you also want to entice people to click. Just saying “follow us on Facebook” is okay, but not exactly enticing. “See behind-the-scenes content on our Facebook page” is better — it shows them what they’ll get when they click.

In addition, share reviews, comments, or user-generated content you receive on social media in your emails.

For example, if someone shares how much they love your product/service, tell your email list about it! (Bonus points if it includes photos or video.)

Use Social To Tease Your Newsletter (and Grow Your Email List!)

Don’t assume your social media followers know your newsletter exists — tell them! Make it a regular part of your content. In the same way you invite your email list to join you on socials, invite your social media following to join your email list!

But don’t just say “hey join our email list,” create some interest around it:

• Tease your emails: Share snippets, previews, or “you had to be there” moments.

• Offer a reward for signing up: Discounts, freebies, etc.

• Make signing up easy with link-in-bio tools (Instagram), or linking to your sign-up form in your posts (Facebook, LinkedIn).
• Get creative with engagement: Offer contests, giveaways, polls, etc., that require providing an email address.

Bonus: These things help build community while you’re growing your list!

Repurpose Like a Pro

Reuse your social media content in your emails and vice versa.

Again, don’t just cut-and-paste and call it good. Instead, take inspiration from one to create the other.

For example, say you posted a social media series sharing top tips for getting the most out of your product or service, and it seemed to go over well with your following. From there, you could craft an email series that goes deeper on the same topic, incorporating blogs, videos, or other media to enrich your emails.

Or take your latest email newsletter and break it up to create multiple social media posts — one for each topic covered in your newsletter.

Repurposing your content like this helps you work smarter, not harder.

Run Campaigns Across Both

The next time you build a campaign to market your business, don’t limit it to a series of emails or a few LinkedIn posts. Promote your campaign everywhere.

I can already hear you asking, “But won’t that get repetitive? Won’t people get sick of hearing about it?” But repetition is only annoying if the content itself is annoying. 😏 When it’s done well, and done intentionally, repetition can be really effective.

Plus, don’t forget that not everyone on your socials is on your email list, and vice versa. And even those that are don’t pay attention to every piece of content you share. (Sorry, but it’s true.) Promoting your campaigns across platforms helps ensure more people actually see — and remember — them.

Creating Campaigns That Feel Connected (Not Pieced Together)

The goal of integrating your social media and email marketing is to create a cohesive brand experience across all your marketing platforms. To accomplish this level of strategery:

• Think in Terms of Campaigns, Not One-Off Posts. The occasional one-off post or email is fine (especially if you’re hopping on a trend). But generally, your social media and email newsletters should be a little more strategic.
  
  When you plan your content, think about creating campaigns, not just random posts or emails that don’t connect to each other. Plan about 1-3 months in advance. Consider upcoming events, sales, seasonal changes, or new products/services, and how you can most effectively get the word out.
  
  
• Use Automation Where It Makes Sense. Adding in a little automation (when it makes sense) can help make your brand experience feel seamless, instead of random. For example: Include an invite to follow you on social media in your automated “welcome” email for new subscribers.
  
  
• Check What’s Working (and What’s Not). Keep an eye on what campaigns get the most traction (clicks from email to social; social followers subscribing to your emails, etc). Then, adjust your future campaigns accordingly.
  
  
• Watch Out for Common Pitfalls: Treating social and email like two different worlds; posting just to post (with no overarching strategy); inconsistency with your messaging or branding; forgetting to track results; etc.

Make Your Marketing Work Together

In summary, you don’t necessarily need more content … you need better-connected content. Integrating social media and email marketing makes everything more effective (and a lot less chaotic). When your marketing channels actually work together, everything feels better — for you and your audience.

Not sure if your marketing is connected or just coexisting? The Wild Fig Team would love to help you bring the band back together (a.k.a., build a cohesive social media and email marketing strategy). Schedule a discovery call to get started.

👉 Bonus: Want to grow your email list? Here are 25 ways to do that. Don’t overthink it; pick a few, and get started!