Email Customers Want To ShareWhen email subscribers share and discuss your content with friends and social networks, they start to sound like insiders. “Others will want to be insiders, too,” says Stephanie Miller at MarketingProfs’ Daily Fix blog. As a result, your list will grow—and so will your reach. “Customer-instigated sharing acts as a force multiplier that can significantly ratchet up the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign,” she explains.

So how do you optimize an email campaign for social sharing? Miller offers advice like this:

Identify which social media channels produce the most conversions. You’ll likely find most of your customers clustered in three or four services and networks; focus your efforts there.

Cozy up to influential brand advocates. They already like your product or service; heighten their enthusiasm with special treatment that acknowledges their status.

Learn from the offers that go viral. These days, consumers “expect and share only the most daring of offers,” Miller notes. Pay attention to the traits that seem to seize their interest.

Make sharing and registration easy. Remove any obstacles that prevent a subscriber from sharing your content and discouraging friends from signing up for your email campaigns.

Play by the rules. “Brands that overstep, spam and/or fail to disclose their intentions risk customer backlash,” says Miller. Bad behavior is a great way to generate negative social media buzz for your product or service—exactly what you don’t want.

Make it worth their WOM. Increase your reach and effectiveness by enhancing your email strategy with a social-sharing strategy.

Source: Marketing Profs Newsletter.