How should email marketers be responding to social trends?
Lasker: Email marketers should realize that the relationship between email and social is not a competitive or cannibalistic one — it is symbiotic. As marketers increase adoption of social networking to engage consumers, email will also grow. A 2009 Nielsen study shows that social media use makes people consume email more, not less — and this is particularly true for the highest social media users. Email marketers must look to integrate their social and email marketing programs more closely. And the good news is that solutions by ESPs like ExactTarget and Strongmail enable marketers to do just that. OMD: Are there instances in which email and social networks can actually complement each other? Lasker: Yes, email and social networking will and should always complement each other. A number of our clients — HUGGIES, Obama, Disney, Blockbuster and many more have illustrated this approach. Let’s talk about a very successful social networking program deployed by Kimberly-Clark for the HUGG
