DUKKY

In the past couple of months, the need for marketers to integrate social media with email and other direct response marketing campaigns has become increasingly apparent. Has your marketing strategy changed yet? Here are 5 reasons why it needs to:

Social Media is Becoming a National Obsession

A study commissioned by Retrevo shows just how much of a priority social media is becoming. 48% of respondents report checking social networking sites after they go to bed at night or first thing when they wake up in the morning. 56% check Facebook at least once a day; 12% check Facebook every couple of hours.

Facebook is More Popular than Google

Not too long ago, claiming that a social media site could ever unseat Google would likely have been greeted with an reaction similar to the one that greeted John Lennon when he claimed that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.”

But now, Hitwise is reporting that for the week ending March 13, 2010, Facebook was the most-visited website in the country. Facebook. Not Google.

Facebook and Twitter Drive Purchasing Decisions

Facebook and Twitter aren’t just places where people hang out and socialize in a virtual world. They also drive purchasing behavior, as shown in this study by Chadwick Martin Bailey.

In the study, 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers said that they were more likely to recommend brands that they follow on Facebook or Twitter. 51% of Facebook  fans and 67% of Twitter followers were more likely to buy products from brands they follow on social networking sites.

Email Drives Social Media Sharing

However, other studies show that it would be utter folly to disregard traditional direct response marketing via channels like email.  For example, this study, by Merkle, found that people still spend a lot of time in their inboxes. 71% of respondents spend 20 minutes or more each week on personal email use-a figure that’s unchanged from last year.

People that use social networks extensively are also more likely to use email frequently, and they are twice as likely as non-social networking users to access email through their mobile phones.

Even more important for marketers, 20% of social networking users have shared items from their email inbox on social networking sites. For your customers, email use now goes hand-in-hand with social networking, and your marketing efforts need to reflect that.

Everybody’s Doing it

That last statistic indicates how important it is to design integrated email campaigns. Your customer’s email inbox is, in many cases, the key to reaching their social networking accounts.   With integrated campaigns and compelling, shareable offers (basically, what we specialize in here at Dukky), you’re not just emailing your customers, you’re emailing all of their Facebook friends, and their friends, and the people that follow them on Twitter…

According to e-Marketer, more and  more marketers are attempting to tap into the potential of social sharing with their email marketing campaigns. The “Email Marketing Industry Census 2010” from Econsultancy and Adestra, found that 37% of respondents are already using social sharing as part of their email campaigns and 31% plan to start doing so in the next year.  Don’t get left behind!

Dukky makes it easy to integrate social sharing into email or direct mail marketing campaigns. With our PURLS, your customers can share offers via email or on Facebook and Twitter-wherever they feel comfortable sharing.

Dukky makes it easy to raise awareness of your company on Facebook and Twitter by turning your customers into advocates. Plus, you get real-time analytics that let you measure response rates in real time!