There’s been a lot of debate recently about the future of email: is it pushing forward stronger than ever or on the verge of extinction, about to be overrun by all-inclusive social networks?

As an e-marketing specialist, I find it hard to imagine the internet without email. No matter what you use email for, I believe that we, as online content consumers, will always need our inboxes to aggregate, create, organize, and search the hundreds of online data points we create daily as we navigate the web. Email is the only private online location where users can store and create content with very few limitations or restrictions. Where else can you manage your social networks, businesses, bills, family, friends, banks, job searches, and more in one location?

At ListEngage, we help our clients with email and social media marketing daily, so we see the benefits and drawbacks of each: email is a great relationship building tool but not a great prospect acquisition channel, while social media, if used intelligently, is ideal for prospect acquisition and qualification but lacks the “direct contact” that opt-in email does.

I’ve been really impressed with a company called Groupon lately, that seems to be using email and social media as a dynamic 1-2 punch for spreading their daily deals and messages. Click here to read more about the union of email and social media, and how Groupon is delivering a winning e-marketing TKO.

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Can your business really stay on the sidelines of the social media revolution?

Smart businesses are starting to realize that there is opportunity to be had in building an engaged fan base by interacting with clients, prospects, and passerbys on Facebook Fan Pages.

What some businesses haven’t realized yet, is that there is an even bigger chance to pull in prospects, catch someone’s attention, and deliver a precise call-to-action when you create a “Custom Fan Page” for new visitors to land on.

When you let passersby that are interested in your organization land on your Facebook Wall, it’s like letting someone new visiting you for the first time – straight into a conference call or an important meeting without educating them about your brand or company.

We’ll illustrate the point with two real life examples:

Imagine this: you’re an organization that is looking to get people on board to help Ban Asbestos in the US. You’ve got an important message to convey and know that Facebook is a great place to generate buzz and build a grass roots campaign for this good cause.

If you make the Facebook Wall the very first thing your potential supporters land on when they visit your Fan Page then this is what they’ll see…

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Email continues to be the "Great Organizer" for users

According to a new survey published by Merkle, 71% of online consumers spent 20 minutes or more weekly exchanging email with friends and family in 2009, the same level recorded in the previous year.

With plenty of speculation that social networking sites were going to trample email out of the picture, some of the numbers in the report are truly powerful examples of how important email communication is in the average online user’s day-to-day. In fact, with the increased usage of Mobile Email and with most users linking their social networking updates to their personal emails—social networking is actually “breeding” a new brand of “Hyper Email Checkers”!

Here are some other great findings from the study:

– Nearly two-thirds (63%) of social networking consumers use the same email account for their social networking alerts and messages as they do for the majority of their permission, or opt-in email.

– Over 42% of social networking consumers are “hyper email checkers”– those who check their personal email account at least four times daily –compared with 27% of those not socially networked.

– 48% of social networking consumers spend 45+ minutes weekly with personal email, compared with 40% of those not socially networked.

and Mobile users with internet on their phone are even more likely to check their emails constantly:

– 50% of mobile email consumers are “hyper email checkers” too–compared with 32% of traditional email users.

FYI – Data was collected through Merkle’s annual “View from the Inbox” study, an online survey of 3,281 US adults age 18+ conducted during fall 2009.

Image was adapted from an original image by: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here’s what I had to say on the subject…

“As an organization, when invited to work with a client, although we may not initially feel one way or anothertowards, let’s say, the medical device industry for example—we do feel strongly about the real-life people, friends, and partners that we support with our efforts. So, when a client asks us to engage their audience because they don’t have the expertise, the resources, or “bandwidth” to execute their social media strategy, we lend a hand.

In my mind, this new “digital ghostwriting push” is actually nothing new: popular brands have been doing it for years—via customer service “response” letters, pre-recorded phone calls, emails and direct mail pieces. This is just the latest version of busy people outsourcing their surplus work to others who they have trained and who they trust.”

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Read Dave’s Article…

Read more from Dave’s Blog — Useful Arts

Coke's Gettin' Social

The next time you lather up in the shower or crack open a Coke it might not seem like anything has changed about your favorite product, but somewhere in the inner workings of these corporate giants—something is shifting.

Coca-Cola and Unilever are just two companies that have announced that they plan to shift from website-based product campaigns in 2010, to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to propel their latest product launches.

Basically, Coke and Unilever are willing to bet that they can attract more people (and more brand advocates) by entering into social media spaces where people already are rather than trying to bring people to a Coke-Zero or a Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” site.

And we agree…

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For questions regarding your company’s social media marketing plan, contact us here.

With businesses looking to expand their eMarketing and social media budgets in 2010 — on everything from email marketing design and services to developing niche followers on Twitter — List Engage has something to offer any business, big or small. Why not make one of your resolutions to join us on the cutting edge of eMarketing success in 2010!

In email’s defense, there are plenty of reasons to use it over social networking sites: privacy, certainty of delivery,  no length restrictions… to name a few. In the words of Marketing Sherpa, “When we look at media use over the last 15 years, we see a pattern of aggregation and adoption rather than replacement. Some media suffer in the exchange, but none are eliminated entirely. More commonly, their uses become more refined.”

So, while we may find a Facebook status update good for conveying a one-liner, or Twitter for “tweeting” our location it’s a lot less likely that social media will replace email for getting in touch with Nana, keeping updated on your bank’s latest policies, or interacting with potential clients.

To read the complete Marketing Sherpa study, click here.

Though there might not be a “magic bullet” to solve all your problems, we do have some tried and true solutions to save some sanity in the future. Here are our

Top 5 Ways to Tackle Your New “Social Calendar”:

1)      Delegate: Debby from Marketing—you’re on Facebook Fan Pages. Carol from PR—you’re in charge of tweeting all company media coverage on Twitter. Ok, Go!

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