Social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s time to start using it to your advantage by aligning your social media and email marketing! It’s definitely worthwhile: by spending a few hours promoting their company on social media every week, 91% of marketers claimed these efforts greatly increased their exposure. That exposure could lead to more website traffic, better SEO, and improved conversion rates. Sign us up!

Social media has become a part of our daily lives. 76% of Facebook users log in to their accounts every day. This is the reason why two million businessesare using Facebook as a marketing channel.

On the other hand, Instagram earns $595 million in mobile ad revenue per year, with 51% of users saying they check the platform daily (and 35% saying they check it several times a day!).

And finally for Snapchat: over 400 million snaps are shared every day, and Snapchat ads are being viewed anywhere between 500,000 and 1 million times daily!

If your customers follow you on social media, you can continue to nurture that relationship outside the inbox. Establish a presence everyday news-feed prowl with reminders that you exist and are there for them. With “likes,” “retweets,” and more, your customers are further engaging with you and building a positive relationship with your brand.

Take a look at our 5 favorite social strategies to help you get started.

1: Encourage engagement with a hashtag

Instagram posts that use at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without. Crazy, right? So why not encourage that engagement with a brand-specific hashtag?

At the very moment that we’re writing this, #TeeFury has 61,373 posts on Instagram. If your brand has that many people wanting to share their nerdy t-shirts, you’d better utilize that! And they do – at the bottom of every marketing email, TeeFury encourages their readers to share their photos using #TeeFury. Below this headline, the brand showcases some user generated content and even links each picture to the featured tee. This is an awesome tactic to not only encourage engagement, but also a purchase!

Crate & Barrel does an excellent job using brand-specific hashtags as well. Users are encouraged to show “a little Insta love” using #CrateStyle. The resulting UGC aren’t photos staged in a state-of-the-art studio with perfect lighting and a professional photographer; the results are real people in real situations showing off their Crate & Barrel products. Not only does this show brand loyalty, but it’s also inspiring for potential customers to discover what they can do with their #CrateStyle!

2: Create an Instagram contest

People love contests, and they love winning them even more! A well-run contest can be a highly effective tactic to gain new followers.

Anthropologie utilizes this tactic well with their #SummerInASnap contest. Users can enter to win a $250 gift card – all they have to do is post a photo of themselves with an Anthropologie product and include the hashtags #SummerInASnap and #AnthroContest.

Easy, right? We think this simple strategy is totally worth it – after all, Instagram accounts that hold contests grow their followers 70% faster over three months than accounts that don’t. You’ll also love reining in those likes: Instagram contests get 3.5 times more likes and 64 times more comments on average than regular posts!

If you're interested in learning how to grow your Instagram followers even further, check out our guide on effective strategies to boost your social media presence.

3. Call out what’s trending

For those busy readers, just call out the highlights! Using gorgeous large images and informational captions, BHLDN features what’s trending on their social pages in this example.

First, they showcase the most-liked pic on Instagram accompanied by the most-shared post on Facebook beneath it. By doing this, BHLDN is making sure their readers stay in-the-know on what their fellow shoppers are engaging with on social. You’ll notice this brand also shows off the top-pinned image on Pinterest. By doing this, they’re actually encouraging a purchase! A recent study showed that 93% of active pinners use Pinterest to plan for purchases, and 87% of pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest.

Here’s to pinning some gorgeous dresses to our “Dream Wedding” boards!

4: Encourage users to share exciting sales

It’s a no-brainer that you’d want to get sale exposure everywhere you can. This is where your readers come in! Here, Francesca’s advertises a huge sale in a broadcast email and then encourages their readers to share the exciting news.

The large 60% off sales offer really catches the reader’s eye; the purple in the offer also matches the color of the Twitter icon, leading your eye from one important element to the next. With the large call-to-action button, the brand makes it simple to click and spread the news!

If you’re thinking of doing this for your brand, make sure your tweet includes an image. Tweets with images receive 18% more click-throughs, 89% more likes, and 150% more retweets!

5: Don’t forget about Snapchat!

In this example, Old Navy does an excellent job of capturing attention with bold, bright colors and the use of the word “free.” They also made a custom Snapchat filter. How cool is that? This brand is trying to capture their reader’s attention with the free denim tattoos, but they also quickly drop the hint that they’re on Snapchat.

Snapchat is the second most powerful platform in the US (it has more users than Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn!), so filters are a great marketing tool to garner more brand awareness. By using a branded Snapchat filter, you’ll get your logo seen by not only the person taking the Snapchat, but all of the user’s friends who view it! You can design your own filter online (or upload a design) for only $5.

Are you convinced yet? Let us know how you plan to incorporate social into your future messages!
And if you’re already doing this, way to go! Comment to tell us your favorite strategies.

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