July 23, 2010 - by Magnus Hultberg

Include ‘share this’ links to increase responses to your emails

If you use Facebook or Twitter you’ll know how easy it is to share links and information with all of their friends in just a few mouse clicks. When you consider that Twitter users post 55 million messages everyday and an average Facebook user has 130 friends, it’s easy to see how powerful these sites can be at spreading your restaurant marketing offers and coupons.

In fact, a recent study by GetResponse (an email marketing service provider) found that emails which included a link a social networking site increased the numbers clicking on links in their messages by 30%, whilst those including 3 or more links increased click throughs 55%!

So, along with a ‘Forward to a friend’ link, it’s a smart idea to also include ‘Tweet this’ and ‘Share on Facebook’ buttons at the bottom of your emails. As GetResponse’s study shows, the improvement to responses to your emails can be dramatic. But surprisingly it’s a tactic many businesses are being slow to adopt…

Why retailers are potentially missing out on £millions

In dotMailer’s annual ‘Hitting the Mark’ study of 36 UK retailers it found that only 17% included a ‘share on social network’ link, whilst half didn’t include any links at all. When you consider that most emails from retailers contain details of their latest deals and special offers they could be missing out on millions from not including social media links.

Social media can also be used to extend your marketing emails into an ongoing conversation. Sending an email every time you’ve got something to say is bad practice – it can annoy people and lose subscribers. Twitter and Facebook, on the other hand, are ideal for sending customers special offers, recipe tips and interesting links.

You could look at email as the introduction and social media as the place to continue the conversation and chat to your customers throughout the day.

Useful links
Spread Your Restaurant Marketing Emails Virally using Social Media
Econsultancy: Social sharing options increase email click-through rates