Category Archive: Social networks
Share an idea and enter to win a caffeinated prize
Share a Facebook idea with us, and you could win a $100 gift card to spend with GoCoffeeGo, one of our newest customers.
If there’s one question that’s common to every member of the Emma Community, it’s this one: “How do I stand out from the crowd?”
Standing out is a challenge in the email world because inboxes seem to be overflowing with messages, and it’s now a challenge in the social space too. (Did you know that more than 30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook every month?)
So what’s the answer? Well, the high-level answer goes something like this: Share valuable, personal content with your audience on a regular basis. And along the way, stay in touch with the people in your audience, asking them what they’d like to hear from you.
And that’s where you come in, dear blog reader. We’d love for you to help us decide what we share on our Facebook page. While we’re on the topic, please like us there if you, well, like us.
So what topics should Emma cover on our Facebook page? Let us know what you think by posting a comment below, and you’ll be entered for the chance to win a $100 gift card at the end of this month from GoCoffeeGo, one of our 30,000 fantastic Emma customers. No purchase necessary to enter.
We look forward to hearing what you think … thanks for playing along!
Meet the-e-list
How a stylish, in-the-know gal stays connected to her subscribers and the Connecticut shoreline.
About the newsletter.
Every week, Erica Tannen provides her subscribers with news about art, restaurants, services, shopping and more near the Connecticut shoreline. the-e-list is “an excruciatingly opinionated guide” that brings attention to new businesses and trends near the shoreline, and it rounds out Erica’s other unique offerings, including the e-card and PeRKS programs.
Since she conceived the idea for her newsletter in 2009 (“my crazy idea is to develop an online community of like-minded souls on the shoreline”), Erica’s list has grown from just over 1,500 folks to nearly 5,000. Using Emma’s Social Sharing feature, she sees even more growth on the horizon — in this campaign alone, 12 audience members shared via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or email, leading to 83 visits from non-subscribers. Looks like her crazy idea is paying off.
Why we like it.
It’s packed with fresh and timely content. A July sale at a jewelry boutique. A gourmet cookie shop with extreme flavors like Kahlua and key lime. College students that started a mini-catering business. A farm-to-table oyster bar. Survey Tannen’s summer newsletters, and you’ll find these businesses and more enthusiastically profiled.
In short: Know your audience’s interests and create your campaigns with them in mind. Love the things they love, and they’ll be sure to love you back.
It utilizes ad space in a smart way. Erica worked with the Emma designers to create a custom layout with plenty of ad space along the newsletter’s right side. Now, Erica can feature rotating advertisements, and her sponsors reach thousands of inboxes weekly.
In short: Consider offering ad sponsorships in your newsletter. Pick a layout that will highlight ads in a prominent way, and you may just cover the costs of your mailing. Check out our suggestion for selling ads here.
The send-off, at a glance.
- Sent on July 14, 2010, to 4,856 people
- Open rate: 43% :: Click-through rate: 38%
- 12 shares via Social Sharing, 83 trackable visits
- Subject line: All good things in Essex, 7/14/2010
- Created using a custom layout
More details
See the campaign online
See the website
Social Sharing is officially here!
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the arrival of Social Sharing for your email campaigns. Our latest feature makes it easy for your audience members to share your emails with their friends and followers on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It’ll exponentially increase the reach of your emails. And we’re not the best at math, but we’re pretty sure exponents are a good thing. You’ll be feeling like a social media superhero in no time.
Here’s how it works:
+ You click an Add Social Sharing Options button as you’re creating your campaign and select which social network icons you want to appear on your emails.
+ After they receive your email, your recipients click an icon (or more than one, if that’s how they roll) and share a link to your email with their friends and followers.
+ Then you hop over to your Response page to see which audience members are sharing your email, and which networks are generating the most traffic to your campaign.
More to Explore: 
Watch our video
See exactly how Emma’s Social Sharing feature works with step-by-step instructions in our help section.
5 reasons to use Social Sharing
Emma’s own Jim Hitch shows how you can be a social media superhero for your organization. (Tips involving capes not included.)
Join the conversation
The ever-savvy Emma community is finding interesting ways to add our latest feature to their social media strategies. Join the conversation and share your ideas, won’t you?
So log in now to get started … or, if you’re new to Emma, inquire now to learn more!
Join the social media conversation
Lots of you have been using our new Social Sharing feature in Preview, and we love reading your comments. We’ve even used your feedback to shape how the feature works. We know you’re excited about how this tool can help your organization because you’ve been telling us in all sorts of ways, such as …
- “The social sharing is a great new feature! Thank you for continually upgrading your system!” – Jess Goedken, WBG
- “Worked like a charm and looks great!” – Peggy, Warner Norcross & Judd
- “Just like Burger King: ‘Have it your way!’ You guys are simply awesome! I had asked for this, and here it is!” – Suzanne, Documentary Channel
(So you can see why we’re blushing even as we’re busily working on the feature.)
We’re already thinking about how our product will evolve, and a big part of that future depends on how you all use social media. So we thought we’d toss you a question to get your perspective and give us more feedback to share with our product team:
Tell us: Do you use social media primarily for listening or for speaking?
Some of you have already answered us on Twitter:
@boomerangzone says, “We use them for both. For social media to work, you need to engage in conversation. It’s also a way to watch/build your brand.”
@kenjisan says, “In my personal life, social channels are mainly for listening. Professionally, they’re for sharing.”
So come on, join the conversation and let us know how you’re using social media in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you.
5 reasons to add social sharing links to your email campaigns
Adding social media icons to your email campaigns with Emma’s new feature takes just a few seconds, but it can increase your reach and help you identify your most avid followers. Who knew all of that could be as simple as pushing a couple of buttons?
If you’re new to this whole social networking thing — or if you know your way around Twitter and Facebook but just aren’t sure whether you want to try the Social Sharing feature — take a look at these reasons we think it’s worth doing. (And, of course, this new feature is free with your Emma account.)
+ To harness the reach of social media. A single share can be really powerful because of the number of followers that one email recipient can reach. How powerful could this be, you ask? Well, Facebook claims that the average user has 130 friends, so every 1,000 email subscribers represents a potential audience of 130,000 people! (Actually it’s exponentially more than that because shared content can be shared further once it’s in the network.)
+ To share the idea of, well, sharing. You may have readers who are already active on social networks and just haven’t considered how their followers and friends could benefit from your content. It’s a simple idea, but adding the icons to your emails helps connect those dots for your audience members who just haven’t thought to share your campaigns with their contacts.
+ To grow your email list. This may seem obvious, but when your content is shared on social networks, it’s typically being shared with a group of people who share common interests, so it’s already likely relevant. With that in mind, we’ve made it easy for them to sign up from the landing page if they’re interested in getting future emails from you. So not only might your email get shared … but you might also gain new subscribers.
+ To pave a road that’s already being traveled. Even if you haven’t seen it, your recipients might already be sharing your content. The new Social Sharing icons simply give them a shortcut to doing it easily. For an interesting case study in measuring the additional traffic from shared email content, take a peek at the story of SmartBrief in this MarketingSherpa article.
+ To pinpoint your most loyal fans. Having your audience share your content is quite an honor, of course, so you may want to provide something special for folks who regularly share or help you spread an important message. With Emma’s enhanced reporting feature for Social Sharing, we’ve made creating that list of loyal fans simple for you.
Want to give Social Sharing a try? Log in now or read more in our help section. If you’re new to Emma, you can inquire now to learn more.
A Nashville nonprofit mobilizes volunteers after a flood
When Nashville endured record-high rainfall and flooding over this past weekend, Hands On Nashville recognized that relief efforts would need to be large in scale and swift. Josh Corlew, HON’s Emergency Preparedness Manager, sent a series of email campaigns urging folks to get involved and showing them where – and how – they could donate time or money. You can see recent campaigns here and here.
In a crisis that is being declared a federal disaster, Hands on Nashville is using the immediacy of email and social networking to their advantage: updating supporters when volunteer positions have filled, posting ongoing needs and keeping the spirit of urgency alive.
Of course, all of us at Emma are paying special attention to how nonprofits are helping during the flood since our main office is in Nashville. And we’re pleased to have Hands On Nashville as one of our customers. But most of all, we’re thrilled to see email and social networking sites play such a practical role in communicating, bringing people together and helping solve problems during a crisis.
A few ways to follow and support Hands On Nashville’s efforts:
+ Sign up to receive their email newsletters
+ Follow them on Twitter (@HONashville)
+ Check out their current volunteer opportunities
You can also text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to donate $10 to relief efforts in Nashville.
By the way, Emma designer Taylor Schena designed the flood-edition Hands On Nashville stationery pictured above.
Nonprofit uses new media to win old-school publicity
How a nonprofit used email and Twitter to inspire their supporters and win a full-page ad in USA Today.
The folks at To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) recently won a full-page ad in USA Today by using email and social media together in one simple, combined effort. By using Twitter to further their cause, the nonprofit — which helps people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide — found a way to inspire their supporters and score great publicity.
“What would we say to 4 million people?” began their April 15 campaign, referencing USA Today’s enviable readership numbers. The email then reminded everyone how important grassroots communication has been in the history of the organization, which Jamie Tworkowski founded back in 2006.
In the email campaign, Tworkowski asked readers to tweet a specific phrase to enter USA Today’s Twitter campaign for charity. The phrase? “Let’s bring hope and help to America. Please RT: #AmericaWants @TWLOHA to get a full-page ad in USA Today.”
One week later, TWLOHA sent a follow-up email campaign to share the good news — they won the contest.
“Right now, we simply want to say, ‘Thank You.’ Your support is indescribable. We have a voice because of yours. We are all in this together, this conversation about pain and hope,” Tworkowski wrote to his supporters. Continuing the spirit of collaboration, the campaign encourages readers to use Twitter to share their ideas for what message should be included in the ad.
It’s great to see nonprofits tap into the power of social networking as a way to extend their reach and find new people who also care about their mission. (By the way, Emma’s new social sharing feature makes it easier than ever to pair up your email campaigns with social networks — you can try it out now in Emma Preview, if you want to see how it all works.)
Key takeaway: Look to your email subscribers to help you spread the gospel of your organization using social media mediums like Twitter.
Superhero-ify your email campaigns
Emma’s new Social Sharing feature is now available in Preview, so log in anytime you please for a sneak peek.
With this new feature, everyone on your list has the opportunity to easily share your campaign with all of their friends and followers on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Why all the fuss about social sharing, you may ask? Because when you pair the steady reach of email marketing with the huge influence of social networks, you give your campaigns superhero-like powers.
Here’s how Emma’s new feature works:
+ You click an Add Social Sharing Options button as you’re creating your campaign and select which social network icons you want to appear on your emails.
+ After they receive your email, your recipients click an icon (or more than one, if that’s how they roll) and share a link to your email with their friends and followers.
+ Then you hop over to your Response page to see which audience members are sharing your email, and which networks are generating the most traffic to your campaign.
While this feature is in Preview, we’d love for you to try it out and send us your feedback through the Preview Bar running along the bottom of your account. Oh, and remember: Emma Preview is the place to see and test the latest feature upgrades, but it works just like your real Emma account with the same information and the same campaigns. So if you send, you’re really sending.
If you want a few more details about how it all works, you can watch our how-to videos and learn more about social sharing in our help section. Or just log in to get started … cape and mask optional.
By the way, the superhero-inspired illustrations above are courtesy of Emma’s own Elizabeth Williams, a member of our stellar design team.
Update: If you don’t see this feature in your account, double-check that you’ve logged into Preview or send an email to support@myemma.com. We’re happy to help.
New feature sneak peak: social network sharing
We have loads of great features in the works for the Emma community. The most recent one coming soon to beta is a new way to share emails through popular social networks.
Social sharing allows your audience to share your email campaign on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. This works almost exactly like our existing “send to a friend” feature, but instead of just allowing people to share your campaign with their friends through email, it allows them to share a link to your campaign even more broadly. You select which networks you want to make available to your readers, and the right icons will show up.
Then what?
Once someone receives your email campaign and clicks on one of the icons in the header of your email, they’ll be taken to the corresponding social network where they can expound on how awesome your email is to all their adoring followers.
Once a few people have shared a campaign and their friends have clicked back to your campaign from the social networks, you’ll be able to see what’s going on in the revised response tab for “Shares.”
Something to keep in mind here: a “share” is when an email recipient clicks one of the icons in their email, and “traffic” is when another person then clicks through to your campaign from a social network.
They’re both important numbers, and they’ll become even more valuable when you see how they’re different.
We’re sure that adding this shiny new tool to your Bat-utility-belt will help grow your already high-quality lists. Want to be among the first to use this handy new feature? If you’re an Emma customer, sign up to be a beta tester, and we’ll let you know when it’s ready for you to start using.
Emma is a member of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
Copyright © 2003 - 2012 Emma. All rights reserved.