Although the thousands of articles about social media often overshadow it, e-mail remains highly effective as a results-oriented platform that can increase sales and drive traffic to your Web site or Facebook page.
Importantly, e-mail is the most popular and effective medium for sharing information online.
In a recent study from ShareThis.com-
46 percent of consumers said they share information via email
33 percent said they share information via Facebook
14.5 percent said they use other channels to share information
6 percent said they share information via Twitter.
Our recommendation for this coming year: Maintain and even strengthen your e-mail marketing efforts. Your e-mail program and your Web site are the pillars of your online marketing efforts.
Where do conversations take place? You may be surprised to learn that 90 percent of conversations occur offline and the remaining 10 percent online. Despite the hype surrounding social media and the heavy use of Facebook and Twitter, the fact is that only a minimal amount of all conversations occur on social media sites! This research comes from the Keller Fay Group, a word of mouth marketing and research firm.
So why the huge gap in numbers? Studies reveal that although 83 percent of the online population says they use social media, less than 5 percent are frequent users and contributors of information.
Additionally, a study conducted by Sysomos found that 75 percent of all Twitter activity comes from only 5 percent of users. When you consider these numbers, the 90:10 offline-online word of mouth ratio makes sense.
Although social media channels remain an alternative venue for conversations, the vast majority of those conversations - and the ones that are highly influential in making purchasing decisions and sharing experiences - are really happening at the office water cooler or in the lunch room.
Word of mouth is simply a conversation, a sharing of an experience, or a story about someone or something. Word of mouth is successful when people are talking about you on a consistent basis. But the secret is that you have to give them something to talk about. This may range from the ordinary - a great greeting over the phone - to the extraordinary - same day delivery or something in the service area that goes beyond normal expectations.