Marketers are still failing to manage and integrate social media into their marketing programmes / Silverpop

Richard Evans, Silverpop,

Email still beats social media as the preferred method of interaction and communication between brands and consumers, according to research released today from email and marketing automation experts Silverpop

Further to this, despite increased awareness, many marketers are still failing to manage and integrate social media into their marketing programmes, with nearly one in five marketers not integrating their marketing programmes at all.

The research was conducted to gain a better understanding of how today’s marketers are using – and plan to use – email, mobile and social forms of communication. According to the survey, most marketers are making some progress towards achieving integrated campaigns across channels, however there is still room for improvement with 80 per cent of UK responders reported being ‘somewhat or not at all integrated’.

In addition to marketers wrestling with integrating their campaigns, preference centres are still focused solely on offering email, leaving plenty of opportunity for savvy marketers to connect with customers and prospects by providing additional options. According to the survey only 5 per cent of UK companies report offering email opt-in on their Facebook page, and only 6 per cent offer email opt-in via SMS. 

The increase in smart phones and tablets has inspired two thirds of UK marketers in Silverpop’s survey to either add a mobile app or plan to do so by the end of 2012. However this interest in mobile hasn’t translated to local check-in campaigns, with only 23 per cent of UK marketers currently using or planning to implement local check-ins.

Richard Evans, Director of Marketing EMEA, Silverpop (pictured) comments:

“The hundreds of millions of people who use email and social networks together to engage with brands will only continue to increase, and so marketers who integrate these mediums well, thinking more strategically and leveraging each channel to strengthen the other, will profit rather than struggle in the new interactive marketing mix”.

For more information, please contact:

Tom Horn / Kirsty Murray / Christina Aylmer-Pearse

Eulogy!

T: 020 7927 9999

E: silverpop@eulogy.co.uk

About Silverpop

Silverpop is the only marketing technology provider that offers a powerful marketing automation solution built atop a scalable email marketing platform. The company has more than a decade of experience empowering marketers to deliver highly relevant communications that efficiently drive revenue while also building brand loyalty.

Companies rely on the Silverpop Engage platform to create and manage sophisticated multichannel marketing campaigns that nurture customer and prospect relationships from interest to conversion and beyond.

Silverpops industry-leading thought capital, strategic counsel and customer service, combined with an extensive ecosystem of world class partners, allow its customers to quickly and cost-effectively automate even the most complex campaigns—improving marketing results and increasing ROI. With a presence in the United States, Europe and Australia, Silverpop is trusted by leading brands around the globe. Visit us at silverpop.com.