The online marketing space has evolved, and social media and mobile channels present the opportunity for more personal engagement to exist between people and brands. Marketers need to think beyond a batch-and-blast email marketing mentality to a well choreographed and integrated approach that is in sync with target audiences.

Social media and mobile channels combined with email marketing can help fuel this shift, enhance engagement, grow customer opt-in lists, and maximize audience touch points.

Yet, as noted by Forrester’s David Daniels, "not enough email marketers are integrating proven channels, such as social into their email marketing campaigns." Likewise, Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang recently discussed on his blog why he believes that email marketers can no longer avoid integrating social tools.

Email Marketing Should No Longer Stand Alone

At Lyris, we define the active dialogue via email, social and mobile marketing channels as "tri-messaging." In other words, tri-messaging encompasses marketing messages that are written, packaged, orchestrated and unleashed for email, social and mobile channels. It is a methodical approach to change the way in which people interact with your company, thus creating opportunities to capture mindshare and engage in interactive conversation. The concept of merging email with social and/or mobile channels may seem challenging - but is well worth the effort and will help you stand out from competitors.

Sergio Balegno, senior analyst at MarketingSherpa, advocates a multi-channel approach and recently posited in the 2009 Social Media Marketing & PR Benchmark Guide that, "an overwhelming 97 percent of marketers agree that social media will complement other marketing tactics, such as email, rather than displacing them. It’s truly a symbiotic relationship - email is still, and should be, targeted, but social media provides an opportunity for marketers to extend reach. Add in mobile, and you have a marketing campaign that is greater than the sum of its parts."

Lyris Customers Reap the Benefits of Tri-Messaging

Alliance for the Arts joined us on our ad:tech New York video by David Spark to discuss how tri-messaging is enabling them to better nurture relationships with their customers.

Tri-messaging: Alliance for the Arts and Lyris at adtech NY 2009

Lyris clients, such as Matches (a leading fashion provider) and Eldorado Resort and Casino, have also proven how the power of integrating email with mobile and social channels will increase the success of marketing efforts and create a more engaging customer experience. By orchestrating campaigns across channels and leveraging Lyris HQ’s embedded Web analytics, Matches has enjoyed a significant improvement in customer data and is benefitting from actionable insights into campaign effectiveness and the variance of online and in-store purchases. This flow of information has enabled the company to improve the quality and frequency of its online communications with customers. Similarly, by integrating email with other channels, particularly mobile, Eldorado Hotel and Casino has more than doubled its mobile opt-in list and increased revenue through improved prospect conversion.

As with other marketing and business initiatives, before integrating email marketing campaigns with social and mobile channels it’s best to start with some measurable goals and clear objectives. In this regard, there are four goal-oriented topics to consider: 1) brand building; 2) customer acquisition; 3) customer retention; and 4) product launch. Once you decide where you want to focus in terms of specific achievements, it’s easier to determine your strategy, choose social networking channels, orchestrate content development, select tools, organize staff, etc. Using the Forrester Social Technographics Ladder will help you understand how your target audience (as defined by gender, age, and geography) uses social media.

In order to discover more about how your company can maximize its marketing campaigns by applying a tri-messaging strategy, follow us on Twitter twitter.com/Lyris and take advantage of the additional resources available at http://lyrishq.lyris.com/:

•Enhancing Email with Social Media: Q&A with Lyris and You?

•Top 3 mistakes to avoid when integrating email and social media

•Social Media Marketing On-Demand Webcast

•Integrated Marketing Communications Has Evolved

•Conversations at the Core