The Role of Email Marketing in Social Media Advertising in 2024

Have you ever wondered how email marketing could enhance your social media advertising? In 2024, both email marketing and social media advertising have emerged as the two most powerful tools for consumer targeting and engagement. However, rather than using them separately, forward-thinking brands are now combining these approaches to create a seamless, personalized experience for their audiences.

Consumers today expect more than just generic marketing messages—they crave authenticity, personalization, and emotional connections with the brands they follow. By integrating email marketing with social media advertising, businesses can deliver tailored content that resonates deeply, creating stronger customer relationships and boosting overall engagement.

This article explores how email marketing plays a vital role in enhancing social media advertising, with insights into how this combination can drive better results for your brand. Let’s dive in!

The Role of Email Marketing in Social Media Advertising With Examples

Thanks to AI, machine learning, and marketing automation tools, brands are now launching super-targeted initiatives that retain the use of email marketing and the coverage of social media. According to the Statista report, email has a global user base of 4.4 billion, while over 4.2 billion people actively use social media platforms—demonstrating the massive potential of both channels.

But how exactly does email marketing enhance social media advertising? Let’s explore its key roles:

A. Driving Traffic to Social Media Platforms

A primary role of email marketing is to direct users to certain CTAs. Including specific social media CTAs within email campaigns like ‘Follow us on Instagram,’ ‘Join our Facebook group, etc.’ are proven to be highly beneficial for the expansion of a brand’s social media community.

In fact, a report by GetResponse also points out that email marketing campaigns featuring social media calls to action experience a 158% boost in click-through rates.  This synergy between email marketing and social media allows brands to  convert their subscribers into active social media followers.

Example: Crate & Kids, a home decor retail store,  uses Instagram giveaways into their email marketing campaigns. In these campaigns, subscribers are prompted to follow the brand on Instagram to participate, giving them a specific push to increase traffic and engagement. With effective CTAs within the appealing email designs, Crate & Kids has succeeded in increasing its followers on Instagram, enhancing brand loyalty and engagement.

B. Supporting Retargeting Campaigns

Retargeting is commonly used by brands as a digital marketing technique. It involves targeting customers with ads they are likely to be interested in based on their previous interactions with a brand. By collecting and analyzing customer behavior data from email campaigns, brands can craft more personalized and relevant ads on social media platforms.

According to Omnisend, brands that use retargeting emails in combination with social media ads achieve 41% higher click-through rates. It highlights how important email marketing is for a brand’s retargeting strategy.

Example: Wayfair, an e-commerce firm which primarily sells home and furniture goods, utilizes email campaign data to enhance retargeting efforts on social media. If a customer receives an email promoting a product but doesn’t make a purchase, Wayfair retargets that customer with ads on Instagram or Facebook featuring the same product. This approach keeps customers engaged and significantly increases conversions on social media platforms.

C. Encouraging User-Generated Content (UGC)

Most social media advertising initiatives involve user-generated content or UGC in their strategy. Through email marketing, brands can encourage subscribers to share their experiences with products, fostering authentic UGC that resonates with other consumers.

According to the Nielsen report, 92% of consumers trust UGC, particularly when the content comes directly from the users instead of a company’s ads. By integrating email marketing with social media in UGC campaigns, brands can harness this trust to boost their credibility and strengthen their online presence.

Example: UGC is a cornerstone of Madewell, a fashion clothing brand, which encourages customers to share their photos through email with hashtags like #everydaymadewell. These UGC posts are then featured on the brand’s Instagram or website gallery, thus making  customers feel  valued and engaged. This approach not only increases community interaction but also amplifies Madewell’s reach across social media platforms, creating a sense of belonging among its audience.

D. Enhancing Personalization for Social Engagement

With the advances in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, personalization and segmentation has become the new marketing norm. Email marketing allows brands to gather detailed information about their subscribers—such as preferences, activity, and purchase history—enabling them to create highly personalized messages. This level of personalization can also be taken to the social media platform, where user-specific content can drive deeper engagement.

“Email marketing amplifies social media advertising by turning personalized interactions into viral engagement" - Vineet Gupta, Founder of 2xSaS

According to a study  by Epsilon 80% of consumers are willing to buy products from brands that create personalized experiences. This survey points out that the techniques learnt from email marketing could be applied in social media to boost customer retention and engagement.

Example: Stitch Fix, an online fashion retailer, excels at using AI-driven personalization in its email marketing campaigns. By analyzing subscriber behavior, Stitch Fix sends tailored style recommendations via email. These emails often link to relevant social media posts featuring curated outfit ideas, which not only increases visibility across platforms but also enhances click-through rates and strengthens customer relationships.

E. Strengthening Cross-Channel Campaigns

Cross-channel marketing focuses on delivering a unified customer experience across multiple platforms, including email and social media. By integrating email marketing with social media advertising, brands can reinforce their messaging, ensuring consistency and greater impact.

According to Clever Tap Report, cross-channel marketing campaigns can lead to a 31% increase in conversion rates compared to single-channel efforts. This shows us how email marketing comes in handy in ensuring that social media ads reach a wider audience.

Example: Glossier, a minimalistic beauty brand, creates seamless brand-associative cross-channel campaigns when launching new products. It initially introduces the product to its followers through social media, then follows up with  email reminders, highlighting the product’s benefits and its features. This consistent messaging across platforms helps Glossier enhance brand trust and reliability, while also keeping its audience engaged.

F. Building Community Engagement

Email newsletters play a key role in community building. They push their subscribers into joining relevant social media groups, forums or communities where they can engage with each other as well as with the brand. Developing these communities help brands build loyal customers and get more engagement on social media through interaction.

A poll conducted by Sprout Social found that 63% of consumers are more likely to buy products from a brand that supports community engagement. This makes promoting social media communities through email an important strategy for enhancing social interactions and customer loyalty.

Example: Product Hunt effectively uses welcome email newsletters to encourage subscribers to join its tech-loving community. In this space, users can share experiences, ideas, and recommendations on various tech products. Through this community, Product Hunt has effectively utilized the power of email marketing to create a strong social media platform for customers. Furthermore, it increases the interaction with the customers beyond the sale of tech products.

G. Tracking and Measuring Success

The beauty of using emails for marketing is that you can easily track and determine other key performance indicators  including the open rates, the click-through rates and the conversion rates. These insights are useful for brands trying to fine-tune their social media advertising to determine which platforms and content elicit the most engagement.

As per Hubspot research, the global marketers report an average email open rate of 46-50%. By leveraging email marketing analytics, brands can enhance their social media advertising efforts, ensuring more targeted and effective campaigns. It implies the efficiency of email marketing when it comes to delivering tangible results within the broader scope of  online marketing.

Example: Shopify, an e-commerce app and platform, utilizes email marketing metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of its social media promotions. By monitoring the click-through rates of social media buttons added to the emails, Shopify can identify which social media platforms drive  the most traffic. This data allows the brand to refine its social media strategy and maximize results in future campaigns.

Conclusion

In 2024, the combination of emails with social media advertisement is inevitable for brands seeking to establish targeted and efficient e-marketing communications. 

Email marketing not only drives traffic to social media platforms but also enhances retargeting efforts, encourages user-generated content, and strengthens cross-channel marketing and community engagement. With the help of the strong analytical features available in email marketing, brands can always refine their social media strategies for better results. 

As these two highly powerful marketing platforms continue to merge, the brands that incorporate them effectively can be the ones benefiting from the crowded digital commercial market space.