The Symbiotic Relationship between Search & Email Marketing

Search marketing and email campaigns are often looked at by marketers as separate tactics. However, email marketing campaigns can now be leveraged beyond the subscriber base and published to the Web via new social media channels. In turn, search marketing efforts can be designed to drive more eyeballs to not only a company's Web site, but to a particular email marketing initiative. So, how does the nimble marketer leverage an integrated approach to search marketing that drives better email ROI and vice versa? This article will discuss why search is an important part of an integrated marketing campaign and touch on the symbiotic relationship between search and email marketing, and where social media marketing plays in the mix.

Why Search is Important

Search marketing has important implications for businesses. In today's online world, search engines are often a first stop for consumers looking for content, deals, general information, reviews and more, which influences critical purchasing decisions. A buttoned-up search marketing strategy takes advantage of both paid search and search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to elevate a company's presence in the search results of specific keywords. However, a recent study proves that search marketing's importance goes beyond just making it to the first page of a Google search. A recent survey conducted by Jupiter Research (now part of Forrester) found that 61 percent of reluctant consumers can be positively swayed online. This has strong implications for a brands online presence and subsequently how their target consumers and prospects find them online.

Search & Email - The Symbiotic Relationship

Most marketers understand that email marketing and search marketing have some sort of connection. But, more often than not, these two functions are siloed in different departments or viewed by marketers as two separate tasks with two different reporting methods. However, as the web continues to become a more social place and with nomadic audiences seamlessly moving around the web, search and email have a newfound need to work in tandem to capture prospects' attention and ultimately drive results. First, let's look at how search engine marketing (SEM) can drive results for email marketing programs. Most companies purchase keywords from search engines that best associate their brand with what prospective and existing customers are most likely to

search for on the web. Combining this with organic, in-house SEO efforts helps to boost search marketing efforts. This is basic SEM practice. However, what if consumers put in a search term on Google and are taken to a landing page where they are encouraged to sign-up for an email newsletter? This helps drive searchers to become part of a brand's email marketing process, driving larger subscriptions and engagement, as the consumer chooses to opt-in and is therefore more likely to act. By integrating search and email marketing with web analytics, marketers can understand more holistically what search terms and keywords are driving traffic to the landing page and augment email content accordingly to better reach, serve, and engage their key audience. This integrated approach could close the loop for marketers by measuring these campaigns and their results and optimizing in real-time. Similarly, email marketing can also help drive search success. Consider a newsletter campaign promoting a seasonal deal to customers and prospects. The email gets automatically optimized for the web so the content is picked up and posted by Google. With emerging tools such as social media site sharing widgets, email campaigns can also present viewers with options to share newsletters on social networking and other aggregating sites that they are members of or visit often, such as Digg, del.icio.us, and Facebook. This effectively shares your email with a broad online audience of fans, supporters, and others. And, it offers hyperlinked content that drives even more people back to your website or landing page. Put examples of marketers (support with facebook, youtube, twitter)

The Social Factor

The communication, community-building, and purchasing behavior of todays consumer has changed. People are consuming and interacting with content from more online mediums than ever before, including email, social networking sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and via mobile messages both online and on-device. This transformation requires a shift in how marketers listen to and target audiences throughout the lifecycle of relationships. This new era of 21st century marketing requires us to move beyond a "push" mentality with audiences, to more interactive and engaging relationships that include two-way conversations across a broader range of channels. Social media marketing offers opportunities to drive the relationship with search and email forward faster and more cohesively. Search remains one of the key ways your customers find you online. But gone are the days when you can optimize just your website and achieve the search results intended. Why? Because search engines love social networking sites and media and this content improves your company's SEO. Sophisticated search engines are spidering through the internet looking for blogs, wikis, social networks, photo sharing sites, Twitter, and more, and you want your company to feature prominently in those results and have a distinct and engaging presence.

For example, the sharing of email newsletters by fans on Facebook makes this content available to their network of users, but also produces results when someone searches for these keywords in a search on Facebook. Similar results are realized on Twitter, but have even more web viral appeal as they can be re-broadcasted ("re-tweeted") out to an exponential list of users/followers. This means more content and engagement with a brand online, which translates into improved search results and email effectiveness. Essentially, the emergence of social networking and social sharing tools in email helps to force down the silos around search and email marketing to drive more cohesive, integrated marketing strategies.

Bringing it All Together

Email is no longer a stagnant one-way marketing message and is increasingly becoming just one of the many ways a company should interact with and engage its customers and prospects. Email now offers new options for consumers to share and tag newsletters and offers -- allowing your message to spread virally at the click of a mouse. Search marketing can drive effective email list building initiatives, the results of which are measurable. If executed properly, email marketing can drive improved search results and are also measurable, providing actionable data in real-time to improve campaign effectiveness. If most now agree that search and email marketing are better when working together to drive marketing results, then its easy to see how other marketing tactics can also be integrated into a holistic campaign approach. As described above, social media channels can interact with both email and search and act as the intermediary, amplifying their power at virtually no cost. Are people forwarding your message or linking it to their social networking pages? Are 10 percent of your new email subscriptions coming from Twitter? Having a unified search and email marketing strategy will help to hone this, and drive greater ROI with the same or even less resources. In marketing practice, symbiotic marketing, has the following obvious Economic benefits. First, to reduce marketing costs, resource sharing can reduce the cost of resources, such as reduced Development costs, the two companies to develop a new product as an additive, each enterprise can take advantage of new product upgrade existing products, improve product quality or innovative selling point, so as to enhance market competitiveness, reduce cost of sales, the two companies to share distribution channels, sales force, warehousing, transportation, etc., to achieve a multiplier effect; lower advertising costs, the two companies advertising through cooperation, can improve the effectiveness of advertising, reduce advertising costs. The second is to improve marketing efficiency by sharing sales channels, can achieve a short introduction of products in more regions, which occupy the market or the first step into the market than the competition benefits, is very clear, because consumers have a preconceived psychological, first impression is much more profound than the second. The third is of particular concern in the Information age, Information is a lot of impact,

causing people to general information, numbness, therefore, attention has also become a new Economic resources, many advertising is to arouse people's special attention, and symbiotic marketing has a special form, can cause particular concern, Symbiotic marketing conditions for the implementation. Symbiotic marketing, in general, two types of companies by the following results for the more appropriate one from the similar but different market segments products enterprises, and as the same food companies, beverage companies and ice cream companies, Health food and snack food companies symbiotic marketing may apply. The second is the production, sale or use of, or complementary relationships with upstream and downstream enterprises of different product components, such as Computer accessories and peripheral equipment manufacturing companies and machine manufacturers, the production of refrigerators and refrigerator deodorizer , detergent and hand cream, microwave and cooking utensils and other businesses can be implemented between the symbiotic marketing, because these products in the production, sale or use of a certain relevance, the implementation of symbiotic marketing can play a very good effect. However, with the Development of symbiotic marketing, in exactly the same between products and between different products phenomenon of the emergence of symbiotic marketing, such as companies producing the same product, put aside the original cut-throat competition, create a new win-win strategic partnership to jointly develop new markets, to product development, marketing depth, conspiracy to "market" This pie bigger, rather than the current "market" This pie fight on the size of such cases In recent years TV Alliance, VCD Union who is most apparent in the different symbiotic marketing relationship between the product, more imaginative, of course, to be successful must make careful planning and adequate preparation. Symbiotic form of marketing. Simply can be divided into three, one-time collaboration, such as commercial retailers and manufacturers of promotional activities to promote overstock products mainly joint sales activities, sales of product A B awards available product opportunities, etc., such as the summer of 2000 in Nanchang, less than 2 dollars to buy a jar of sun rose iced tea, you can buy a hundred Friends of Haier, Changhong, Konka, Hisense, Siemens, Little Swan, Yung-Sheng, any brands such as Electrolux appliances, save 10 dollars, buy jewelry, jade province $ 20 to buy Meng Jie, Hasty treasure, rich gold, Fontane and other bedding Save 15 dollars, buy Oil of Olay, sea fly wire, SLEK, Avon, a small nurses by 5 dollars, buy three guns, should be rather cool, wealthy, AB Underwear, Pierre Cardin, love, Manni, Triumph, spring bamboo and other brand products by 5 dollars. The second is a loose co-operation, such as advertising on the cooperation, especially on co-branding promotion, rising advertising costs in the current circumstances, the co-advertising, let the other half of the cost-sharing, but also has special interesting effect, why not do it. Many universities in China such as the living area, Little Swan Washing Machine with Procter & Gamble's Ariel detergent cooperation will contribute to a washing machine and laundry detergent, and convenient for the university teachers and students to provide economy, laundry service, this is a use branding the symbiotic way of marketing, most consumers in the future potential of

people to cultivate their brand identity, can be described as long-term vision. Third, the compact of cooperation, such as share sales channels, market Research information, the two sides established a long-term stability partnerships, such as the European telecom giant Alcatel and Motorola in the U.S. CDMA network marketing business carried out extensive cooperation. Symbiotic marketing in the implementation should pay attention to the problem. First, to do more careful and detailed plans in advance. Long both partners, weaknesses, market reactions may occur in future, possible future tragedies such as to conduct Research and analysis, to fully consider the possible adverse situations, especially in the case of unequal strength of the implementation of symbiotic marketing, the weak side to pay attention to protect their legitimate interests, can not be controlled by others, do not covet a moment of interest and led to the loss of long-term development. The second is carefully drafted partnership agreement, specifying the rights and obligations, the legal protection of the interests of both, but we must be careful not to violate the law. Third, the opponent's cooperation to keep abreast of marketing conditions, timely communication of problems, that have emerged which could endanger their legitimate interests issues through legal and effective way to promptly resolve, including the removal of partnership, to adjust partners. symbiotic marketing as a new marketing model, more and more welcomed by enterprises, and in practice, many enterprises to explore a number of kinds of diverse forms, but its core business is to seize every opportunity to make full use of various resources including public resources, partners, resources, competitors, resources, and consumer resources, internal and external resources, improve marketing efficiency, enhance corporate their market competitiveness.

Strategies for Symbiotic Marketing

When you have a symbiotic relationship with donors, they get what they want and need. And you get the money and loyalty that your organization needs. Then, because its a win-win situation for both parties, the relationship grows and endures. Here are a few ways to develop and sustain a symbiotic relationship with your donors: 1. Treat them with respect at all times, but dont fall all over yourself to please them. A symbiotic relationship is, after all, a two-way street. Both parties need to benefit or the relationship becomes a parasitic one for one party and a subservient one for the other. 2. When you ask for a donation, do it without either begging or apologizing. And never stoop to tricks like creating urgent needs that dont really exist; the boy was only able to cry wolf so many times before people stopped believing him. 3. Dont evaluate a campaign only by how much money it raised in the short term. Instead, judge it by how much it enhanced the relationship and, because of that, will contribute financially in the longer term. With that kind of thinking, youll avoid creating transaction-based campaigns with no residual value. 4. True friends dont ask for a favor every time they make contact, so once or twice a year mail something to donors without asking for a donation. Theyll appreciate the gesture and wont figure that youre hitting them up for money every time they see your logo on an envelope. 5. At all times keep in mind that whats good for your donor also is good for your organization. Always look out for their best interests as well as your own. So, when marketing symbiotically, how would you approach something like a receipt mailing? Some nonprofits mail a tax receipt as a stand-alone because its cheaper than including a letter. Others enclose a thank-you letter with generic content they dont want to spend the time and money to create a special note of appreciation. Others still figure that, since theyve already incurred the cost of postage, they might as well ask for another donation at the same time. But if you market symbiotically, you give real consideration to what the donor wants. In addition to the receipt, craft a letter that relates back to the solicitation that generated the donation. After all, that was obviously a subject that interested the supporter enough to donate. He or she would, no doubt, like to hear more about it.