Social network sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have changed the way people interact with friends. And they’ve also shifted the relationship between companies and their customers. With four out of 10 social
network participants using these sites to gather product information and recommendations,3 savvy engagement marketers use this new medium to connect more strongly with customers.

Much like successful email marketing requires more effort than blasting away at your customer list, getting your recipients to share your emails on social sites requires more effort than just dropping icons into your
message template. For starters, you’ll need to educate your readers about how and why they should share your content. Feature your social-sharing option in your welcome messages. Devote prime space in your regular mailings to highlight the location and use of your sharing icons or links.

As with other aspects of email marketing, testing is key. That’s because while some of the best practices of email marketing stil work when encouraging recipients to post messages on social sites, there are differences and nuances in what generates the highest results. Since the social medium is still so new, the various best practices are still emerging and have yet to be agreed upon. So experiment with the placement of social network links in your messages (top, middle or bottom), what social networks you link to and how many social network links you include in your messages.