Why it's a great idea Oh, 2004.
The Red Sox broke the curse and won the World Series, Martha Stewart broke the law and went to jail, and Justin Timberlake broke Janet's shirt during the Superbowl halftime show.
Of course we remember - it was just a few years ago.
But imagine if, five years ago, a colleague offered to "write on your wall," to "tweet," "friend," or even (we have to go there) "poke" you.
It was in 2004 that Facebook was first launched.
As of this week, the social networking site has 350 million registered users (to put that in context, this week there are about 308 million people living in the United States).
The average Facebook user spends 55 minutes a day on the site, and the time spent on sites like Facebook has increased 90% in the past six years.
How does this relate to your business? Well, studies suggest that more and more people are using social networking sites rather than email for their personal communication.
By turning to social email marketing, you can integrate social networking communication into your current email system, thus potentially reaching a much broader, self-selected audience while also showing your current customer base how much your value them.
How to make social email marketing work for you Setting up social email marketing is fairly simple.
There are several downloadable snap-in tools, including Xobni, TwinBox, or FeedMailer, that will allow email recipients to follow your company's social site and post links to their own.
But after providing the software that makes sure your customers can post your email to their social site, you need to provide the content to ensure they will.
One of the best ways to do this is to make sure the content of your email fits into what's already happening on social networking sites.
Here are a few tips to make your content fit in.
Your customer is...
One way to get your customers to click that "post to social" tab is to connect your brand to their identity.
From running shoes to class rings to new software systems, what we buy says something about who we are.
And if one of your customers likes your product (and what it says about him or her), odds are that customer's friends will like it, too.
Post a status upgrade.
When designing promotions, try to consider incentive programs that will allow your customers to build status and share that status with their friends.
Preferred customers, who hear first about new products or sales, or even get updates on product development, are likely to feel valued.
As an added bonus, they can share this information with online friends, publicizing both their own status and your product.
Give a gift.
Customer rewards are nothing new.
Providing loyal customers with discounts, or offering free products or services in exchange for referrals, has long been a way of rewarding loyal customers.
By encouraging recipients to post these rewards to their social sites, you'll allow them to let their friends reap the benefits of these programs, too.
And, of course, you'll gain exposure and customers.
Support a cause.
What to you get for the customer who has everything? Recently, many companies have rewarded loyal customers by donating to worthy causes for each purchase or referral they make.
From carbon offsets to money for schools, supporting causes can encourage customers to return and make them feel good about their purchases.
And you'll feel good, too: appealing to altruism shows your customers that you value not only their business, but also their world.