Integrating email and search marketing programs

Integrating email marketing and search marketing programs can yield big results, but many companies aren't yet taking advantage of this powerful combination.

“Integration is one of ... the most effective strategies,” said George DiGuido, VP-email marketing at digital marketing services agency Zeta Interactive. “While the two channels are talked about extensively as silos, we rarely hear clients talk about the two as integrated channels.”

Those marketers looking to more intimately link search and email marketing can get started with the following four tips, DiGuido said.

1. Customize search landing pages. Paid search results very often link to a customized landing page, DiGuido said, but more often than not there's just a form that captures information for the sales team while overlooking the email marketing opportunities. “Just having someone come to a search landing page, get information and leave doesn't help as much as making sure there's an email sign-up so you can drive and build your email marketing database,” he said. Marketers can accomplish this by providing a radio button where visitors can sign up for the email newsletter in addition to downloading a white paper or other content, he said. Adding opt-ins to mobile search pages is a good idea, too, he said.
2. Include search keywords in your email subject lines. Using the keywords most associated with your company or product can help solidify your brand and specific messaging, DiGuido said. “It's reinforcing the thinking so, when people go to Google or Bing and do a search about your brand, that's how they are going to find you,” he said.
3. Develop content based on your most popular terms and phrases. This is a great strategy for both paid and organic search, DiGuido said. If you know the 10 words or phrases that drive the most traffic to your site, you can provide a service to prospects and customers by writing about those subjects in your emails—all while driving even more traffic, he said. “You should be assessing this regularly since search terms can change seasonally,” he added.
4. Analyze email archive searches to cull new search terms for paid search campaigns. If you have a newsletter archive on your site—and you should, DiGuido said—look carefully at the words people are searching. Those terms may be very different than other on-site searches and can provide additional information for future search campaigns. “Newsletter repositories can help drive certain keyword search terms,” he said.