As with other social media tactics, email marketers can’t afford to ignore what’s happening on their company blogs. Both the content created for blogs, and the visitors who come to read those articles, should be considered assets for email marketing programs.

Integrating the two channels doesn’t have to be a complex undertaking. You can start with simple steps that ensure you’re putting email offers in front of blog visitors, and repurposing blog content for email outreach.

Here are three quick tips for using a company blog to boost opt-ins and generate email content:

Tip #1. Promote email subscriptions and content offers on blog pages

A well-written, frequently updated blog can drive significant amounts of traffic to your website. With the impact of search indexing and social sharing, it’s likely that many potential readers are first landing on your blog pages -- not your home page or product pages.

Make sure you have a way to capture email addresses from blog visitors who might not take time to explore other parts of your site:

- Place email newsletter or promotional alert opt-in offers on every page of your blog. This way, visitors who land on a specific blog post -- and like what they read -- will easily see other ways to receive content and information from your company.

- B2B marketers should also create space on their blog templates for content or event offers that require registration. Providing links to a related whitepaper, upcoming webinar, demonstration, or other piece of content that requires registration is another way to turn a blog-generated visit into an opportunity for capturing an email address.

Tip #2. Offer an email subscription to your blog posts

Although it’s standard practice to use RSS syndication to provide automatic updates of blog content, RSS readers remain a niche technology (various studies have placed RSS adoption between 10%-20% of Web users). But many feed management systems, such as Feedblitz and Google’s Feedburner, allow subscribers to receive updates by email.

Promoting an email update service can help you attract a lot more subscribers for your blog content. You’ll also capture a vital piece of information that you don’t get from RSS subscribers -- an email address.

Also consider taking a cue from listserv mailing lists and create a blog "digest" newsletter. This could be a weekly, biweekly or monthly publication that consolidates blog headlines from that time period.

The option may appeal to visitors who want to follow your blog but don’t want a lot of new messages in their inbox. You also can use space within that email to promote relevant offers to subscribers.

Tip #3. Repurpose blog content for email newsletters

Get the most from the content your team produces by repurposing and re-using blog posts for your email newsletters.

Consider dedicating a specific section of your newsletter as a "blog corner" -- highlighting the newest article, or the most popular article (based on volume of clicks or comments) or a post by an industry thought leader.

Also, look for ways your blog content offers a counterpoint to typical newsletter articles. For example, if your blog tends to be more informal or entertaining than your newsletter articles, that content may be a welcome addition:

- Rob Stokes, CEO, Quirk eMarketing, began featuring humorous videos in his business blog over the weekends to offer his readers some lighthearted entertainment. Then, he decided to highlight some of the featured weekend videos in his team’s email newsletters.

- The average clickthrough rate for the video content was 136.8% higher than the average CTR for regular articles.

Useful links related to this article

Members Library -- How to use Social Media and Email for Prospecting: 8 Essentials
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31520

Members Library -- How to Build a Subscriber List Inexpensively Using Blogs, Contests
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31143

Members Library -- How to Drive More Traffic to Your Blog on Weekends
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30339

FeedBlitz
http://www.feedblitz.com/

FeedBurner
http://feedburner.google.com/