It’s an old idea on Epolitics.com, but a good one still — email and social networks work well together, no matter how many people try to predict (for instance) that Facebook dooms email to irrelevance. Two good examples popped up today, the first in an email from the Center for American Progress:
To be progressive is to be connected. To stay on top of what’s going on, and to spread
progressive ideas to your networks. To challenge conservative misinformation with the facts.And CAP’s Facebook page can help. Just go to www.facebook.com/americanprogress and click
on the “Like” button at the top of the page:[big blue button]
After you’ve clicked “Like,” click the “Suggest to Friends” link on the left side of the page to
invite your Facebook friends to join you.
Yep, you can use email to build a base of support on Facebook, helping to create critical mass for future viral growth. Just as you can also use a Facebook Page to build your email list, as Oceana recently did — over 60 days, they gained 5000+ email-list signups and more than 4000 new Facebook “likes”. The keys? Engaging supporters consistently on their Facebook Page, providing people with information and giving them opportunities to sign up for actions while also being sensitive to any blowback (i.e., they were careful not to overdo it). They also made it easy to act, in part by including an online petition in a tab directly on their Facebook Page. So the next time someone presents email and Facebook as an either/or proposition, set ’em straight — for their own good.
– cpd