New research has shown that brands are failing to effectively use a combination of social media and email in their communications with stakeholders.

The first part of the European Social Media and Email Marketing study, carried out in the UK by eCircle, a provider of email marketing services, has revealed that brands are not capitalising on the potential of social networks and email marketing to connect with their audience.

Whilst Twitter has the highest rate of sharing branded messages and contents amongst social media platforms, a majority of respondents don’t share branded content on any social networks. Moreover, social networks and email are perceived as having different functions, with email being used by the majority of respondents for private communication.

According to the study, 56% of internet users accept branding messages through both email and social media channels. Branding messages are most effective when they become part of users’ private communications.

The CEO of eCircle, Volker Wiewer, commented that “effectively integrated, social media and email can create a potent combination. However, our research suggests that brands are yet to truly utilise the power of these channels working together, although there is a plethora of tools to help them achieve this.”

The European Social Media and Email Marketing study aims to map the digital dialogue between email and social networks. Part two will focus on digital influencers.