“Like us on Facebook” and “Follow us on Twitter” links in your emails aren’t integration. “Like” and “Tweet” buttons are a little closer, but only if people understand why they should click them. A recent study found, that Facebook users often can’t make the mental leap to why they would want to click these buttons.

1. Feature winners of Facebook competitions in your email newsletter. By featuring these Facebook winners in email, you get the dual benefits of additional incentives/rewards from Facebook contests while tangibly highlighting what your Facebook community is about to email subscribers.

2. Promote exclusive deals available only to email subscribers on Facebook and Twitter. Email subscribers want exclusive benefits for their loyalty. By reserving certain benefits for email subscribers, you’re increasing the value of your program to subscribers, and creating a motivation for others to subscribe. The viral nature of Facebook and Twitter make them ideal venues to promote these benefits.

3. Post links to Web versions of your best emails on Facebook and Twitter. This tactic can drive incremental email impressions, often more than including “like” and “tweet” buttons in your emails. The key? A strong subject line. Just make sure to keep a close watch on frequency so you don’t wear out your welcome with this tactic.

4. Include “like”  buttons in email newsletters and promotions, but give customers a reason to use them. The Nielsen Norman Group study found students were more likely to use “share this” links when they were prompted about the benefits. Use copy to prompt people. For example, “share this on Facebook and find out what your friends think about this product.”

5. Encourage email subscribers to post questions on Facebook and/or Twitter. Unfortunately, subscribers have been conditioned not to reply to commercial email messages, but they still have questions. Demonstrate your dedication to customer service by encouraging them to ask questions via Facebook and Twitter.

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