According to a recent Forrester Research
report, email marketing is a viable entrée into the Social Computing
world. In the report, Forrester stated "Infusing your email programs with tactics
that create conversations and communities will help your company
shift from marketing via “push ” to “participation,” prioritize
emerging media like RSS and consumer-
generated content, and improve your email effectiveness."
Forrester state email marketing programs can provide a familiar
medium through which to inaugurate a company into Social Computing
via:
 “Listen”
to your customers ’ email behaviour. The fundamental shift of
Social Computing is that marketers must participate in communities
with their customers instead of simply pushing them product or
promotional information.
Give
users a voice — at email registration. Bombarded by marketing
messages, consumers crave the ability to control their media and
advertising exposure.
Add
social media features. Polls, surveys, message boards, and
testimonials that are included in email messages create community
among email subscribers while increasing engagement with your email
program.
Spread
the Social Computing experience. Email can also extend customer
conversations begun in another channel. Burger King created the
viral phenomenon subservientchicken.com by making it easy for
visitors to spread the word.
Syndicate
media through multiple delivery outlets. Companies testing
emerging media like online video or podcasts can boost exposure by
including clips in their existing emails.
Humanize
impersonal experiences. Although firms have turned to technology
to automate expensive processes, consumers still expect personal
service and digital experiences that are useful, usable, and
desirable.
A real world example from Bankrate.com
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