The advent of social media marketing continues to provide many opportunities for businesses to make real connections with customers. However, your social networking plans should enhance, rather than replace your email marketing activities. While Facebook's usage figures are impressive for example, they are still blitzed by the number of people that own and use an email address.

An effective email marketing strategy still has a key role to play in the modern marketer's online arsenal, working cohesively with other activities in order to create touch points with customers at a level they are comfortable with. The question then is not 'should I use email as a means to stay in touch with customers?' but instead, 'how do I build a targeted, responsive email list?'

There are a number of techniques to help build your email list – most of which can be implemented across your social media presence as well as your website.

1. Freebies
Everyone likes something for nothing – and will gladly part with their email address if that something is of value to them. Your freebie could consist of a number of things, such as:

• a course of email tutorials
• a complimentary white paper or special report
• inclusion into a webinar
• downloading a snippet of a lengthy industry report
• giving access to membership area
• a free prize draw or competition
• or simply to receive a free newsletter full of helpful tips, news and resources

This list is in no way exhaustive, but could help get your creative juices flowing. The key is to offer a freebie that is targeted at and therefore of interest to your intended audience, to help 'qualify' your subscribers from the start.

2. Spread Your Net Wide
A useful way to get your content read and promote your newsletter is through the publishing of articles, or becoming a guest blogger. Use your article bio to include an invitation (and maybe offer a freebie) to encourage readers to subscribe to your newsletter.

3. Set Up a Squeeze Page
A squeeze page is a pre-sales letter which invites visitors to sign up to get the full sales message. The idea being to capture their email address before they move on to view the full sales letter. Using this method can also enable you to personalise the sales letter with the subscriber's name or other details you have requested.

4. Encourage Viral Activity
This point follows on from giving something away in order to get something back. This time though the intention is to actively encourage subscribers to share your freebie. It could be a video, an exclusive white paper or report, or even a game. This is especially effective if executed well across your social media properties.

5. Brucie Bonusses
Offer your visitors a bonus if they sign up for your newsletter, "a 20% off coupon" for example, or present a collection of targeted white papers or reports at a 'rock bottom' price. This works off a similar principle of course as our first point (something for nothing), but goes one step further in qualifying your subscribers as potential customers.

In all the above make sure to be transparent with how your subscribers' data will be used by publishing your company's privacy policy. This will go a long way to breaking down any trust barriers right from the outset.