. . Email and blogs: sharing online content via email generates the highest conversion rates, while Twitter is the most effective channel for extending reach. So says the Social Influence Benchmark Report released by online marketing solutions provider, StrongMail. 

By analysing aggregate data from all client sharing activity enabled by the StrongMail Influencer platform during Q3 2009, the report reveals the sharing channels that are most preferred by consumers, that generate the most viral reach and that drive the most actual conversions.

 According to the data, email generates 86 per cent of all online sharing activity, making it the preferred consumer sharing method by far. Facebook and Twitter are the next most preferred channels for sharing, but only represent a fraction of all activity.

While email dominates the sharing activity, each email shared by an influencer only generates 0.41 additional clicks. Conversely, sharing via Twitter generates more than 18 clicks per post, which translates into a 1,837 per cent click-through rate versus 41 per cent for email. This impressive click-through rate establishes Twitter as the most effective channel for amplifying a marketer’s program across the social web, says Strongmail.

Email is back on top, however, for the key metric of conversions. Peer-to-peer emails generate a 36.8 per cent conversion rate, compared to just three per cent for Facebook. Conversions from Twitter programs remain very low, but trends within the data suggest growth in Q4 2009. Embedded links for sharing via web pages and blogs turned in the second highest conversion percentage at 20.5 per cent.

Ryan Deutsch, vice president of strategic services and marketing development at StrongMail, said: “When it comes to enabling consumers to share a brand or offer with their personal network, email remains an effective power house for getting the word out and driving conversions. 

“It is critical that marketers understand how to identify influencers within their customer-base and engage them as brand advocates. Consumers are surrounding themselves with influencers from their social networks and rarely make significant purchase decisions without consulting these influencers.  

“If you sell online, you need to have a strategy that motivates your current customers to recruit new ones.”

Download the report here: www.strongmail.com/InfluencerBenchmark