Guest post written by Mark Schmulen, General Manager, Social Media at Constant Contact.

It’s amazing what can happen when two seemingly different worlds collide to create something extraordinary. I will never forget the first time I heard the version of Walk This Way that featured both Aerosmith and RUN DMC. The drum beat immediately grabbed my attention and as soon as the guitar riff began, I knew that Joe Perry was just teasing my ears, preparing me for the loud, recognizable shriek of Steven Tyler’s vocals. It was the type of song intro that got my blood flowing and made my teenage self want to get up, jump on my bed, and perhaps even break something. Just at the moment Steven Tyler was to come in, I was shocked to hear the completely different, and totally unexpected, sound of two Brooklyn accents confidently spitting out their lyrics. As Steven Tyler joined the chorus, I knew that Run DMC and Aerosmith had forever changed the way I, along with millions of others, would think about music. Today, this combination of rock and hip hop is commonplace, having inspired some of the most original music groups around, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, and even Anthrax – with a little help from Jay Z.

In the exciting, albeit less sexy, world of marketing, two seemingly different worlds are also colliding. I’m talking about Email and Social Media. The debate over email’s demise in the wake of social media is over. It’s not a question of either/or; smart marketers now understand that both email and social media are critical elements to an effective marketing strategy. When surveying our customer base of more than 400,000 small businesses, we have consistently found that brands that combine both email and social media into an integrated mix get the best results and are more effective at engaging their existing audience and reaching new ones.

To fully understand why email and social media go hand in hand, we must first recognize the strengths and weaknesses of both communication channels. Hands down, email remains the best way to get your message heard. Even though we don’t always open every email message, most email users are trained to at least look at the sender, subject line and timestamp of each message in their inbox. From a marketing perspective, that is still a form of positive engagement, but it’s not so for social media; due to the constantly updating real-time stream, many posts and tweets go unnoticed. However, social media has proven to be one of the best ways to spread a message and reach new audiences through peer-to-peer recommendations.

There are many ways you can integrate your email and social media initiatives. To see a real-world example, visit Aerosmith’s Facebook Page and sign up for their email newsletter; and when you receive your first email from the “AeroForce,” don’t forget to click the Like or Tweet button to share it with your friends. Like Constant Contact’s SVP of Strategy, Corporate Development and Innovation Eric Groves says , “Email lights the fire, and social media spreads it!” After all, when hip hop entered the music scene, it didn’t end rock. It only made it better.

Mark Schmulen is the General Manager of Social Media at Constant Contact, where he is responsible for guiding Constant Contact’s social media product strategy and external education efforts around social media marketing. Prior to joining Constant Contact, Mark served as CEO of NutshellMail, a social media monitoring solution and fbFund REV company that is now part of Constant Contact’s suite of online marketing tools.