In recruiters' rush to take advantage of the social media phenomenon, the power of email may have been overlooked. In fact, in a number of business studies conducted during the past year, email has been found to convert more prospects to customers than social media efforts alone.

Recruiters have traditionally relied upon email to market themselves, their services, and their job orders to candidates and companies . . . long before social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook arrived on the scene. With the emergence of social media, businesses--including recruiting firms--have been attempting to figure out the best ways in which to combine social media and email for optimal results.

This is an ongoing crusade, one which constantly develops and evolves as the world of social media evolves. The tactics that companies and firms use change from year to year, depending upon the latest trends and how people are using social media tools and websites, both personally and professionally.

A recent survey of small businesses by email marketing company AWeber revealed how businesses used email and social media in 2009. Among other findings, the survey discovered that the two most common tactics implemented last year were the following:

• Tweeting email newsletters
• Broadcasting blog entries to email lists

Other common practices included adding sign-up forms on social media pages and including "follow us" links in email signature files. As far as plans for this year are concerned, more than 50% of respondents plan to allow users to sign up for emails directly from social media sites. This is an excellent idea for recruiters who want to build their email lists, because not only are they building their lists, prospects are putting themselves on it willingly.

Remember, email and social media shouldn't be competing with one another. They should be complementing one another in a way that works best for you and your firm.

What about you? How do you integrate your email efforts with social media? What strategies have worked the best and what would you recommend?

(Matt Deutsch is a writer for Top Echelon's Recruiter Training Blog.)