Email marketing vs social media marketing, the debate is heating up. The popularity of social platforms has caused many to question the validity of email marketing.
So, is email marketing a dying art? Is social media marketing the new king of the hill?
Or could it be that the popularity of social platforms has given new life to email marketing?
We’ll examine both mediums of marketing today to answer these questions.
Let’s get straight to the point.
Email Marketing vs Social Media Marketing: Which Should You Choose?
In this battle of email marketing vs social media marketing, there is one big question – which should you choose for your business?
The simple answer is both of them. Email marketing is an effective way to build customer loyalty and brand authority.
But where does that audience come from in the first place? Well regardless of your niche, your target audience is on at least one social platform.
The money is in the list so it only makes sense to keep growing your lists with social media traffic.
A good brand development strategy will incorporate both mediums of marketing.
In truth, there is no reason to choose one over the other. If you can think of any please let us know in the comments section below.
Now, let’s look at some important marketing facts about social media and email marketing.
Five (5) Facts About Email Marketing
Email marketing has been around for decades before the birth of social media. The first email marketing campaign was sent all the way back in the 1970s.
Since then, people have become receptive to email campaigns. Thanks to the power of autoresponders, email marketing has become more interactive.
Each email interaction is an opportunity to provide your subscribers with value. Which in turn improves your brand rapport.
So how does this affect return on investment?
Fact #1: Email Marketing ROI
Back in 2018, email marketers enjoyed a healthy $38 return for every dollar invested.
That’s extremely impressive. Considering that even doubling your return on investment is a great accomplishment.
And just when marketers felt they were on top of the moon, things got even better.
In 2019, email marketing ROI increased to $42 for every buck invested.
That’s a pretty sophisticated 4200% profit. Is there any other investment opportunity as lucrative as email marketing? I doubt it.
Fact #2: Half The World Use Email
Not only is email marketing not dying, but it’s also here to stay and flourishing more than ever.
There are over 3 billion email users worldwide. This number is expected to break the 4.3 billion mark by 2023.
This news comes as no surprise. Most marketers have already begun preparing for the growth in email users. And there are now more email automation tools available than I care to mention.
This is great news for marketers. Over 60% of customers prefer to be contacted by email.
Fact #3: Emails Engagement Is On The Rise
People are spending more time checking their emails than a few years ago.
Over 50% of all emails are opened on cell phones. So it makes sense to design mobile-optimized content. And since everyone and their cat has a cell phone now…
We are starting to see higher engagement rates.
More engagements mean more clicks, opens, higher conversions, and lower bounce rates.
Increasing your sender’s reputation in the process and improving deliverability.
Fact #4: Email Marketing Is Customizable And Personal
The best part about email marketing is that it’s direct. Your campaigns end up in your recipients’ inboxes. This allows you to talk to every subscriber individually by adding personalizations.
Making it easy to customize every subscriber experience.
The truth is, not everyone will interact with your brand the same way or at the same pace.
To get the most out of your marketing efforts you need to meet people where they are on their journey. Email automation and segmentation help you achieve this easily.
By segmenting your lists you are able to send super targeted and relevant emails to the right people.
Automation ensures your content is delivered with perfect timing. based on your subscribers’ needs.
It’s hard to see how this is achievable with any other medium of marketing.
Fact #5: Email Marketing Is Affordable And Time Saving
Email marketing is probably one of the most cost-effective methods of marketing. There is not much spending involved at all.
Off the top of my head, there are only a few things you’ll need to purchase:
- A Custom Domain
- An Autoresponder
These tools are all necessary and affordable. A domain costs no more than $12 on NameCheap.
There are many autoresponders available and they vary in price. But platforms like Mialvio are jam-packed with world-class features plus have a built-in list cleaner.
At the time of writing, Mailvio is 95% cheaper than its closest competitor, Active Campaign. It’s definitely worth checking out.
All in all, there aren’t many overhead costs involved. Plus, the actual sending of an email is free.
Furthermore, the ability to automate the whole process is a huge time saver. It’s possible to speak with thousands of subscribers all at once.
The only other way to do this would be to hire staff. You can even outsource the creation of your campaigns. Making your email marketing a completely hands-free process.
Take Away
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are tons more email marketing facts to consider. But this should be enough to convince you of how powerful email marketing is.
If that’s the case you may be wondering, “why would I need social media marketing then”?
Well, unless you have no intention of growing your brand, social media can’t be ignored.
No matter how great your email marketing is, many of your emails will end up in spam filters. Plus, people will unsubscribe from your list all the time.
You’ll need to replenish your list over time otherwise, your subscribers may become unresponsive.
Lastly, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. What other way to get your audience familiar with your brand than establishing a social presence?
Let’s look at some eye-opening social media facts.
Five (5) Facts About Social Media Marketing
Social media is where your customers are at. Practically everyone with an internet connection has a social media account.
Furthermore, most social users are active on more than one platform. That’s another thing people overlook. There are many different social mediums to market on.
With so many options it’s a bit difficult to analyze how they compare to email marketing as a collective.
For example, Twitter has a completely different userbase than Linkedin. Since LinkedIn users are mostly business professionals, a sale on that platform could be worth thousands.
So while ROI on social media might be less than email marketing it’s still nothing to scoff at.
Let’s consider some more important points.
Fact #1: Social Media As Greater Reach
There are nearly 4 Billion active social media users worldwide. And every few seconds, a new account is created. Facebook alone has some 2.7 billion users. Plus, Facebook is responsible for nearly a quarter of all online traffic.
These are some truly astonishing numbers. When combined with the possibility of going viral, it’s even more mind-blowing.
You can attract countless business prospects to your brand with the right marketing strategy.
Facebook ads can get you in front of millions of people overnight. And even if you have a low budget there are probably hundreds of groups filled with your target audience that you can join.
And that’s just one platform.
Many bloggers drive traffic to their websites using only social media such as Pinterest. Shopify and Etsy store owners thrive on Pinterest traffic.
We can go on and on but the point is, there are millions of users on social platforms just waiting to discover your business.
Fact #2: Social Media Help Shoppers Make Informed Purchasing Choices
Many people use social media to make informed decisions before making a purchase. Over 70% of Pinterest users say they use the platform to decide on a purchase. And 50% of them have bought a product directly from promoted Pins.
The thing is, social proof is as good as gold in the online world. Customer feedback is more trustworthy than any other form of advertisement.
Don’t underestimate how powerful word-of-mouth referral is. Think back to the last time you tried making a sale online. Did you check customer reviews or testimonials?
The more people that support your brand on these platforms, the easier it will be for you to make sales.
Fact #3: You Don’t Need Your Own Following
Believe it or not, you don’t even need your own following on social media to be successful.
Influencer marketing has made it possible to leverage other people’s audiences.
For a small fee, influencers in almost any niche will allow you to market your brand to their audiences.
Imagine someone as influential as Beyonce supporting your brand! That means explosive growth for your business.
Social giants Instagram and Youtube are very popular for influencer marketing.
YouTube even allows you to place ads in videos that get millions of views each month.
Fact #4: Video Content Is Changing The Game
Videos are super engaging because they contain both visuals and audio. They target two human senses and are more interactive.
This is highlighted by the fact that millions of hours of video content are consumed every day on social media.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a practical way to embed videos into an email.
But with the right strategy, you can tap into the viral nature of videos to engage a wider audience.
Fact #5: Organic Social Media Marketing Is Super Targeted
Simply put, your competition’s customers are your customers.
Through organic marketing, you can easily attract these customers to your business. This is especially true on Facebook.
For example:
There are dozens of Facebook groups for affiliate marketers.
Joining these groups will give you access to other people in the digital marketing space.
You can establish yourself as an authority by interacting in such groups.
The more value you provide, the more people will seek you out.
This is sometimes called attraction marketing. Organic marketing works brilliantly for online coaches and consultants.
Of course, this requires a lot of “putting yourself out there” but the benefits are well worth the effort.
This is a great method of marketing to promote high ticket offers as well.
Take Away
There are many great reasons to establish your brand on multiple social media platforms. At the end of the day, doing so will get your business a lot of exposure and sales.
But focusing on social media alone can leave you in unwanted situations.
For example, your social media following can be taken away at any time. Facebook is known to restrict people’s accounts and many people have been kicked from YouTube.
Furthermore, while social platforms are great organic growth, they’ll limit your brand reach to get you to spend more on ads.
And even spending on ads is a double edge sword.
Firstly, over 60% of all social users have begun using Adblockers. In other words, they are on social media to socialize, not watch your advertisement.
Secondly, you may get a lot of traffic from ads but once you stop paying the traffic stops.
The good thing is it doesn’t have to be this way.
Email Marketing vs Social Media Marketing: Why Not Both?
We’ve seen the good and bad of both email and social media marketing. So the question is…
Why not use both?
Social media is a great source of traffic and endless leads. While email marketing gives you a better way to interact with those leads.
Most successful marketers have taken this approach. No matter how big their following is on social media, they are always growing their email list.
And it’s a common practice to include social media sharing links inside email campaigns. Both methods work hand in hand.
If you are not yet combining the two, consider doing so.
So that wraps up our Email marketing vs Social Media marketing comparison.
Is there any other medium of marketing you would like us to discuss? If so, let us know in the comments below.
Cheers,
Until next time.
