So the debate continues as to which platform works better in generating leads. We have email marketing, which is tried & tested and known to produce results and then we have the socials, which are an evolving beast.
Social Media vs Email Marketing – is there really a battle for supremacy or are we looking at this all wrong?
The reality is if you are marketing as a B2B or B2C and you’re not leveraging both then you are missing a lot of opportunities.
You here 2 main questions:
-
I thought Email conversion rates are a lot better than social media?
Yes, it is. The data reflects that on a whole email marketing is better for conversion rates. Why is this? Well, email has nearly 3 times as many user accounts as Facebook & Twitter put together coupled with the fact email is a more personal medium. Email is also a business-grade communications tool.
What’s this you say? Well, do you contact your suppliers and deal with other businesses by private messaging them on Facebook or tweeting them an invoice? No, we email them, it is the business-grade accepted the first line of communications apart from picking up the phone.
However, keeping your customers engaged and in the loop, while keeping your business or branding fresh in their minds is half the battle and this is where Social Media shines like no other beast. Social Media has its place in marketing and for certain campaigns, it can be an awesome tool to use.
2. I thought Email Marketing was dead?
People keep claiming this, most likely people with a stake in social media! But with every year the data reflects that it’s not the case. By the end of 2014, it showed 73% of marketers considered email marketing to be a core strategy for there business. Email marketing has a massive place in the current climate, and it’s not going anywhere soon. With 59% of marketers expected to increase their email budgets throughout 2015/16.
Pardot says email marketing is here to stay according to data from Marketing Cloud. They go on to say;
In fact, not only is email effective — it’s significantly impacting ROI for businesses that are using it regularly.
73% of marketers agree that email marketing is core to their business.
60% of marketers claim that email is a critical enabler of products and services, versus 42% of marketers in 2014.
20% of marketers say that their business’ primary revenue source is directly linked to email operations.
43% of businesses have email teams of 2-3 people.
74% of marketers believe email produces or will produce ROI in the future.
For 69.7% of US internet users, email is the preferred method of communicating with businesses.(eMarketer)
The bottom line is that email and social media platforms are distinctly different marketing channels, and both will be effective for your business. The best thing is they can complement each other perfectly if done right. So be smart and design your campaign efforts to leverage the strengths of both. Look at your inbound marketing as a holistic project and utilize the tools at your disposal that will reflect your campaign the best.