5 Reasons Why Email Marketing Is Still Preferred Over Social Media
Everybody seems to be talking about the effectiveness of social media these days, especially when it comes to reaching out to customers. All this chatter makes you think that this medium is the penultimate marketing tool, but the numbers speak differently.
For starters, there are still more email users in the world as compared to social media users. Don’t believe us? Check out this statistic! The world has almost three times as many email users as Facebook and Twitter combined. This adds up to a staggering figure of 2.9 billion people. But, this is not the only reason why email marketing is still preferred over social media marketing. There are at least five more, as discussed below.
1. Social Media Marketing Cannot Yet Replicate The Level Of Personalization Emails Offer
It’s no secret that your prospects already crave personalization today. And, why wouldn’t they? Nobody wants to waste their time looking at products and services they have little use for. This is where email marketing trumps social media. If you know what your customers want, you can leverage your sub-categorized email list and send a hyper-personalized email, offering them precisely what they need at the right time with the right Call-To-Action (CTA).
In contrast, publishing something on social media with a product plugin toward the end will never gain the same level of traction. Firstly, you will have to gain followers, wait for them to see your product on social media, and then click on a CTA. This process will be slower, and conversion rates will be lower than when you email them directly.
2. You Don’t Have To Worry About Losing Subscribers
When you rely on email marketing, you pretty much own your list of subscribers. Meaning, you have specific email lists, and they stay with you. Sure, you need to keep updating these lists so they don't decay. However, the same is not the case with social media. You take your time building your follower base, and the social media site ends up shutting down. Such a thing has indeed happened in the past, with platforms like Orkut and TikTok shutting down in certain parts of the world.
The primary casualty of such a shut-down is businesses that lose their hard-earned follower base. But, with email marketing, you have control over your subscriber list and can reach out to them for years on end.
3. Email Marketing Is Incredibly Cost-Effective
Yes, this medium is free! Whether you wish to share your sales pitches or send educational content, you can do so without spending a single penny. Sure, investing in email marketing automation software costs money, but it’s a one-time investment that can last for decades. This is unlike social media, where you continue sponsoring ads and posts to boost your brand’s visibility every day, sometimes every few hours.
Email marketing is your one-to-one time with your prospect, whereas, on social media, leads get hit by a lot of brand noise.
4. Email Marketing Offers Higher Conversion Rates Than Social Media
Here, numbers say it all! A study revealed that email marketing extends higher conversion rates than any other marketing platform. Where 66% of online customers made a purchase due to a promotional email, only 20% bought a product or service off a Facebook promotion. Another study by Mckinsey and Company concludes that prospects that bought products via email marketing spent 138% more than those who were not pitched an offering over email.
All of this makes it abundantly clear that if leveraged optimally, email marketing provides a higher conversion rate than social media.
5. Enables The Deployment Of Bespoke Deals And Discounts
You can send a special invitation to join a loyalty club or dole out premium discounts to a select few loyal customers to boost sales and forge lifelong associations over email. Such a thing is not possible when catering to thousands of social media followers. In fact, you can also introduce multiple flash sales for different product lines by automating your emails.
Over To You
Before we close, know that netizens use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram primarily for frolic and non-transactional activities and not serious shopping. So, there is a fair amount of casual shopping that ensues here. Simply put, your marketing messages get lesser attention as that is not the priority of social media surfers.
Know where your promotional content gets a serious glance? Over emails, of course! This channel enables you to establish a personal connection with your buyer.
