Social Media and Email Both Matter, but Email is King

The past few years have seen a large increase in social media’s use as a marketing tool, causing some people to question whether email marketing remains both practical and relevant. Without a doubt, social media use is increasing each year: It is estimated 78 percent of everyone in North America uses social media, and analysts predict that 2.5 billion people will soon be social-media-connected.  Can social media and email coexist in marketing plans?

Although new social media platforms seem to arise every other week, email marketing still commands the best return on investment.  That means smart marketers need to consider both social media and email in their campaigns, and how the two channels can work together.

According to Campaign Manager, every $1 spent on email marketing returns $38 in profit. A 2015 report by Adboe claims millennials use their email an average of six hours a day. Nearly one in three people use email daily.

Some social media experts argue that email marketing is past it’s prime because “young people have no interest in email.” It’s true that today’s youth no longer use email as their primary social media platform, but they all still use email.  Plus in the business world, email is still the most commonly used tool and people with jobs tend to be people with money to spend.

Just like social media and other, more traditional, marketing platforms, email is changing and evolving. Consumers want to be more informed, and have become much more mobile. Some estimates peg mobile as the dominant form of all internet traffic, and email marketing carries over nicely into mobile traffic.

The CAN-SPAM Act has legitimized email marketing, making it not only legal but easier. Much of the “spam” we used to loathe has been replaced by a smarter marketing method that treats customers with respect and uses friendly customization. The Direct Marketing Association claims 86 percent of all email marketing includes personal customization. Good marketers have discovered that personalization, combined with analytics, results in great ROI.

While a lot of online social communication and interaction takes place on social media platforms, email is still at the core of marketing and eCommerce. When it comes to conducting business online, email is nearly always involved. Email is used for nearly everything, including managing social media accounts, resetting passwords, confirmations, delivery notifications and transactions. Business professionals do not use Facebook Messenger to communicate, but instead use email. For someone who understands email marketing, it doesn’t get any better than that.

The explosive growth of social media is ideal for email marketers, because with marginal effort, social media can be used to leverage the market of a well-thought-out email marketing campaign.

While some might want to convince you that email marketing has seen its day and is past its prime, stats and analytics tell us another story. The growth of social media platforms might be explosive, but the reality is an impression on a social media site is a single impression. If you have someone’s email address and permission to use it, though, you can put your products directly in front of their eyes time and time again.  So remember to consider both social media and email when you’re building out your digital marketing plan.