“Now that we’re doing well on social media, can’t we just stop putting the effort into email marketing? This question has been asked several times, whether on the internet or in some of our meetings. As a digital agency, somehow way was perceived as an insult, not to the team, not to the agency, but to online marketing in general. Every time an effective “new” platform comes along, we have to cancel the old one. Well, that’s definitely not how things work .
We simply answer this question with: “social networks can NOT replace emails”. Here are the reasons why it is not a replacement for email marketing:
Emails are more personal than social networks
Whether in B2C or B2B, communicating an offer, promotion or update through Facebook, Twitter or any other social network makes the communication impersonal. When a Facebook page or Twitter account publishes a post, it would be directed at the general public. While in an email/newsletter, companies can approach each individual in the contact list with first and last name. Doing so will draw more attention to the content of the email, which can also lead to better results. According to Aberdeen, “Personalized emails improve CTR by 14% and conversions by 10%.”
Emails are more effective than Facebook, Twitter, etc.
The ultimate purposes of online businesses are to acquire new customers and retain existing ones. Many think that Facebook, being the largest social network in existence, is the best place to attract new customers. However, many studies show that emails attract new customers more than any social network. In fact, according to McKinsey, email is 40 times more effective than Facebook or Twitter at acquiring new customers. Monetate adds to this that email marketing is the channel that generates the most conversions.
Emails are more likely to be viewed than social media
Without a doubt, Facebook is the largest social network in history and the second most populated website after Google. However, running a Facebook ad for a specific target does not necessarily guarantee that all users, within this target, will see the ad. Yes, that’s right, this also applies to emails. But according to Radicati, an email message is 5 times more likely to be seen than a Facebook post.
Emails are DEFINITELY not dead
The claim that email subscribers no longer read your emails is a total myth. To test this, we had to refer to ChoozOn, which claimed that 57% of email subscribers spend 10-60 minutes per week browsing marketing emails. Many of you will say that Facebook, Twitter or Instagram users spend more time checking their feeds. While this statement is true, Facebook users “like” a number of Business Pages, and with the latest big Facebook update, they now see less and less content coming organically from these Business Pages. And rarely do Facebook or Twitter users check out a business account randomly, for no specific reason. Additionally, 72% of people said they prefer to receive promotional content via email, versus 17% via social media, according to MarketingSherpa.
With social networks there is nowhere to run
Whether on Facebook, Twitter, and recently Instagram, businesses need to post ads to promote their offers, promotions, or just their ad. To do that, they have to target people based on their interests, jobs, demographics, etc. Not all users who see the ad will feel concerned or interested in it. Therefore, your newsfeed could be filled with similar irrelevant advertisements. The only way to get rid of them is… God forbid… quit social media! On the other hand, if users receive irrelevant emails, they can simply unsubscribe from the list, with the click of a button. And poof… no more emails from this sender.
In conclusion, email marketing is a huge player in any online marketing strategy. But now that we’ve hopefully convinced you that social media can’t replace email, we hope you don’t underestimate social media marketing. Many social media agencies will agree with us when we say that each online channel has its own benefits. Therefore, collaborate with a digital agency to create a successful online marketing strategy and give each channel its right.
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