Email Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing

With 2.9 billion users across the globe, social media may seem like the future. Still, surprisingly enough, email marketing is also running with social media side by side at the same pace. 

Being a tried a tested approach, email marketing is still alive and kicking. But, if you think that email marketing is just a fad, sorry to burst your little bubble, but it isn’t going anywhere.

Although traditional emails may seem outdated with the escalation of social media over the past decade, email marketing is undoubtedly a persuasive marketing channel. It boosts acquisition, builds awareness, and increases conversions. 

So, marketers might need to buckle up their shoes and start on creating effective email marketing campaigns if they want to race out their competitors.

Given the fact that both channels are sticking around, which one should be prioritized? Dive into the article to find out. You will learn about the importance of email marketing and which one is better among these amazing communication mediums. 

Importance of Email Marketing

1. Emails give Personalized Results

Personalization is one of the most effective benefits of email marketing. As it directly impacts your site's revenue and engagement, sending personalized emails is a powerful tool.

If we ask customers, they agree that email is a lot more personal than some random messages of social media platforms. Although social media messages can lead to one-on-one communication, it isn't easy to make it convert unless you have a lot of employees.

By putting in some efforts, marketers can personalize their emails, but they cannot make their tweets or Facebook posts feel personal. When customers can relate to your emails, they are most likely to click on that CTA to make a purchase.

2. Emails Let you Segment your Audience

With social media marketing, your content is shared with everyone. However, email marketing doesn't let your content go out to a general audience. In email marketing, you can segment your audience based on many factors, including their age, demographics, preferences, interests, and so on.

For instance, you can create emails for people who have added your product in the cart to let them know about the discount. Or, if people have bought a specific product from your store, you can let them know about their related accessories.

Further, with segments, you can remove people who have unsubscribed your newsletter or are inactive for a long time. If smart marketers have the right tools, they will never send an email to a generic audience again. Instead, marketers can provide highly appropriate content to prospects based on their interests and behavior.

3. You can Test your Emails

The growth of a business depends on a series of tests. You need to see how your current campaign is working and try new tactics to improve the results.

Email marketing allows you to test different content or headlines when you send emails to a list of subscribers. For instance, you can send the same email with two different title variants. By monitoring carefully, you can find out what type of content best connects to your prospects.

A/B testing is the most powerful tool for any marketer. They can test everything, from CTAs to length of the email to image use, etc.

Email marketers allow you to target the audience based on their past interactions, which is not available on social media. You can check:

• Who has opened your emails?
• Did the recipient click any links?
• Which link prompted them to click on it?

4. You Own your Database in Email Marketing

Do you really own your social media audience? NO! So, don't sweep up in an apparently huge opportunity of increasing your social media followers. There was a time when a huge number of followers meant more engagement and more sales.

Unfortunately, times have changed. Not everyone on social media can see your post, and even if they do, there is a slight chance that they will click on your post.

On the other hand, once someone subscribes to your mailing list, you have their contact details, and you can contact them anytime you like. Only you have access to these people, and no other company has control over this database.

5. You Get more Attention through Email Marketing

No one is unaware of the fact that emails get much more attention than tweets and Facebook posts. On Facebook, if you want your posts to reach to users, you need to use promoted posts.

This is not the case in email marketing. If people have signed up for your newsletter, you can easily get them to check your emails. If your email newsletter is personalized enough, there is a greater chance that people will click on your email to reach your landing page. For this, you need to have personalized newsletters. You can seek help from various online tools to help you in creating appealing and converting email campaigns and landing pages.

Email Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing: Which One is Better?

Are you one of those who check a brand’s social media channel after opening their email to see if the product is really worth it? Well, there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, you are not alone; many of us are guilty of this. 

As a matter of fact, if done correctly, email and social media marketing can work in sync to boost sales and drive leads.     For better leads and sales, you need to take social media and email marketing together to avail of their full benefits.

You can even integrate your social media buttons in your newsletter for boosting conversion rates. The bottom line is you don’t have to get lured by the hype of social platforms, but focus your time and effort on both of these modes equally for effective results.

Parting thoughts

So, what’s the verdict? Who is the winner among social media marketing and email marketing?

Well, it is an ongoing battle that no one will ever win. The crux is that you should integrate both email and social media into your marketing strategy.

There are a place and time for every marketing channel. You need to keep this in mind.

There is no science in creating effective digital marketing campaigns; all you need to do is use different communication platforms to support each other. Understand your target audience. Keep their preferences and interest while choosing your mode of communication.

Lastly, emails will always have the upper hand when it comes to marketing because it allows you to personalize your messages and segment your audience. So, should you need any help with your email marketing campaigns, you can always rely on Mailpro.