Email Still Competing With Social Media?

It’s been said before – online marketing tools complement, not compete with each other! Reports always announce that one or the other is in the ascendency but in fact, social marketing helps draw attention to a company profile or product, whereas sales are likely to be generated when information is received by email!

Another report – based on a survey of over 1,400 so-called ‘representative’ consumers, – has just announced that email still beats social networks when it comes to marketing for eCommerce. Apparently, over a third of consumers are not using a social networking site, and online brand identity ‘fans’ are still in the minority!

Depending on the market niche a business occupies, email marketing can definitely be the more important way to contact people over a longer period of time, because, as a rule, almost everyone reads email. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, or LinkedIn will invariably update to an email account anyway!

As we  all should know by now, because a variety of media platforms are available, every user will adopt the channel they feel is best for them, even though, as the long established workhorse, email continues to be the desired channel for many types of commercial communication.

The rise of social media as a force within digital marketing is still new and in its early growing phase. The report suggests that the rise of mobile internet will only continue to reinforce email’s position as the prevailing communication channel.

The report notes that each generation of chipsets moves mobile devices closer to the personal computer. Accessing the web or checking email from a mobile device appears to be set to be a commonplace activity, most relevantly within a workplace context. Already, nearly two-thirds of the under 24 age group check email via a mobile.

Given that over a third of consumers visit Facebook and Twitter to add to the news, information or offers they receive via email marketing, it is fairly reasonable to assume there is not a big competition between social media and email! They should now form part of overall marketing strategies, to be effectively used together within versatile campaigns, as well as on a daily basis.