Social Media: Not a Substitute for Email Marketing

January 30, 2014

With tons of social media options available, your company may be considering opting out of your email marketing service for a social media substitute. Think twice.

Who are you reaching?

Compare your digital marketing practices in relativity to traditional marketing.  If you participate in radio advertising do you stop sending newsletters and coupons to your current clients?   There is some overlap between those who hear your radio spots and those who receive your newsletters and coupons though many people are only consuming one form of your advertising.

The same is true with your digital marketing.  Your social media fans are often not on your email list and those on your email list are not subscribers to your RSS feed.  Some may only use Twitter or Facebook but not both.  By retiring your email marketing practices you miss the gap in between.  

Building a Bridge

Think of speaking to your audience as building an online bridge to your customers.

There is a huge gap between your audience and your business that you can decrease by inserting stepping stones of online communication. If there is only one stepping stone your audience has to support them, there’s a big chance they’ll miss the message and fall into the water where you can’t reach them.

However, when there are multiple stepping stones introduced into your medium mix,  your message will reach a wider, more varied audience, increasing the chance of customer interaction with your business. Solely relying on one medium of communication is a recipe for disaster or in this case, drowning.

Message Variation and Limitations

Social media often limits the amount and format of information delivered.  Twitter limits tweets to 140 characters, while Facebook limits your status updates to 420. Email marketing affords the maximum control over information delivered, including photos, links and text.

Email Marketing Services Track Specific Data

Putting your information out there isn’t the only important thing.  Results equal money.  Facebook shares general traffic information such as the number of visits, likes and posts to your page weekly.  Many email marketing services, such as Emma, share specific trackable data recording not only how many people open the emails but who opens them and what links they click on.  Those results can then be grouped and exported for comparison or future use.

Cast a Net

What this all boils down to is understanding that once your bridge is built, you need to cast a net.

All of your mediums of communication should ultimately lead your audience to your website content. Not everyone within your target audience is going to take the same path to interact with your business. Some people may prefer to receive information via email while others are more likely to absorb your message while browsing their news feed. Having a mix of mediums to reach your audience, such as a blog, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest IN ADDITION to email marketing is the best way to guarantee you don’t miss an opportunity to  reach certain customers with your messages.

Cover all of you bases and don’t fall into the trap of believing social media can substitute email marketing efforts.

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