Right now there’s a heated debate taking place within the top marketing circles. On one side we have defenders of the tried-and-tested, undisputed world champion of digital marketing. And on the other, proponents of the still wet-behind-the-ears, modern upstart who has revolutionised branding in the last decade.
There is no right answer, because both technologies are still entirely valid in the modern marketing era. Every year advocates of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter like to tell the world that email is finally “dead”, but every year email stands tall. Indeed, it goes from strength-to-strength – I’d argue that email marketing has never been more important for brands of all shapes and sizes across almost every industry.
Alright, if social media is not driving sales, then why should we stick to it?
Once again, many people tend confuse the purpose(s) of social media. While social media like Pinterest does help drive sales to some extent, it tends to excel at one particular (and vital) thing, i.e. customer engagement. Whether it is a fun video or an interactive online campaign, social media is not quite a place to shout ‘buy me! buy me!’ at your audience.
And digitally-smart brands know the importance of using both marketing tools. It also creates a sense of accessibility to each client with properly focussed and personalised content can help create a brand loyality.
Never duplicate your content
By the way emails can still annoy consumers. A newsletter sent every single day with generic and irrelevant content has nowhere to go to but the junk box.
Social media is a necessity. Yet, email remains powerful and effective
According to this article on the Drum, traditional marketing channels like email marketing is actually the most common way of finding out offers and promotions among 16 to 24-year-olds. The truth is, most of us – despite age and other demographics – still stick to emails.
It’s all about ‘‘permission marketing’’
The seemingly old-fashioned channel is still considered to be more effective in getting customers to your website, according to Forbes.
“It’s not a sexy tool like Pinterest or Instagram or Vine. But the pendulum has really swung back in the last few years, spurred in part by the recession. People want things that generate revenue, not just bright shiny objects.” said Simms Jenkins, CEO of BrightWave Marketing and author of The New Inbox: Why Email Marketing Is the Digital Marketing Hub in a Social & Mobile World.
In addition, many sources have proved that customers from emails are likely to purchase and spend more. In other words, some valuable customers are actually driven from emails.
Bottom line: smart marketers (and smarter brands) don’t choose between email or social media. They use, and recognise the value and benefits of both. And the best ones learn how to use them both in harmony, one primes the other, beacasue as many people sometimes tend to forget both facets are irreplaceable parts of your business.
