Email vs. Social Media Marketing

Both email and social media are powerful tools for communication and marketing, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Here’s a comparative analysis of the two:

Email Marketing

Email marketing is ideal for connecting one-on-one with your existing audience. People must opt-in to begin receiving marketing emails from your brand, so recipients already know about your company. You can use email to inform clients about upcoming promotions, new products, and other details about your business.

Social media marketing is great for increasing brand awareness. You can use it to grow your audience and attract new followers. People who learn about your business may follow your accounts and engage with you through comments, likes, and shares. As their familiarity with your brand grows, they may take action in other ways, such as visiting your website, signing up for your emails, or making a purchase.

How to engage prospects via email

Here are a few types of campaigns that can help you engage with existing or potential clients via email.

Inform subscribers of new products

Are you introducing a new product? Your email subscribers should be the first ones to know! Share all the details about your product, including its benefits and launch date. You might include pictures and links to a landing page so clients can pre-order or learn more about the item.

Share promotions and discount coupons

Few people will turn down a deal, especially with a brand they love. Use email to provide subscriber-only exclusive discounts on your products and services. You can also keep subscribers in the loop about upcoming sales or giveaways.

Collect feedback about your brand

Knowing what customers think about your products and services can help you understand what they like and dislike about your business. The insights you glean allow you to refine your business strategies to meet your client’s needs better. Email is a perfect tool for gathering feedback. Try emailing your subscribers surveys about their experience to learn more about what they want.

Share informative content

Emails don’t always have to be sales-oriented. Try sending informative content that positions your brand as an authority in your market sector. For instance, you could recycle blogs or articles from your website into shorter email content and then include links to your website if the subscriber wants to learn more.

Social Media

To get the most out of social media, you want your audience to engage with your posts — not just scroll past them. Here are some techniques to boost your likes, comments, and shares.

When someone asks you a question, the instinct is to reply. Try asking your audience questions within your posts to get traction on your posts.

For instance, you might ask your followers who they support in the upcoming football game or their favorite food. This approach works even better if you can tie your inquiries with your brand. So, if you run a restaurant, you could share pictures of some of your most popular dishes and ask your audience which one they’d like to try for their next meal.

Share relevant content

Do you have a recent blog post or video your audience should see? Share some highlights on social media and a link to the full content. In your caption, ask your followers to share their thoughts on your content in the comments. You can reply to their comments to increase engagement.

Offer a special discount or freebie

You can use social media to share limited-time deals and promotions. As an example, you might offer a substantial discount on one of your products and give your followers up to a week to claim your offer. Include pictures of the item and a link to a dedicated landing page so it’s easy to act on your post.

What to consider when deciding between email or social media marketing

Deciding between email vs. social media marketing isn’t a straightforward choice. If you must choose one over the other, think about what you want to achieve from your marketing campaigns.

If establishing brand awareness among your audience is important, then social media is the way to go. However, email may be a better fit if your focus is strengthening relationships with existing customers and driving sales.

Here are a few other considerations to keep in mind.

Your audience’s preferences

Some brands may find their audience uses social media more than email, or vice versa. For instance, a company targeting a younger audience might get more traction through a social media platform like Instagram. However, a B2B firm that offers professional services may see better results through direct emails and LinkedIn.

Your marketing strengths

What kind of marketing content do you tend to share? Do you take an educational approach and lean into blogs and articles? Or do you prefer to capture the eye using stunning graphics and intriguing videos? Email marketing works best with written content, while videos do well on social media platforms.

Potential for combining strategies

Many brands try to make the most of both worlds, incorporating email and social media into their marketing strategy. You might try focusing on a single social media platform where you know your audience will engage with your posts and use email to connect directly with your audience. Remember, you don’t have to email and post on social media daily to see results. Focus on crafting engaging content, and your audience will gravitate to you.

Why use email marketing over social media

A few benefits are unique to email marketing, which makes it advantageous to brands that use it.

Higher return on investment

Email tends to generate higher returns than other types of marketing. According to research, every dollar spent on email marketing generates a stunning $36 in return.

The significant ROI of email marketing isn’t something to ignore, especially if you’re working with a strict marketing budget.

You own your email list

Unlike social media, you can guarantee your marketing emails end up directly in front of your clients. While they may not always read them, you’re not at the mercy of social media algorithms that can downgrade your posts, leading to less engagement.

Increased sales

Most people use social media to engage with family and friends, not as a shopping platform. While they may see your posts and use them to learn more about your brand, they’re not as likely to purchase as they might with email. If sales are what you’re after, you may see better results with email.

Why use social media over email marketing

Social media has specific advantages over email in some areas. Here are a few benefits to consider.

Enhance brand awareness

Social media marketing can be a starting point for introducing your targeted audience to your brand. Through your posts, your audience can learn more about what you offer. That’s particularly beneficial for newer companies just starting out, who don’t have a dedicated email list or a base of loyal customers.

As more people see your posts and gravitate toward your brand, you can learn more about them and focus on building a connection.

Test your marketing content

Posting a variety of marketing content on your social media accounts helps you learn what best engages your audience. That can help you fine-tune your content marketing strategy to better align with what they want to see. Then, you can create more of it to grow your following further. Testing helps you avoid spending too much time on underperforming content and optimize your marketing strategy.

Showcase your commitment to customer service

Customers may leave feedback about your brand on your social media posts. Whether their comments are positive or negative, you can take the opportunity to show your organization cares about each and every customer. Take the time to reply to every comment and listen to your client’s input. They may have some great ideas that can set your brand apart.

Email vs Social media marketing

Here’s a look at some hard data that can help you further decide between email vs. social media marketing.

Size of audience

Email marketing only goes as far as the size of your mailing list. The larger your list, the bigger your reach — and the greater the chance of converting customers. If you have only a handful of subscribers, work on building a list before putting lots of effort into an email marketing campaign. Social media can be a starting point for your list-building activities.

Here’s a breakdown of the current monthly active users on each social media platform in 2024, according to Statista:

Facebook: 3.065 billion

YouTube: 2.504 billion

Instagram: 2.000 billion

Of course, just because social media platforms have billions of users doesn’t mean they will all see your posts. Each platform uses different algorithms and prioritizes post visibility based on various factors, including the size of your audience, previous post engagement, and audience interest in the post topic.

These are the common ways of Email and Social Media marketing strategies for every business. It is most relevant to small business. Please, share your ideas for digital marketing strategies in a comment section.