3 reasons why email marketing is better than social media marketing

If you are a digital marketer, you cannot miss out on email marketing. Many digital marketers do not take email marketing and list building seriously because email open rates are on the decline and most of your emails land in the promotions tab if your subscribers are using Gmail.

But still, in my experience, email is the best conversion channel that I have experienced so far. Here are three reasons why you should build an email list and implement email marketing for your business.

1. Emails are personal and can be customised

Emails can be customised better than websites because you clearly know who your target audience is. You can segment your email list into different customer avatars and send messages that are personalised and targeted to each segment of your audience.

For example, in my blog I have two major groups of readers who want to learn digital marketing: students and professionals. Though their goals are similar, their needs are different. When I send emails, I make sure that each segment gets communication that is relevant to them.

My subscribers also feel good about this because the email messages are customised for them and hence more useful for them. Students look for new jobs in digital marketing after they graduate. Professionals look for a change in career and are seeking to achieve different things. I fine tune my content to who my audience is.

2. No one can limit access to your audience

If you have an email list of 1,00,000 people and send a broadcast email to all of them, your message is going to land in the inbox of at least 98 percent of this audience. Two percent may bounce or not get delivered due to technical issues.

No one in the middle will restrict you because they are your users. They gave their email ID to you and hence you can reach out to them. However, Facebook Likes and Twitter followers are not your users. Yes, they have chosen to get updates from your Facebook page or Twitter handle, but they are not your users because they have not given you their email ID and did not register on your website.

If you have 1,00,000 'Likes' on your Facebook page and if you post an update, it will hardly reach a few thousand people depending on how engaging your post is. Then Facebook will ask you to pay them to 'Boost' the post for a budget. Here you are paying Facebook to reach your audience. Because they are not your users, they are Facebook's.

That's why when you are building an audience, it is always advisable to create an email list instead of building an audience on a platform that is not under your control. You don't want to build your dream home on someone else's land.

Also read: Digital marketing traffic strategies: paid vs free traffic

3. Email marketing helps you build relationships

When people read emails, they are in a very different mode. It is like getting a post in the mailbox, opening it and reading it. It's personal and attention grabbing. Email is a one-on-one communication tool and is great for building long-term relationships with customers.

Social media, though an excellent communication tool, does not have the power to build relationships. It is like talking to a prospect in a public event. People are in a different mode when they are on social media and don't take communication very personally. Hence, you cannot build relationships on social media. Social media is a great place to meet new people and make their acquaintance.

I would use social media as a discovery tool to find new customers, but when it comes to building a relationship with them, email would be my choice of communication. And without strong relationships, you cannot sell premium products to your customers. With email marketing automation such as Drip marketing emails and behavior-based emails, you can build relationships with your audience on automation.

For example, people who visit my blog subscribe for a free digital marketing course. The course is delivered via email and they get one lesson every two days. In every lesson, they learn digital marketing and these lessons strengthen the relationship between my subscribers and me. Such relationships can never be built via social media channels.

Conclusion

I hope you got convinced that email list building and email marketing is critical for any brand. It's an essential component of digital marketing. If you have any questions, leave a comment below.