Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight’s main event! Introducing, in the red corner, with decades of experience and muscles to match, the original internet marketing powerhouse… EMAIL MARKETING!
And, in the blue corner, really needing no introduction, the most impressive contender of the past fifteen years, SOCIAL MEDIA!
Who will win this battle of the biggest online marketing tools? Place your bets now!
Round 1 - Audience Ownership vs. Reach
Email marketing throws the first punch with audience ownership. By building up your own database of subscribers, email marketing is not at the mercy of any other third party. You are building up a true asset that belongs to your business and can be leveraged in multiple ways. Plus, you can pick it up and move to a different provider with no problem.
But social media isn’t fazed, dodging the blow and coming straight back with a reach uppercut. Sure, ownership gives you independence and, arguably, a valuable business asset, but it’s small by comparison. The size of the audience that can be exposed to your stuff with social media is simply many times larger.
What about consent though? Email hits back hard. With email, you know that your subscribers have put in at least some effort and agreement to see your message. Social media marketing is a blanket that’s often ignored by the vast majority of those who encounter it. While technically it appears in front of so many more people, if they don’t even have the smallest interest in exploring it, they’ll scroll past without a second thought.
Round 2 - Personalisation vs. Community
A swift jab to social media’s gut comes in the form of personalisation. Knowing exactly who your audience is gives email marketing the ability to really tailor the message, speaking not just to the segment, but to the individual.
Blocked! What about community? Through social media, you’re not just targeting a single person but an entire network of fans, eager to discuss your products and services, helping build a constant conversation that’s not just a single once-a-fortnight newsletter, but an ongoing debate that hooks in readers and keeps them thinking about you all the time.
Round 3 - Budget, Budget, Budget
Social media advertising is cheap, come the flurry of body shots. Surely this is going to connect?
Cheap? Email marketing laughs, dancing like a butterfly around its opponent. Social media marketing budgets can spiral out of control, desperately chasing algorithms. Email marketing is far and above the most cost-effective form of online marketing out there. You want return on investment? Email marketing is king!
Round 4 - Real Time Interaction vs. Triggers
Back on its feet in just a few seconds, social media hits back with real time interaction. There’s no waiting hours or days to get to know what your audience thinks of your product, it’s there, live, constant. Messages and comments, likes and reposts. Data is being accumulated every second.
Email marketing blocks with triggers. Automation in email marketing means precision emails can hit inboxes at precisely the right time, generating a personal interaction that inspires the right reaction rather than hoping for a response with a scattergun approach. Onboarding? Emails. Reminders? Emails. Timed special offers? Emails. Punch, punch, punch.
Round 5 - Creative Content
Videos, interactive quizzes, voting, conversations, social media pummels in return with a slew of creative content that works. Sure, email marketing can embed these things into its message, but does it really work, or is it just a cheat, linking to the superior social media sites?
Email staggers but finds its balance. What about interactive polls, animated GIFs and the high levels of watched video content?
Round 6 - Conversions
Email marketing retaliates with conversions. Like it or not, email has proven its worth actually turning brand awareness into real sales. Until the customer has handed over the cash, they’re just potential. Social media might have the edge in the number of potential customers, but email has a far greater number of actual, quantifiable conversions.
Round 7 - Data vs. Algorithms
Email marketing utilises its data to hone its effectiveness, improving through iterations over time in a controlled manner for a well-placed strike. Social media throws punches around wildly with hidden algorithms that can be confusing at best, and ineffective at worst.
Ding ding! Time’s up!
And The Winner Is…
Neither.
That’s the truth. Online marketing is not actually a battle between email marketing and social media – it’s a collaboration between these excellent tools and the others out there. Good email marketing is backed up by quality social media campaigns, allowing both to play to their strengths.
I’m Nathan Littleton, and I’m an email marketing fan, but you won’t see me avoiding social media. They don’t need to slug it out, they need to hug it out!
Do you want to learn more about how to best manage your email marketing and social media collaboration? Book a consultation with Nathan Littleton today.
Do you want to learn more about how to best manage your email marketing and social media collaboration? Book a consultation with Nathan Littleton today.
