Robert Bly is a legendary B2B copywriter. He uses social media in his marketing efforts, but just to build his email list. It is his belief that email marketing trumps social media as far as sales and profit generation are concerned.
Social media is great for building relationships.
It is not so great for driving revenue. People want to be engaged and entertained on Facebook and Twitter. They are not there to be sold to. So if your social media efforts are going to be successful building your business, you have to give away a lot of great content, solve problems and answer questions.
With email, you have a one-to-one conversation.
Yes, autoresponders make it easy to send an email to thousands of people at once. But each one of those list members feels that you are talking to them individually. This is a very intimate setting, and why email marketing works so well to generate sales.
Besides, there are 3 times as many email accounts as there are Twitter and Facebook users … combined!
Believe it or not, not everyone is on all of the big social networks. But do you know anyone who does not have an email address?
You should also consider this. Every web search made on every search engine every single day is just a drop in the bucket compared to email traffic. All web searches made on any platform in a single day equal just 1/100 of daily email traffic. People check their email inboxes, but they may or may not be surfing around on social networks.
Email is also personal and sales oriented. Studies continue to show that consumers prefer email as a way for a company to talk to them, especially over social network interaction. Email also gets more attention from your customers and prospects than any social media.
Your prospects and leads, customers and clients probably spend a lot more time on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest than they do checking email. However, you may or may not grab their attention on crowded social media channels. You have their attention 100% in their in-box, when they allow you to market to them.
If all you are trying to do is build relationships and goodwill, social media is perfect for that. If you expect your business to grow and profit, email marketing is far and away the preferred channel. With an average return on investment of $43 for every $1 spent, email marketing is the hands-down marketing winner for most businesses.