Email and Social Media Powerful Marketing Tools You Can’t Skip

Use email and social media marketing to build brand awareness, increase customer reach and then use personalized communication to clench the sale for a huge win.

using email and social media

Are you using social media?

If not, how detached are you?

Today, someone who does not have an account in a social network is considered to be pretty detached from the world. Regardless of what your personal stance on social networks may be, you can not deny that they have become an integral part of our lives.

Due to the “global migration of people to virtuality,” businesses also had to recognize the shift and focus marketing efforts online to stay current. In fact, it’s almost impossible to find a company that does not have a business page in at least one social network.

The question for businesses and marketers becomes, how do we build and maintain good customer relationships online?

Online business and marketers are facing fierce competition, making it ever more difficult to reach and motivate new customers to make a purchase.

Everyone is looking for that “killer” digital marketing strategy to increase online sales.

If this is you… don’t miss out on the power of email marketing and social media for customer relationships.

Email marketing is one of the MOST powerful online marketing tools for eCommerce, when used properly.

In truth, Email Marketing is an online version of the old traditional postal mailing.

Companies can use it to enhance brand recognition and find new customers.

Statistics show that in attracting new customers, the return on investment Email is 40 times more effective than Facebook or Twitter. E-mail stimulates more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search engines and social networks.

 

Social Media Marketing is a way to promote a product or service on social networks.

Social media is entirely about relationship building and this type of marketing depends heavily on your ability to communicate with your target audience. SMM tools are closer to TV shows, stand-ups and the art of direct sales than to traditional marketing. Such programs usually aim at efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it across their social networks.

Email marketing or social media marketing?

Despite the rapid development of social networks, e-mail still holds the position of the world’s most popular Internet communications format.

This is reported by Mashable website with reference to the research of the analytical company Ipsos.

More than 19 thousand respondents from 24 countries of the world took part in the Ipsos survey. It turned out that 85% of them used the Internet to work with e-mail, while for communication in social networks – only 62%.

At the same time, analyst Kyren Gottfried, ran a study indicating that most Internet users are doing the bulk of their communicating in social networks.

“This is a change of paradigm – there is no the equivalent of social networks in the offline world,” she says.

 

If you’re trying to decide between email marketing and social media, the statistics can make it very difficult to determine which might be best for your business.

 

And, of course,  Internet usage patterns vary depending on the country…

For example, as Ipsus research indicates:

  • in Hungary, 94% of respondents are connected to the Web to verify e-mail
  • in Saudi Arabia – only 36%.
  • Social networks, forums and blogs were the most popular Internet destinations in Indonesia (83%)
  • Argentina (76%) and Russia (75%),
  • and in Japan only (35%).

 

Even the largest social network in the world, Facebook, with over 845 million users won’t rule out email as a marketing tool.

In fact, the social network introduced a unified Facebook messaging tool that combines e-mail, Internet messenger and SMS. That is why email marketing is often considered an alternative to social media marketing. Actually, it has been known to prevail social networks when it comes to total conversions.

If Facebook recognizes the importance of e-mail marketing – shouldn’t you?

 

There have been reports that the number of e-mail users is steadily declining. This has been primarily observed in young people using a variety of modern Internet communication networks, while the older generation tends to use e-mail correspondence.

All this to be said, if social media is the up and coming choice of communication it would be wise to use both email and social media in your current business marketing strategy.

Why Email Marketing Should be Part of Your Strategy.

According to recent research by the Direct Marketing Association:

  • The ROI of email is 3,800% (according to the Direct Marketing Association).
  • 72% of people would rather receive promotional material via email than social media.
  • 38% of people say receiving special offers is the top reason they subscribe to an email list.

As stated by Shopify,

if your ecommerce business hasn’t taken the time to adopt email marketing, then you’re leaving money on the table.

If the stats above aren’t enough proof, here are a few more points you’ll want to consider:

1. Huge Audience.

E-mail still remains one of the most popular messaging channels on the Internet.

According to various data, 70-80% of Internet users check their electronic boxes more than six times a day.

This fact confirms that email remains the most reliable way to communicate with an audience.

2. People want to email.

Facebook and other social networks are a great way to find old friends and new acquaintances. The microblogging service Twitter allows you to comment on events occurring in real time. All this, but e-mail is still the go-to tool for business communication.

According to research by ExactTarget, 77% of Internet users prefer to receive business emails via email.

3. Email marketing brings results.

Email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for increasing sales. According to researchers by MarketingSherpa, 66% of web users have made purchases after receiving an email.

There are a number of email marketing strategies and concepts that you should take into consideration to improve your lead volume.

For example, using automated emails and personalization generates 320% more revenue.

To learn more, click here.

4. It is cheaper.

Email marketing is pretty cheap. All you need is a service provider and content to send to subscribers.

In fact, MailChimp will get you up and running for FREE as well as providing some awesome templates and tutorials to start driving more sales and conversions.

mailchimp

5. E-mail complements SMM – and SEO-campaigns.

Using email greatly increases the efficiency of marketing a small business on the Internet.

For example, starting a new campaign on social networks becomes more successful if you send a letter to you with a message announcing the start of a new project.

The important thing to pick up on here is that using both email and social media together is highly effective – much more so than simply choosing one over the other.

Tools like MailChimp can be used for optimizing marketing and improving the effectiveness of campaigns through automation of email, ability to segment and create personalized content, test A / B versions.

Additional statistics suggest that the association of Email marketing with social advertising increases the likelihood of purchasing by 22%.

 

Why You Can’t Abandon Social Media.

It is clear that social media is not just a fad, and that it is worth utilizing.

In fact, 83% of marketers say that social media is important for their business.

I think the most important thing to come to terms with is that social media and email marketing are two entirely different animals.

While email marketing is the proven leader for converting customers and potential customers that have already engaged with you, social media is a powerful marketing channel to reach new customers.

Social media has a much higher engagement rate than email marketing. 

Sharing content on your social media channels helps to build your brand presence and sends more traffic to your website.

Social media content is designed to be shared, when you post on social networks, there’s a high probability that you’ll reach a new audience. Conversely this just isn’t going to happen with your email list.

A perfect example is when a brand posts great content on social media it can be shared by “influencers,” who have  their own followers. The potential for this content to be be shared again is very high. Your potential reach can be shocking.

 

In Conclusion

Why Choose one of these marketing techniques when you can harness the power of both email and social media? Use social media to communicate with your audience… share, build and grow your customer base and ultimately drive new visitors to your site. Then use email marketing to deliver timely and personalized communications to clench the sale.