You can tell by the title of this blog post that we will always stand by email marketing as the best marketing method for your business. However social media definitely has its advantages, and in this post we will do a comparison between the two. Email marketing is the tool which will sustain your business in the long run, whereas social media is a good short term tool (by all means use it on the side).

By the way we’ve got a YouTube short on this topic too! Head over to our YouTube channel to have a quick watch!

4 Benefits of email marketing Vs. social media

1. Email reaches your customers directly, while social media relies on algorithms that can bury your message. 

One of our biggest pain points of social media channels like Instagram or Facebook, is that we become slaves to the algorithm. Take this recent story as an example, it is that we posted an Instagram Reel which did quite well. I thought that I had finally cracked some algorithm code, because this Reel ended up getting over 200 likes and over 5000 views (our best Reels accomplishment yet! Yay!). The following day, I posted a similar type of Reel, and guess what? Crickets! A grand total of 0 views! Posted around the same time of day, and providing the same comedic value. *shrugs shoulders* And open to any advice!

Look, you may be doing ok with social media, and actually seeing some wonderful conversions! But we still would not advise this method to be a long term solution. This being due to the small shelf life of this content, and it’s not going to last forever.

When you send an email you gain access to your prospective clients and customers directly. Your content isn’t hidden beneath other creator’s posts whilst you sit and cross your fingers that someone will see it.

A good email open rate is something like 30% and a click rate of 3.5%. Compared with a click rate of 0.07% on Facebook!

2. Email allows you to target your audience specifically, while social media casts a wide net. 

You’re able to learn more about your email subscribers; who they are, what their pain points are, and what they will gain from your product or service.

This valuable information allows you to tailor your email content to suit more specific needs.

You’re able to know who your audience is on a deeper level.

On the other hand and as an example, on social media you may post about how your wedding photography will be fantastic for those who love candid shots because they want their quirky personalities to shine through! Or for those that want photography in a certain area(s) of the world because they know the importance of that perfect location.

But there’s really no guarantee that those ideal people are going to see that post, and it may instead become visible to those that aren’t really interested in that.

3. Email allows a higher return on investment.

As we mentioned before, on average, emails have an open rate of 30%, and a click rate of 3.5%. In comparison with Facebook, which has a click rate of 0.07%!

Those who have actually taken the time to hand over their name and email address, are far more likely to be invested in your product or service. It’s their choice to stick around and be curious to see what you have on offer! Which is very different from social media.

I know that when I’m on social media such as Instagram or Facebook, I’ve really only popped on for entertainment or to see what the rest of the world is up to. Not necessarily to look for products or services to purchase.

So you will always see a higher return on investment, from your email subs!

Don’t get us wrong, social media is another platform which can help build your email list in the first place.

4. You own your list of Email subscribers, but you don’t own your social media followers!

Instagram or Facebook can take away your followers at any point they wish. Your account can be taken away, your account may be hacked leading to you shutting your account, or some other random tragedy may strike, which is outside of your control! Eeeek!

You actually own the data which your email subscriber submits and it can’t just be taken away.

You have more control, and you can always choose how often you want to communicate with your email list.

We have a whole other blog post on the benefits of email marketing! Read on for a real life example of how an email list can help with a campaign for a great cause, and other business benefits. Have a further read here: Benefits of Email Marketing

Take a look at our free 40 minute video training below! This will help you put together the basics of a branded website, before you go ahead and start working on your website design.