Email Marketing vs Social Media: Which Channel Should You Focus On?

Are you looking for sustainable ways to market your business? Not sure where to start: email marketing vs. social media?

Both email and social media marketing are promising channels to grow your business. But they also have their pros and cons.

In this post, we’ll share important insights into email and social media marketing. By the end of this blog, you’ll have a better idea of which platform works best for you to grow your brand.

Email marketing and social media are two of the most popular digital marketing channels today But which one should you focus your efforts on – email or social media? This comprehensive guide examines the pros and cons of each channel to help you determine the best strategy for your business

A Brief Overview of Email Marketing and Social Media Marketing

Let’s start with a quick refresher on what email marketing and social media marketing entail

Email marketing involves sending promotional emails to lists of opted-in subscribers Email allows you to directly reach your existing customers and prospects

Social media marketing means promoting your brand and content on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Social media provides opportunities to reach a broad audience and grow your following.

Both channels have unique strengths and differences when it comes to metrics like reach, engagement, conversions, and ROI. We’ll explore those next.

Key Metrics to Compare

To determine which channel deserves more of your marketing resources, let’s analyze some key metrics:

Reach

Email reaches over 4 billion active users globally. Almost all online adults use email regularly.
Social media has around 4.2 billion users. However, organic reach on social platforms is declining.

Verdict: Email edges out social media for total reach, but social media provides opportunities to extend beyond your existing network.

Engagement

Email enjoys higher open and click-through rates compared to social media. Email gets prioritized as a critical business channel.
Social media faces more competition for attention but facilitates public conversations and interactions.

Verdict: Email engagement metrics are typically higher, though social engagement also has value.

Conversions

Email converts at a higher rate. 66% of consumers make purchases due to email marketing.
Social media ads can also drive conversions, but organically, social performs worse than email.

Verdict: Email is the clear winner when it comes to conversions and driving sales.

ROI

Email marketing has an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.
Social media marketing yields a lower ROI, averaging around $2.80 for every $1 spent.

Verdict: Email provides a significantly higher return on investment.

Targeting

Email allows extensive segmentation options to target different demographics.
Social media ads can target users, but organic posts have little targeting ability.

Verdict: For precision targeting, email comes out on top.

When Should You Use Email vs Social Media?

Based on the metrics above, you’re likely getting the sense that email marketing is the more effective channel overall. However, that doesn’t mean you should abandon social media entirely.

Both channels have unique strengths. Here are the best uses cases for each:

Best Uses for Email Marketing

Nurturing relationships with existing subscribers
Promoting discounts, sales, and other offers
Driving conversions and sales
Collecting feedback or data from customers
Delivering valuable, relevant content to readers

Best Uses for Social Media Marketing

Increasing overall brand awareness
Engaging in public conversations with followers
Promoting content and media (images, videos, etc.)
Running targeted ads to reach new demographics
Monitoring mentions and managing reputation
Analyzing feedback and reviews from customers

As you can see, email is better suited for reaching existing audiences, while social media excels at expanding your reach.

Using both channels in tandem provides the most comprehensive marketing approach.

Email Marketing vs Social Media: Putting It All Together

Now that we’ve compared email and social media marketing across critical metrics and use cases, let’s summarize the key takeaways:

For reaching a targeted audience, driving conversions, and getting the highest ROI, email is the superior channel.
However, social media is better for increasing awareness, engaging followers, and expanding your reach.
Automated email marketing platforms make managing email campaigns easy.
Social media does take more manual time and effort to manage effectively.
Ideally, brands should leverage both channels – email as your core marketing channel, supplemented by social media.
Focus email on subscribers, promote offers and conversions, and nurture customer relationships.
Use social media to grow your audience, promote content, manage reputation, and analyze feedback.
With the right balance of email and social media, you can enjoy the unique benefits of each channel.

Tips for Integrating Email and Social Media

Here are some smart ways to integrate your email and social media efforts:

Promote your social media channels in your email newsletters and campaigns. Add links or social buttons to raise awareness.
In your social media posts and ads, encourage people to join your email list to receive promotions.
Offer an incentive for current subscribers to follow you on social media.
Use social media to advertise upcoming email content and build excitement.
Repurpose email content on social media – turn popular articles and resources into social posts.
Use social channels to highlight customer reviews or feedback from email surveys.
Share behind-the-scenes email marketing advice or insights on social.

With some creative planning, you can align your email and social efforts to work together cohesively.

Which Channel Is Right for Your Business?

Determining where to invest your marketing resources boils down to your specific business goals.

If your top priorities are nurturing leads, driving conversions, and maximizing ROI, focus heavily on email marketing and treat social media as a secondary channel.

If you need wide exposure and brand visibility, balancing email and social media with paid social ads can get you the furthest reach.

Take time to analyze your current metrics and results from both channels. Allocate your time, budget, and team appropriately to get the best overall return.

With the right strategic approach, email marketing and social media can complement each other to take your digital marketing results to the next level.

Summary: Key Takeaways on Email Marketing vs Social Media

Email reaches more people, drives higher engagement, and delivers better conversions and ROI overall.
Social media facilitates greater brand awareness and conversations, with potential to extend reach.
Use email as your hub for promotions, conversions, and customer relationships.
Leverage social media for exposure, feedback, and driving growth.
Combine both channels to enjoy their unique marketing benefits.
Promote social media in your emails, and promote email signups on social.
Align your resources based on your specific business and marketing goals.
Use this comparison of email vs social media to determine the best strategy.

Putting more focus on the better-performing channel for your goals will ultimately maximize your return on investment. With smart integration, email marketing and social media can work together to drive major results.

Top 5 Most Popular Email Service Providers

Gmail: 1.5 billion users
iCloud Mail: 850 million users
Microsoft Outlook: 400 million users
Yahoo!: 230 million users
Proton Mail: 50 million users

Next, let’s break down the data by age group.

Email Marketing vs. Social Media Usage

There are more than 5.3 billion Internet users in the world. As stated earlier, 4.95 billion people have active social media accounts. That’s 61.4% of the world’s population!

But here’s the thing.

More than 4.37 billion people across the world also use email. You can’t invest in social media marketing at the expense of leaving out email marketing. Email marketing offers benefits that social media still lacks. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of both in the later sections.

Here are some interesting stats on email usage:

99% of email users check their inbox every day.
58% of people check emails first thing in the morning.
59% of Millennials and 67% of Zoomers check emails on smartphones.

Here’s how the data looks for people who prefer social media:

Social media isn’t too far behind email in usage.

However, a better measure of each platform is how people use them in relation to their online buying habits.

The number is more favorable for social media. 68% of customers say that they follow brands on social media to stay informed about new products.

This is great news for social media marketers!

Do you know what the most popular social media platforms are by user count? Here are the stats.

Email Marketing vs Social Media Marketing | Elevate & Scale | Ecommerce Email Marketing

Is email marketing better than Facebook & Twitter?

In a study made by McKinsey & Co on how US companies generate new customers, they found that email marketing acquired 40 times more customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. In the example by Amir Chitayat from OpenMoves, we already showed that email is responsible for more direct conversions and social media – for more assisted conversions.

What is the difference between social media and email marketing?

In other words, email marketing generated more direct conversions than assisted. Social media generated less direct transactions – only 173 as well as 1010 assisted conversions with the ratio of0.58 meaning that they had less direct conversions and contributed les to assisted conversions.

Is email better than social media?

When you look at the effectiveness of email compared to social media and take a peek at the ROI of each, it’s pretty clear that email is the winner. By a lot. But here’s the thing: if you really want to make the most of your email marketing and engage your target audience in a new way, add social media to your marketing plan.

What is the difference between online marketing and social media marketing?

Online marketing, including email marketing and social media marketing, can help businesses reach new audiences and increase their revenue. Email marketing is better for building relationships with current customers, while social media marketing can help you build brand recognition with potential customers.