Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and many other social media sites are quickly taking over the internet. There are over 1 billion active Facebook users every month and Twitter carries around 255 million. It’s no surprise that a lot of people are focusing their attention on social media marketing.
Looking at the Numbers
However, a study by Radicati pointed out that in 2013 there were well over 3.9 billion active email accounts in the world. By 2017 that will jump to 4.9 billion. That means the total number of emails being opened and used are three times the number of Facebook and Twitter users combined!
Paying Attention
The problem with Facebook and Twitter is that the pages reload with so much content flooding people’s attention. With a single scroll of the mouse a user will have passed your Facebook post. They might not have even realized you posted something.
However, when people get an email notification they take more time to carefully browse the subject lines. This means they are paying more attention to their email messages than the stuff constantly bombarding their Facebook Timeline and Twitter feed.
It’s just common sense – your Facebook or Twitter post is competing for attention from all the posts of their families, friends, groups, and other liked pages. When they check their email, they only expect messages from people they really interact with and that should include you.
Putting This to the Test
Popular blogger Derek Halpern decided to put this to the test. He sent the same email to the same number of people through Twitter and email alike. The results solidified the fact that email marketing leads to higher click through rates and lead conversions:
- 4,200 clicked the article from their email
- Only 300 people clicked the article from their Twitter feed
He also did a test to see which would get more people to subscribe to him. Would more people follow him on Twitter or would more people give their email and subscribe to his email listing?
To do this he sent 1,000 of his blog visitors to his official Twitter page while another 1,000 visitors he sent to his email opt-in page.
The results were a near-50% conversion for his email. That’s right – almost 500 people subscribed to his newsletter while very, very few clicked the “Follow” button on his Twitter page.
Time to Give Up on Social Media?
Facebook and other social media sites are still great tools and you should use them aggressively to interact with your followers. You may even use Facebook or Twitter as a means to get people into your email list.
However, when it is time to concentrate on lead conversions – which ultimately leads to higher ROI – then you will want to pour attention on email marketing.
For email marketing as your export marketing tool, you may also consider world importers & buyers directory.
Source:
exportmarketing.net Editor