Why email marketing is 40 times as effective as social media

Coming back to the office after an extended break usually involves spending at least a few hours sifting through your email inbox, deleting spam and responding to urgent queries. In amongst those emails are no doubt a large number of emails from companies trying to sell you something.

If you’ve ever wondered why marketers seem intent on filling up your inbox, there is one simple reason: it works!

Research conducted by McKinsey & Co.[1] has shown that email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Twitter or Facebook. What’s more, the research also shows the rate at which emails prompt purchases is around three times that of social media, and the average order value is 17% higher!

Of course, sending spam emails to every email address you know isn’t going to win you any favours, and ignoring social media is also not a good idea. But clearly you shouldn’t be throwing out the email marketing playbook either.

Email is still a vital part of any integrated marketing campaign – as long as you ensure the entire journey from email open to eventual purchase is a good one. With more users than ever before conducting an initial email triage step on a mobile device, ensuring that your email sends customers to a landing page that works on both mobile and desktop devices is critical.

By: Mattwilkinson