by Caliber Media Group / September 5, 2011

Internet marketing “rumble” – two methods go head to head

A recent article we came across made the point that email marketing produced much greater response to an offer than did social media when exposed to the same offer.  The author concluded that social media was not as effective as email marketing in producing responses to his offer.  Important to note, the author is a quoted Internet marketing expert and is considered by his peers to be a good writer on this topic.

We find his conclusions interesting from several perspectives.  The first is his comparison of internet marketing “apples and oranges”. The second, is his lack of connection to a defined marketing strategy.  These methods are very different tactical marketing tools that are designed to be used for different purposes.  In other words, a good, balanced internet marketing strategy would not select both email marketing and social media to accomplish the same goal or expect the same result.

  • Email marketing is an outbound marketing tool.  Email goes out from the business to prospects or clients. It is very good at delivering a focused message and people reading an email marketing message are doing so expecting a certain type of message.
  • Social media is an inbound marketing tool. Prospects and customers are choosing to interact with the business on their own terms and timing. They are expecting a less aggressive form of promotion and are more focused on interacting than purchasing. However, well thought out offers just for social media channels are new opportunities for business and drive sales too.

A good strategy using these tools in a coordinated fashion would also employ blogs, Facebook and Twitter to build relationships with customers and prospects and invite to join an email mailing list for specific purposes: newsletters, promotions and special offers.  By employing these two tactics as part of a more holistic strategy the overall results of both social media and email marketing are likely to improve results and sales.

This is not a matter of which is “better”; it is a matter of selecting the right tool for the job. It is an opportunity to utilize tools that work together to build a stronger coordinating marketing message.

We think the right question is not, “Which is better… email marketing vs. social media”, rather “How to use them together to out market the competition” that matters most.

Contact Caliber Media Group for a balanced strategy to build your business today!

 

Caliber Media Group has been doing effective digital marketing over ten years. To see what a custom tailored approach to digital marketing can do for your business give us a call at 714.867.1600 or visit us online at www.calibermediagroup.com for a free consultation.
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