In the Forbes.com article, Top 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate In 2015, author, Jayson DeMers suggests that email marketing will begin to re-emerge as a popular technique used by marketers. Many might find DeMers claim to be a bit puzzling, with all the new applications for online communication and social media available to the modern day information consumer. However, one can contend that the data that exists on email marketing would suggest that there is some validity to DeMers assertion. Although it may not be appropriate for all firms to implement email marketing, it can still be a viable tool for reaching potential customers.
If one were to simply analyze the numerical data compiled, they would realize that email marketing yields a much higher rate of customer acquisition than social media and other online communication channels. According to Custora’s, E-Commerce Customer Acquisition Snapshot: Quarter 2 2013, U.S. email marketing has accounted for acquiring approximately 7% of a company’s consumer base. On the other hand, social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter combined, only account for less than .01% of U.S. customer acquisition. The data collected would also suggest that email marketing is poised for continued growth. Email marketing has the highest success rate for e-commerce customer acquisition, only trailing organically generated web traffic. Thus currently making email the most effective online customer communication channel in terms of revenue generation.
The reason why email marketing techniques have been so successful in terms of customer acquisition is because email provides a streamlined medium of customer communication that avoids the digitized clutter of overly saturated social media news feeds. However, this does not mean that social media marketing is not an important part of a company’s online marketing strategy.
Social media marketing can be a very effective tool for establishing continuity within a brand’s image as well as engaging a brand’s community. Even though there is no exact metric that can quantify the direct correlation of these concepts to a company’s bottom line, it seems that there is an indelible bond that links strong brand identity to involved social media use. Although email marketing is proven to be the more lucrative option, social media marketing also holds a valuable role within the online marketing sphere.
Michael Porco, MSD Intern