It’s no surprise that social media marketing is crucial to business growth in 2018. After all, we’re living in a digital world.
Take a second and check how many people follow your company on social media? I’ll bet you’ve gathered a good-sized following on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. It’s how you do business, right? That’s where you link to new posts, show off a new campaign, or tell people about a giveaway. If you’ve not gathered a following, well…that’s a whole different blog post! Getting back to where we were…
Now do me another favor. Check the numbers on your email list. How do the two compare? My guess is your email list numbers are WAY under your social numbers. It happens to the best of us.
So how big of a mistake is this? Pretty BIG. What if Twitter disappeared tomorrow? Do you think it’s possible Facebook could go down in a blue blaze of glory next week? Barring any cosmic interference, I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. But you never you know.
In all seriousness, have you ever thought about what would happen to all your social media followers if the unthinkable actually happened? All those likes, follows, and retweets would instantly sink into a quickly forgotten abyss.
And what do those likes and follows even mean when it comes to creating revenue? They’re not a currency. You can’t trade 5 Insta heart taps for a slice of pizza. Likes don’t equal dollars.
Now please don’t misinterpret what I’m trying to say. I’m not trying to tell you to abandon social media. There is insane value in social media for companies. Branding, instant connection with your audience, creating your online personality- it’s all important for your business.
What I want you to know is how important it is to convert those social media followers into email subscribers. Think of all those people who are publicly liking your posts- they’re interested in you one some kind of level. The way to get them even more interested- and I mean to the point of investing time, money, and resources- is to get them reading directed, personalized, and detailed emails sent to their inbox.
Social media isn’t going to disappear tomorrow. Let’s just talk about how to get ahead of the game by investing your time in converting your social media followers into email subscribers.
Why you should focus on your email list over social media
According to a MarketingSherpa survey, 75% of social media users said that email is the best way for brands to communicate with them. There it is right there, straight from the horse’s mouth. The best way to communicate with social media users is through email. But if you’re still stuck deciding between whether to focus more time adding subscribers to your email list of growing your social following, here are a few more reasons:
#1. Email is still the most used electronic media.
For some people, it’s the first thing they look at in the morning and it’s their last glance before going to bed. In fact ExactTarget says that 71% of consumers favor email as their first online “check” of the day.
#2. It’s not guaranteed that your audience will see your message on social media
Email is the only way to have direct communication with your audience. With all the new algorithms used on social media, there is no guarantee that your message is being seen by your audience.
Think of your email list as your own personal bat-phone. Getting your audience to comply with an email opt-in gives you your own personal, private direct line to their inbox. No-one can restrict, override or change your message there. It’s your clear permission to send those targeted, relevant messages that help turn prospects into customers.
#3. Email lists are revenue builders
Revenue growth happens with emails lists. It’s in these direct conversations that you can nurture your audience through funnels to keep current customers, sell new customers on your biz and create segmented lists to even further target specific groups. You’ll be hard-pressed to get that kind of work done through social media.
#4. You don’t own social media.
Finally, the last reason to switch focus to email is the instability of social media. I mentioned it at the beginning of the post, but I think it’s worth repeating. You don’t own those social media channels. Yes, right now you have a big list of followers. You have people seeing your messages and your posting all the time. But permissions change and social media sites have been known to cease existing. And if that happens, you’ll lose all access to those followers. However, the email address you cultivate are all yours. You get to keep them as long as your reader lets you.