49 – 5 Reasons You Should Focus on Email Marketing Instead of Social Media
How would you react if every social network suddenly removed all your friends or followers or closed down your account?
Would you feel confident that you still have a way of amplifying your voice – a way to connect with your biggest fans?
If you have an email list that you’re actively using and growing, I’ll bet you’d be less likely to freak out about losing your social media presence.
Today’s episode is part 2 in a 3-part mini-series. Last week, in Episode 48, we talked about how to get more people to read your blog, watch your vlog, or listen to your podcast. I introduced you to two surefire methods that make it easy for people to receive an alert whenever you publish fresh content. If you haven’t listened to Episode 48 yet, be sure to do so, because we’re building on it today.
Today we’re going to talk about 5 important differences between social media and email marketing.
Next week, in part 3, I’ll share a dozen tips for how to turn your social media followers into email subscribers.
Let’s talk social media.
Another way social media is used as a referral source is to refer people to your lead magnet – the free gift you give new subscribers in exchange for their email address.
Why invite people to subscribe to your email list instead of amassing a large following on social media and just running your business through your Instagram or Facebook account?
Your email list is the only online audience you truly own.
At the start of this episode, I asked you how you’d react if every social network suddenly removed all your friends or followers or closed down your account?
We don’t own Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or the popular new kids on the block, TikTok and Clubhouse. These corporations allow us to use their platforms, often for free, knowing that we’ll likely get addicted to the point where we’re willing to throw boatloads of money at them to purchase ads that’ll get our messages seen by a larger audience.
As all of us who use social media have experienced, these privately-owned platforms exert a great deal of control over who is allowed to use their service, how we can use it, and most importantly, how many of our followers have the opportunity to see the content we publish there.
But with email, you own that valuable list of contacts and subscribers.
You own the content you create for your subscribers.
You control how you present the content, how it’s distributed, and who it goes to.
Email messages are 5 times more likely to be seen than Facebook posts.
Last week we talked about the importance of sending an email blast to your subscribers whenever you publish new content to your blog, vlog, or podcast.
If only 25% of your subscribers open the email – which is the average “open” rate across all industries for enewsletters and eblasts, that’s definitely more than are seeing with a Facebook update that promotes your blog post.
With the advent of “Facebook Zero,” in which zero-2% of the people who like your Facebook page see your organic updates in their News Feed, I’ll take a 25% open rate of my eblast any day!
Emails get opened. Unlike in-the-moment social media posts, emails that land in someone’s inbox will be there for them to open when they’re ready.
Email is one-to-one. This is true even when you’re sending out the same message to thousands of people on your list. It’s much more like talking directly to one person, particularly since the recipient can click reply and continue the conversation. Unlike leaving a comment on a Facebook post for all to see, they can talk directly with you in an email.
Email is a more effective place to ask for the sale.
You are 40 times more likely to acquire a new customer (book buyer) through email than you are through social media.
My friend, Susy Flory, was my first guest on The Professional Writer podcast during episode #7, where we talked about her secret life as a New York Times bestselling author.
Susy mentioned that she collaboratively wrote a memoir with an author who spent a bunch of money building a Facebook following in the hundreds of thousands. This author poured a tremendous amount of effort and financial resources into building a large audience, writing posts, and interacting with followers. However, the return on their investment, in terms of book sales that came directly from Facebook, was dismal.
I believe that part of the reason for this is that social media is primarily a place for getting acquainted with people, for sharing what’s going on in your personal or business life, for offering helpful advice, for ranting about hot-button issues.
Most of us don’t intentionally log in to our social accounts thinking, “I’m going to scroll through my feed and see what I can find to buy today.”
Email marketing is an excellent way to take your social acquaintances deeper. Email is an intimate yet non-threatening way to emotionally warm up your readers and nurture a deep and personal trust connection.
When someone signs up for your email list, they want to hear from you. They’re mentally saying, “Yes, I’m interested in what you have to offer.”
As long as your subscribers feel confident that your emails will contain valuable information that’s going to benefit them, they’ll continue to open your messages.
Key Takeaways
Social media is a wonderful tool for expanding your reach and engagement.
Email is a fantastic way to deepen the relationships and to drive sales. As entrepreneurs who are motivated to sell our products, services, and programs in order to stay in business, we need to pay close attention to the tools that are most effective for driving sales.
A marketing strategy that combines social media, blogging, podcasting, vlogging, and email will set your business up for good things to happen.
Massive Action Step
For the next week, keep a log of how many minutes per day you spend on social media.
Challenge yourself to transfer 50% of the time you’re currently spending on social media to working on email marketing.
It’s impossible to add more hours to our day, but we can learn to manage the 24 hours we’re given more efficiently. For many of us, that means cutting back on the hours we waste checking social media and using that time more productively on activities that will result in a much higher return on our time investment.
Free eCourse: Email Marketing for Writers
Whether you’re starting from zero or seeking to skyrocket your signups, Laura’s 7-day video course (delivered via email, of course), will help you master the basics. Click here to request the free training and cheatsheet.
How to Keep Up With the Show
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Thank you!
Laura