Social media is becoming more and more popular, and every social media platform is offering us ways to message each other– privately and publicly. With all the options for messaging, does this mean email is on it’s way out?
Watch the Short Answer video below, then scroll down to read the longer answer.
The answer to the question is NO now and NO for the foreseeable future. Anyone who says otherwise is a gas bag who is trying to rile up their readers.
The truth is, as more social media platforms blur the lines of messaging platforms, the more messages we’re just going to see and be accustomed to seeing. Maybe 5-10 years ago, you got 200 emails a week + 20 AIM messages and that seemed crazy. Now you might get 200 emails + 10 Facebook messages + 3 Twitter DMs + 20 snaps on Snapchat + 1 Instagram private message + 1 honk on Waze + all the 1000s of public messages on all those platforms + 0 AIM messages and that’s a slow day.
That only partially answers the question though.
Email might not be as flashy, but it’s still one of the most personal marketing channels for connecting to your most interested target audience. I don’t want to go too deep into it, but try to wrap your head around these questions:
- How often do you follow a social media account?
- How often do you sign up to a newsletter?
In order, super often and not nearly as often. The reason is because you only sign up to newsletters when you’re highly interested in what they’re selling.
- When was the last time you purchased something directly from a social media post?
- When was the last time you purchased something after learning about it from an email?
In order, maybe never and at least a few times in the last year. The reason, social media is top-to-middle funnel and email is middle-to-bottom funnel. You’re not on Facebook to buy– you’re there to read about friends, and oh, there’s a post from that brand you like. Your reasons for logging onto email are varied– personal stuff, business stuff, receipts, newsletters, coupons, and announcements (re-read: newsletters, coupons, and announcements).
Do you think the email is dying? Tell us why you think that in the comment section.