August 3rd, 2016
The technological advancements that we have had the pleasure of witnessing over the last few decades have truly been amazing. They have changed the world in more ways than we could have ever imagined. With so many new disruptive innovations appearing out of nowhere seemingly every few days, older technology methods are being labeled as outdated, inefficient, and subsequently get tossed by the wayside.
And yet, the mediums that have proven successful year after year continue to press on despite all these new inventions on the margins. No matter what new thing emerges, if a technology truly offers something of value, it endures. When radio began everyone thought it was the end for newspapers. Everyone was sure radio's time was up after the advent of television. The Internet was absolutely going to ruin television.
A new myth has started to circulate among certain Silicon Valley futurists over the last few years: social media is going to replace email.
Yes, some Cool Teenz are using apps like SnapChat and KIK more than traditional email. Even so, email is still around and doing just fine, better than ever, actually.
In fact, functions like email marketing are actually growing. How often does a store try and ask for your email address? Or asked if they could email you a receipt, a popular backdoor method for collecting email addresses?
Social media is popular, there is no doubt about it, but people aren't using social media the same way people use email. Email is for adult communication, the sharing of ideas and opportunities, assisting in workplace collaboration, and for receiving advertisements from companies that want to sell us things. Wait, that sounds a lot like social media, doesn't it?
They are similar, yes, but when people are on social media, their advertising guards are up and their communication and leisure blockers go way down. People flock to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook for easy communication and news that's relevant to them. But a person's email, when it comes to email marketing, is a goldmine.
Email is approximately 40 times better than both Facebook and Twitter at acquiring customers. These digital marketing campaigns are so effective because emails can be specifically tailored to that unique customer. Personalized email campaigns improve conversion rates by 10% and improve click-through rates (CTR) by 14%. Because of these numbers, email is not falling by the wayside, but rather improving faster than ever.
Last year, 59% of advertisers increased their email marketing budget, and we don't expect that trend to slow down any time soon.