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3 Reasons Why Email Still Matters to Your Business

February 18, 2010 at 12:59 AM Leave a comment

Your Email

by Paul Diamond 

Email has long been considered the dinosaur of the digital marketing world. Our inbox is overflowing to the point where it is unmanageable and we certainly don’t need more of it, right? However, there are plenty of reasons why email marketing will remain the workhorse of any digital marketing strategy, and in particular, any successful social media strategy. Here are the top 3 reasons why email and social media belong together.

#1 – Not all customers are social media users.

Yes, it’s true. Some customers aren’t on Twitter and don’t know what RSS stands for. And even though social media participation is on the rise (only about 20% of U.S. Internet users don’t engage with social media, according to a report by Forrester Research), it would be a mistake to ignore those who aren’t yet comfortable with social media. You can still stay in touch with these people by email, and use it to alert them when you have a new blog post up.

#2 – Some of your customers are HUGE social media users.

On the flip side, some of your customers are engaged in a number of social networks, and will find that email is truly the only way to keep up with what’s going on in each of them. For instance, I don’t check Facebook or LinkedIn every day, but I have set up email notifications for when something of interest happens on one of those networks. And although I have an RSS Reader set up with literally hundreds of feeds from various blogs, I set my favorite blogs to send me updates by email. It’s simply easier for me that way. I guarantee you that you’ll have some customers and prospects in the same situation.

#3 – Email itself is becoming more social.

 Google announced Google Buzz, a new feature within Gmail to make the service more “social.” Facebook also has plans to add an email client to its service.

Eventually we will converge on a platform that will look like a combination of what we now know as “email” and “social media.” Until then, make sure you keep email as part of your digital marketing strategy. Your social media neophytes and veterans alike will thank you.

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