Email vs Social Media: Has Email Lost Its Relevance?
“If the only way you could read an email was to run a mile first, the urge would quickly die. Human beings constantly do subconscious effort/reward calculations. Tapping a screen is the easiest of physical tasks.” – Andrew Well
With the advent of social media and the marketing opportunities it opened up, it seemed as though email marketing had been pushed into the background. Not so long ago, email was the foremost source of online communication. That may not be the case anymore, but it does not mean that email has become extinct.
Surely the proponents of social media make a strong case, but can we conclude that email has lost relevance in the modern age?
What Do the Numbers Say?
Unfortunately, answering this question is not so easy. The general perception takes the matter in one direction while the statistics paint a different picture. According to a report published by TheEmailAdmin, people working in office jobs receive close to 12,000 emails a year on average.
This is why 25% of the average working day is spent checking or sending emails. So, in no way have people stopped using email. However, the way in which emails are being used today is what needs to be changed.
Different studies provide different figures like the one mentioned above. People with deskbound jobs aren’t the only ones bombarded with emails. The over-55 age bracket has also become more active in terms of email usage.
On the other hand, teenagers and young adults are geared towards using social media, which has reduced their email usage considerably. Also, the same age segment is more willing to send an SMS rather than an email, which points towards a preference for instant communication.
Email for Instant Communication
There is little doubt that email provides an avenue for instant communication. You click ‘Send’ on an email and it reaches the inbox of the recipient in a matter of seconds. Yet, to check their email, the recipient has to sign in.
While most people working every day on the computer have the habit of checking their emails regularly, the same cannot be expected of someone doing manual labor all day. This delays receiving an email to a certain extent.
The Growing Use of Mobile Devices
Over the past couple of years, the trend has shifted from laptops and desktop computers towards smartphones and tablets. People working on computers have no choice but to use them. However, this doesn’t apply to a large segment of the population, which has embraced the growing use of mobile devices.
Nowadays, people stay connected to the internet on the ago, using Facebook and even checking their emails. It is not rare to see a person waking up in the middle of the night and reaching for their phone to check for emails.
Why is Email Not as Popular as It Was
It is quite evident that email is not as popular as it was. Email services like Gmail and Yahoo constantly update their offerings so as to not lose their users to the competition. Microsoft took the bold step of discontinuing Hotmail and transferring all their email user accounts to Outlook.
However, the reason for all of these changes and email’s dip in popularity is quite simple: email does not carry the glamour that social media do. The hype and hoopla surrounding social media builds up to a deafening roar when something new is on the horizon. The same does not happen when a new email service or app launches.
Another possible reason is that the commercial value of email has decreased considerably. You cannot compare Gmail to Facebook. When Facebook announced its IPO, the expectations were that the value of the company could go beyond $100 billion.
While that did not materialize, it goes to show the commercial value and the financial interest investors show in social media companies. Still even the social media mogul realizes the importance of emails, which is why it offers each of its users an @facebook.com email upon signing up.
Email is Private
A common tagline for social media websites has been that you can connect with old friends and make new ones. The promise of expanding social connections lures people into making their own profiles on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This is not the case with email.
Even after many years (email came before the internet), email is still private. You know the services you are using, but it is highly unlikely that your friends and acquaintances do and neither are they interested in finding those out.
Is Email Still Relevant?
In the light of the information and arguments presented above, it does seem as though email is taking its last breath. It has little going for it and the competition from social media is too immense to tackle easily. Yet, there are some things that show that email is not just relevant, but should be used for marketing and other purposes.
Over 90% of People Use Email
First of all, over 90% of internet users have their own email accounts. Compared to this, the number using social networks is close to 65%. This goes to show that email has a wider access. If you want to find your target audience, you are more likely to do so through email rather than social media. However, that’s only if you’re not targeting teenagers.
Email Is Here To Stay
It can be said that email addresses are indispensable. The reason for this is that people use them to log into social media websites and set up accounts all over the internet. Since they have no option but to keep their email addresses, users end up using them more often than they realize.
Return on Investment
Last but most importantly, the return on investment (ROI) you can generate through email marketing is the highest. Up until a couple of years ago, the ROI for every dollar invested in email marketing delivered an over 4000% return. In today’s business environment, that is hardly believable.
As you can see, email is here to stay and you can actually benefit from it. However, that does not mean you can send spam or junk emails or have substandard content in them.
People want value and that is what you should seek to provide. Don’t bombard people’s inboxes with your emails. Rather, get them to subscribe to your campaign before doing so. As long as you are doing so, there is no way email is going to lose its relevance.
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