Deciding between email marketing or social media marketing can be tricky, especially if you’re just starting with your business.

These two marketing strategies are some of the most effective ways to engage with your customers. However, each has its own specialties that make it more valuable than the other in some cases.

You may ask: where should you invest your time and money to get the best results? According to statistics by OptinMonster, 60% of consumers want to receive promotional messages from email, while 20% want to get them from social media.

However, this shouldn’t be the sole basis for concluding that email marketing is more effective than social media marketing.

So, which is better? To help you make an informed decision, here are some things to consider when deciding whether email marketing or social media marketing is best for your business needs.

What is Email Marketing?

When you think of the term email marketing, what comes to your mind?

Perhaps spam emails in your inbox, annoying marketing messages, promotions, and newsletters clogging up your inbox?

How do you use email marketing if you are a small business owner or entrepreneur?

Is it part of your strategy to grow your business, connect with customers and promote new products or services?

Email marketing is a promotional strategy companies use to grow their customer base.

It’s a marketing strategy where you use email to send out promotional messages and updates, usually to a list of contacts you’ve acquired.

More and more businesses are using email campaigns to communicate directly with their customers.

While social media can be powerful, it doesn’t give your business complete control over the content, which is one advantage of email marketing.

Also, a survey from HubSpot revealed that 86% of professionals prioritize email connections over other types of media connections.

Email Marketing Examples

If you’re planning an email marketing campaign, consider using one of these three incredible examples to get started.

All of these campaigns have resulted in dramatic increases in traffic and leads for the businesses that ran them.

The Most Effective Emails

You may not know that your email marketing campaign is working if you don’t have a good tracking system in place.

The best emails usually have simple subject lines that clearly communicate their message and end with a CTA (call-to-action).

This kind of email works best when it looks like it’s sent by a real person instead of some program like MailChimp.

Humanizing your brand can go a long way in building trust and engaging with your target audience.

The Most Beautiful Emails

There are many rules in email marketing, but one that stands out is to put your best foot forward.

A clever subject line combined with an eye-catching design can make your readers want to click—and maybe even buy! If you try to sell through email, at least ensure your messages look great.

The Most Wow Emails

Wow emails are email campaigns that are so good they elicit a wow! reaction.

In fact, WOW is a great acronym for thinking about how you should describe your product or service in your marketing copy—and what will make your customers respond positively.

To create wow emails, remember two things: (1) it’s hard to wow people without being personal, and (2) it’s hard to be personal unless you can put yourself into your customer’s shoes.

Email Marketing Tools

As email marketing tools continue to improve and grow in popularity, they can help you target and connect with even more potential clients than ever before.

Here are the five best email marketing tools you can use to start growing your business today!

ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an email marketing platform that specializes in helping bloggers and podcasters grow their subscriber lists.

It allows you to create forms and auto-responders and has email templates for specific kinds of messages.

These templates include welcome series, course launch announcements, and travel deals.

If you’re on a tight budget but want something more robust than your run-of-the-mill email marketing software, ConvertKit is a good option for its simplicity and affordability.

MailChimp

MailChimp is one of the most popular tools for email marketing.

It’s easy to use and has a large number of available templates. It also has more advanced features for anyone who wants them, but you don’t have to dig too deep if you don’t want to.

The most basic version is free, and MailChimp has paid options with extra features at reasonable price points—including a free 14-day trial.

Drip

Drip is one of those tools that continues to grow in popularity as more people realize just how valuable it can be.

The tool works by creating a platform for you to send personalized messages to directly to a segmented list of your audience at an optimal time.

It also lets you track where these emails end up and assess which strategies work best.

Salesforce Email

Salesforce offers CRM capabilities, cloud-based email marketing, marketing automation, eCommerce, and social media tools.

It also provides drag-and-drop templates and is easy to use, but it’s relatively pricey and doesn’t offer some features available with other tools.

Still, Salesforce will make your business look more professional than using a free version of an email service provider.

Aweber

A popular email tool for bloggers, Aweber offers tons of useful features and makes creating a professional email list and sending emails easier than ever.

The interface is intuitive and easy to use, plus it’s affordable!

Aweber also integrates with WordPress, so you can easily post new blog posts straight from your dashboard.

If you’re running a business on WordPress or simply have clients who visit your site from time to time, this will be an invaluable tool.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing involves any digital strategy that utilizes one or more social media platforms to spread a message about your brand, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads and sales.

It refers to platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

In essence, you’re using these networks to get in front of highly-targeted audiences who may be interested in learning more about your brand and buying from you.

Some of the most popular strategies include content creation, paid advertising, and building relationships with influencers in your industry.

Social Media Marketing Strategies

Social media marketing can be highly effective when implemented correctly and can open up opportunities to connect with your target audience like never before.

Here are some of the most effective social media marketing plans and strategies available today.

Guest Posting

Have you heard of guest posting? Even if you haven’t, you have more than likely seen it without realizing it.

It’s content written by one blogger and published on another person’s site (or vice versa).

This can help you build relationships with bloggers in your industry, get some recognition for your business, and even draw more traffic to your own site.

Collaborating With Influencers

Social media influencers are companies, organizations, or individuals who have a large following and can influence your target audience.

In fact, a survey from Oberlo showed that 49% of consumers decide what to buy based on influencer recommendations.

Influencers can also help get more traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, and raise engagement with your followers.

If you are launching a new product or service, consider collaborating with social media influencers by sending them samples of your product or offering them early access to something special.

Running an Exclusive Promotion

Creating a promotion that’s exclusive to your social media followers will encourage them to share it with their friends and followers.

For example, if you’re a retail clothing store, offer customers an exclusive discount code in exchange for writing about your shop on Facebook or Instagram.

This promotion can help you get your business more visibility, which may lead to increased sales and customer acquisition.

Social Media Marketing Tools

Social media marketing tools are essential to your business’ success on popular social media channels.

Here are four of the best tools you can use to manage your social media marketing and stay on top of your game.

Tailwind

Tailwind is one of the best secret weapons for growing Instagram accounts. As a follower-building tool, it’s unparalleled.

It lets you quickly add hashtags, schedule pins (to Pinterest), and plan your Instagram Stories.

The user interface (UI) is a little wonky, but once you get used to it, Tailwind becomes a valuable tool in your arsenal.

Buffer

If you have a lot of content to share across multiple social networks, Buffer is an easy way to automate it. You can get started with a free trial.

Simply set up a schedule and let the software do its thing. It’s also an excellent tool for finding interesting content that’s already in your sphere of influence and sharing it with others who may not have seen it yet.

MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is an all-in-one social media automation tool that saves you time.

It allows you to queue up posts and then repost them in bulk at pre-set times so that your updates are delivered automatically throughout the day, every day.

It’s perfect for those who want to maintain a presence on multiple networks without keeping track of everything themselves.

So, Which is Better for Your Business, Email Marketing or Social Media Marketing?

Both social media marketing and email marketing can be effective for your business.

They each have pros and cons, and many of these depend on your product or service.

Some people swear by one or the other but remember that using both marketing strategies for your business is ideal.

You’ll find great success if you’re dedicated to social media marketing; the same is true for email marketing.

Ultimately, it all depends on your company’s needs and marketing goals.