In the past few years, social media and mobile devices have taken our world by storm. As a result, many marketers have been asking if email is dead. The answer, especially in B2B, is that email marketing is alive and well.
Last week, we mentioned that there are nearly twice as many email users as Facebook and Twitter users combined. That alone should be enough to prove email’s prominence over social media, but today, we’re sharing additional reasons that email is more valuable than social posting. Email marketing deserves just as much, if not more, dedicated work and strategy as ever before.
The thing about social content is that if a customer doesn’t respond, a post eventually disappears. Its time in the feed expires, and the customer probably doesn’t see it again. Email is different because it requires action, and it never disappears. Instead, it stays put until it’s opened, read, archived or deleted.
Adding social sharing buttons to your emails increases your potential to interact with your customer’s network. When a prospect loves your content, they are likely to share it on social, gaining wider distribution of more complex content.
When it comes to B2B marketing, it’s important to consider the person or group of people likely involved in a purchase decision. The intimacy of email is appealing to to the heavy thinker, the one who might be considering their company’s product options. Email also invites distribution within a company; a prospect can easily forward your email to others involved in the buying process.
Email’s suitability for B2B goes beyond ease of distribution. While social channels are valuable for B2B companies, the reality is that email is more suited to the technical nature of many B2B communications. Social media tends to feel limiting in situations that require complex business-to-business content.
Image via (cc) Cory M. Grenier
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