You've Got Mail ....

Survey is In: Email is 40 Times MORE Effective than Facebook and Twitter … (What?!) …

So, Fact or Fiction…. You've opened up that thing called "Outlook Express," “Yahoo Mail,” “Gmail,” (etc….) and you're writing an email? Seems like this is somewhat old school communication (at least compared to the current internet age we are in!).

Surely, we all see email as ancient history when utilizing it as a form of marketing and communication for business. It is almost ranked right in there with floppy disks and cellphonesthe size of a large brick or cinder block! J I think this is partially due to the fact that there is a SPAM overload out there and customers are just not interested in the “uninvited guest” in their Inbox.

So, is email being kicked to the curb and sent to the back of the line when marketing your business? Well, recently McKinsey & Company (a global management consulting firm ranked in the Top 10 of Fortune 500 companies and trusted advisor to the world’s leading businesses, governments and institutions) completed a survey with responses stating that email is a far more effective way of acquiring customers than all that posting, tweeting and "liking" you're doing on social media ~ Check this out: Nearly 40 times MORE effective than Facebook and Twitter combined.

"If you're wondering why marketers seem intent on e-mailing you more and more," McKinsey states, "there's a simple explanation: it works." (McKinsey.com).

That explains my email inbox. I was logging in and signing up with Technorati.com (checking out the blog ranking site) and learned about the McKinsey survey on a post there which was sent to my email inbox. It also related that email has an advantage over the social media sites especially if you ultimate goal is to acquire customers and not just write about or share your latest family information/news or vacation and travelexperiences.

Everybody has a different reaction, but depending on your personal perspective, the McKinsey report on email versus social media may be crazy, earth shattering news or just simply what you've been stating or telling everybody for years.

Dawning of the Social Media Age

Since the dawning of our social media age, back when dinosaurs and wooly mammoths roamed the land and fur-clad gatherers and hunters crouched around the campfire tweeting their selfies, those nonbelievers have shouted from the rooftops the necessity of email.

Ancient seer Jeremiah Owyang argued in 2009 that email was "the first ~ and largest ~ social network." More recent, Hospitality Net awarded 3 of a 5-roundmatchto email within an article entitled "Email vs. Social Media--Which One Deserves Your Marketing Dollar?” It was also stated that there is a lot of hype about social media BUT when it comes to its usage, email wins hands down. Still, so many huge companies debate this and continue to do so, but most believe that we need to ‘Focus on the Journey, Not the Click.’

We can add customized landing pages that send the reader/user directly to the item or featured offer within the email often increases conversion rates by more than 25 percent over the social media sites. The other side of that is not to forget the mobile devices out there… McKinsey reports that “Nearly 45 percent of all marketing emails today are opened on a mobile device." Another aspect of marketing to keep in mind.

Googlesays “61 percent of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing," the McKinsey site states. "And, even worse, 40 percent visit a competitor's site instead." OUCH! So, make sure your sites are web as well as mobile device accessible in order to at least have a chance of reaching as well as winning over more customers.

It sounds like we need to rethink our social media vs. email practices as well as our mobile device strategy… Oh, and don’t forget your landing pages. Wait for it, wait for it….. Ding! You’ve Got Mail!