To email, to post, or to tweet? That is the question.

Facebook to advertise your new bookkeeping service?  Twitter to share a new product? Instagram to show off that spring clothing line?  Not if you want to be smart with your advertising dollar.  If you want the best results for your buck, use that email address.  Most of your customers have shared it anyway, so make the most of that information.

Usage difference

The difference is in the math.  It’s as simple as that.  Despite the growth of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, email still outnumbers that industry almost three to one – combined.  Think about it.

·         Most people have at least one work email account plus one personal account.

·         Everyone checks each account at least once a day.

·         That is billions of emails per day.

·         It is a primary form of communication today.

·         It is harder to ignore an individual email in the inbox than one of thousands of posts or feeds that we scroll through on a social media website.

·         How could you not take advantage of this?

Target market

Imagine being able to find your ideal customer within those billions of emails.  Perhaps you are a skincare company.  Let us take a look at how targeting your email campaigns can boost your business.  With a simple questionnaire on your website, you can gather key information for each customer, and use that data to target your messages.

·         You have a brand-new cleanser specially designed for dry skin.  You can extract the list of clients that have answered they have dry skin, and make sure that your email about this new cleanser reaches them precisely.

·         You have reformulated your acne treatment to be gentler without compromising its effectiveness.  Now you can pull a list of clients who have recurring acne concerns so that they can read about the new formula and purchase it with just a few clicks.

·         You have developed a new anti-aging serum that corresponds beautifully with your current night cream.  You can easily locate a list of customers who purchase that night cream and can now target them for your new product.

Direct message

You have decided to invest in email marketing versus social media, and have taken the steps to collect information from your customers.  Now let us talk about how to make the most of your communication.

·         Although social media is a popular method of communication, it can still have an unprofessional feel to it.

·         A well-crafted email can boost your company image and branding to the next level with its professional appearance.

·         Depending on the service you want to use, you can personalize the email so that the recipient gets the feeling that they are an important customer to you.  You can talk directly to Susie instead of making Susie feel like she is another number in the queue.

So for the best results at a targeted customer with a directed message, email is the way to go.  You really cannot beat the combination of personalized messages to hundreds of clients simultaneously.