What gives companies the better marketing ROI, the better channel for building trust with consumers — email or social media sites? Did your guru tweet you and say, “Social media, dude”?
According to a new study, people using the internet would rather share personal information with marketers using email than sharing on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
- 96% of online users provided their email addresses to receive special offers and information from brands
- Only 12% shared information like their Facebook name or Twitter user name in exchange for information or promotional offers
- only 17 percent of online adults 18-34, eight percent of adults 35 to 44 and seven percent of users 45 to 54 were OK with sharing social networking information with brands
The research was commissioned by lead generation specialty firm Pontiflex and conducted by Harris Interactive, who surveyed 2,064 adults aged 18 and older from Sept. 2 through 4.
According to Pontiflex’s interpretation of the research results, users may be more comfortable with sharing via email because of its opt in nature—and brands may need to start with that relationship with users before jumping into acquiring leads via social networking environments.
Hmm… I guess that’s why they call it social media.
Sources: Pontiflex blog. MediaWeek (Mike Shields article: Web Users Prefer E-mail Interaction with Marketers, says Study, October 15, 2009)
My Take:
Mobile Devices and Smart Phones Keep Email Alive
I think mobile devices and smart phones have helped email keep up with social media and the need for instant communication. I suspect most mobile users can access their email accounts easier than their Twitter or Facebook accounts.
Cocktail Parties, Privacy, Storage, and Dictators
Twitter and Facebook communications can be overheard by others and therefore lack privacy protection.
Also, where do you save tweets and Facebook stuff.
Besides, the F-book and Twitter overlords control your data anyway and can snatch it from you at anytime. Folks may not trust the effinbook.
Social Media Still in Diapers
Also, the results of the study may have something to do with the current reach of social media compared to email. Heck, my gammy has email.
Here are the results of an April 2009 Harris study. Less than 50% of folks have in your face book and only 5% are twittering. So duh, email should be winning.
click image to enlarge
Email is not dead (yet). Still, I don’t subscribe to the “either-or” notion of marketing. Use all online channels and measure your results, tweak and measure again. And don’t forget, people are reachable offline.
Further Reading:
Is Email Dead? Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2009.
Email is Dead? Oh, Really, Gizmodo (Jason Chen)
Technorati Tags: email marketing, social media, Pontiflex, marketing study
