Email vs. Social Media Marketing: Which One Drives More Conversions?

With so many digital marketing channels available, choosing where to invest your time and budget is crucial. Email marketing and social media marketing are often compared, but they serve different purposes in a business's overall strategy.

So, which one should get more of your attention? Let’s break it down.

Email Marketing vs. Social Media: Performance Comparison

Where Email Marketing Outperforms Social Media

1. Higher Reach

• Social media algorithms limit organic reach. A post on Facebook reaches only 2-6% of your followers.

• Email marketing delivers messages directly to inboxes, with an average open rate of 21.73%.

• If you have 2,000 subscribers, here’s how many people will see your message:

  • Email: 435 opens

  • Facebook: 120 views

  • Twitter: 40 views

2. Better Click-Through Rates (CTR)

• Email marketing has an average CTR of 3.57%.

• Facebook's engagement rate is 0.07%, and Twitter’s is 0.03%.

• Derek Halpern found that email drove 24 times more clicks than Twitter for the same content.

3. Higher Conversion Rates

• Email marketing converts better than search and social media combined.

• 66% of online consumers have made a purchase due to an email campaign.

• Personalization and segmentation allow businesses to tailor emails for maximum conversions.

4. Stronger ROI

• A McKinsey & Co. study found email acquires 40X more customers than Facebook and Twitter combined.

• Email drives 174% more total conversions than social media.

5. Easier to Build an Audience

• Email opt-in rates are often as high as 50%, while social media follows grow much slower.

Where Social Media Excels

1. Higher Engagement

• Social media is interactive, allowing likes, shares, and comments in real time.

• Brands see sustained engagement over time, unlike emails that are often opened once.

2. Virality & Branding

• Social media content can go viral, reaching millions beyond your initial audience.

• It’s visually driven, making brand recall easier.

3. Assisted Conversions

• Social media nurtures leads before they convert through email.

• In one case, social media generated 1,010 assisted conversions, supporting email-driven sales.

4. Advertising & Targeting

• Social platforms offer advanced targeting using third-party data.

• Facebook allows businesses to target users by interests, behavior, and demographics, enhancing ad effectiveness.

The Best Strategy? Use Both Together

Instead of choosing between email marketing and social media, integrate them:

• Use social media to grow your email list. Promote lead magnets and email opt-ins via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• Leverage social engagement for email personalization. Use social insights to tailor email campaigns.

• Use email to drive social media engagement. Promote your latest posts, contests, and brand announcements via email.

• Combine paid social ads with email campaigns. Retarget email subscribers with exclusive social media promotions.

Final Verdict

Email marketing is best for direct conversions and ROI, while social media shines in engagement, branding, and audience growth. The winning approach? Use them together to maximize impact!