Social media vs. email marketing

Okay, it doesn’t have to be either/or.  A company can do both.  But here’s a reality check:

• Only 5% of Americans are on Twitter (The Harris Poll, April 2009).  Of that group, only a fraction send messages on Twitter.
• Less than half of Americans with a college degree are on Facebook.
• More than 80% of Americans (employed) have an email account (Pew, 2008).

How do you like them apples?!

Here’s my advice: use social media with email.  Use email to get out your blog posts, for example.  But don’t over-rely on social media.  The return isn’t there yet.