These days, promoting a business on social media is all the rage. For the past few years, businesses have been building their brand and selling their products and services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all kinds of social media platforms out there. Of course it makes sense.

There is irrefutable evidence that promoting a business on social media is indeed effective. However, what many entrepreneurs tend to overlook is the fact that promoting a business on social media is not the only way to effectively market anyone’s business online. Email marketing was there way before social media ever became a reality, and it remains highly relevant today for some good reasons.

It’s not too hard to see why many businesses have given up on building a solid email list. With the proliferation of spam in email marketing, several regulations and laws have been implemented to combat it. It’s not surprising then that a lot of marketers decided to focus their efforts on promoting a business on social media rather than deal with the hassles that come with those regulations. Still, building an email list can still prove to be useful for Internet marketers because of the following reasons:

Email marketing campaigns actually work

A number of surveys have revealed that more people have actually purchased something because of a marketing message received by email than anything they have seen on social media. One such survey is the one conducted by Exact target in 2012, in which 66% of online Americans were prompted to buy something by email compared to the 20% who did so because of Facebook.

Not all people have social media accounts

Sure, Facebook may hit two billion users in a couple of years, but that does not change the fact that not all Internet-savvy people have social media accounts. It could be they don’t have access to it or it could be just a choice for whatever reason. What they most certainly have is an email account, and with that email address in your email list, your campaign will still reach that person, Facebook or no Facebook.

Email is more professional

A lot of companies and organisations block social media sites in their respective workplaces, but still allow email without any reservations or restrictions. From that, you can take away that from a management point of view, email communication is more acceptable in the workplace, and therefore more professional. It also means email marketing can still reach people even while they’re still at work in organisations that block access to Facebook et. al.

Email is far more personal

Any campaign promoting a business on social media is shared with all its users. Email marketing campaigns, on the other hand, are far more personal, especially when the person concerned freely signed up to receive emails about sales, promotions or special events.

There’s no doubting the importance of an email list, but effective as email marketing may be, it’s not the end-all and be-all of online marketing. If anything, a combination of email marketing with social media campaigns and other Internet marketing strategies may provide the best possible results. A marketing email that contains a link to your Facebook page, for example, increases the possibility of more views and Likes for that page. What’s important is that you do constant testing of your online marketing methods and see what works best for you.