Social Media vs Email Marketing.

I may be a strong fan of social media, but I am not daft enough to think with blinkers and throw out other forms of marketing and certainly not looking to drop email marketing any time soon, but there is a debate regarding Social Media vs Email Marketing so let’s take a quick look at both to compare:

Both healthy debates and furious defensive ones take place regarding which of the two is ‘king‘, there’s the thoughts from the tried and tested point of view as well as the new to the scene and viral thinking crew… There is no real answer though to be honest and both lend themselves fantastically well, when applied correctly, in delivering real time results and ROI.

Both forms of marketing are still very much ‘modern’ and accepted it the way they reach out to our ‘target audiences’ and I would say that most modern day internet accessing devices accommodate both email and social media so there is no edge for either here.

Social Media is growing strongly and showing no signs of breaking down which is the case for Email Marketing as those thinking that sending an email will finally become ‘dead’ continuously are quietened by the fact email marketing goes from strength to strength each year. Maybe Email Marketing has the edge here simply because it has been around for longer and more tried and tested…

What about real time, the ability to follow those you are looking to target at both their work and leisure times, how do they compare? I would say that social media stands tall in the way it has the ability to keep audiences engaged and upto date with a company’s latest news at any time, email marketing is fine to target audiences at a set time only and would not be able to involve itself in people’s everyday movements unlike what social media can.

The ability to reach the networks of the networks that follow / are subscribed to you. Again, social media will have it’s nose in front again as the ability to like, share, retweet and comment enables a business message sent out on the varied platforms to be read not only by direct followers, but their followers also which gives us the viral marketing aspect of social media. An email is read, unlikely to be forwarded on unless prompted to do so and has a value to the end user to do so.

Subscribers vs Followers/Members/Likes etc. I would say we are fairly equal here as the value of an audience on social media is becoming more and more recognised and seen as on par with having subscribers. If you have 15,000 followers on Twitter, a clever tweet delivered at the optimum time could give the same rate of click throughs and engagement as an email sent to 15,000 subscribers. Open rate vs engagement likely to be similar though possibly Email Marketing would lay claim to winning this as it is harder to obtain subscribers than followers ensuring that engagement is stronger with email marketing.

I would say that even though the above shows that both forms of marketing are strong for business, a clever business would recognise the value and benefits of both and adopt them in current and future marketing campaigns.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Overseas Property

Why 2026 is the Best Year to Invest in Dominican Republic Land

If you’re eyeing Caribbean real estate, 2026 offers an exceptional window to invest in Dominican Republic land. The country has emerged as the fastest-growing Caribbean economy, creating ideal conditions for land investors. Tax incentives, infrastructure projects, and rising international interest are converging at just the right moment. Whether you’re searching for beach land for sale…
Read More
Breaking News

Property expert on how to bag the BEST mortgage deal in today’s market

Finding a good mortgage deal in today’s market demands more than just comparing rates. While the average 2-year and 5-year fixed mortgage rates have gone down this year, they’re still higher than rates pre-pandemic. This means those in their current homes will have to pay more than they once were each month, and new buyers…
Read More
Breaking News

Halloween Named the UK’s Most Popular Moving Day of 2025

Halloween was the most popular day to move house in 2025, breaking the long-standing trend of summer being the busiest time for home moves. We analysed the data and spoke to industry experts to understand why the peak moving day has shifted and why it fell on an international holiday.  Compare My Move reviewed more than 170,000 house moves made in 2025 and…
Read More
for sale sign london
Breaking News

Industry Response to Halifax House Price Index

Industry response to the Halifax House Price Index December 2025 The latest index shows that: – On a monthly basis, house prices fell by 0.6% between November and December of last year. Annually, house prices were up 0.3% versus this time last year, although this annual rate of growth had slowed from 0.7% the previous…
Read More
Breaking News

Halifax House Price Index December 2025

House prices in December 2025 were 0.3% higher compared to the same month a year earlier. UK house prices dipped in December • House prices dipped by -0.6% in December, following a -0.1% fall in November • Average property price is now £297,755, the lowest since June • Annual growth slowed to +0.3%, down from…
Read More
Breaking News

Homebuyer demand returns following Autumn Budget

New research from Property DriveBuy reveals that Bristol, Tyne & Wear, and South Yorkshire emerged as the UK’s most in-demand areas of the housing market following the Autumn Budget, with as many as 61% of homes listed for sale successfully securing a buyer in Q4 2025. Property Drivebuy analysed residential listings data across the nation…
Read More