The ROI Showdown: Email vs Other Channels

Marketers need to use the different channels at their disposal in order to stay on top of their game. Advancements in technology have given brands various ways to communicate with their customers, so it is no longer feasible to focus your efforts on just one marketing channel.

From social media to paid advertising to email marketing, there are a ton of tools you can use to reach customers. That being said, some are definitely more effective than others.

In order to get a better understanding of how these digital marketing channels perform, let’s review the data.

Return on investment (ROI)

In terms of bang for your buck, email marketing definitely delivers. The average ROI for email marketing is $44 for every $1 spent. Meanwhile, the average ROI for paid advertising is $2 for every $1 spent.

Customer preferences

70% of customers lean towards email content rather than traditional advertising when it comes to learning about products. In addition, 73% of millennials stated that email is their preferred channel for business communication.

In a separate report, 64% of consumers said the ads they see today are annoying or intrusive.

Number of users

According to Statista, 81% of Americans have a social media account and 90.9% have an email account.

Around the world, there are approximately 2.34 billion social media users while there are around 3.8 billion email users.

Engagement rates

Worldwide, the average click-through rate for emails is 3.2%. Paid advertising is not that far behind, though. Across all industries, Google ads have an average click-through rate of 3.17% for the search network.

Make the most of your digital marketing strategy by combining the different channels you use. For example, you can integrate your social media into your email marketing. Your success will depend on how well you mix up these tools.

If you want to learn more about how these digital marketing channels compared with one another, take a look at this detailed infographic.