Neither is mutually exclusive of course. You can do both. It is better to ask whether you should or not.
If things in the email marketing world are going well for you, expansion might be something you are considering. If so, then branching out into social media will be an option. The rewards can be significant, and for little investment, so why not give it a go?
There are some concerns, the most significant of which is the investment in time and resources that an effective social media campaign could involve. There is an expectation that companies will update their pages regularly and respond within a short time to queries and, remember, critical comment. Failing to do so can have a negative effect on your returns.
Your plan, and your budget, will have taken these demands into account. However, there are certain aspects of social media that are difficult to predict and, obviously, plan for except in the broadest terms.
Facebook have recently been experimenting with a change to their news feed, its most attractive feature to advertisers. It is trying out the new methods in half a dozen, all rather small, countries. It has stated that at this time it has no plans to run this test globally. There is no reason to doubt them, but ‘at this time’ is the critical phrase.
It might have crossed your mind that this will force those who produce commercial pages to pay for their distribution. Facebook has stated that it has no current plan to do so, again modified by a less than definitive phrase, this time ‘no current plan’.
Whether they will take this further is unknown at the moment, but Facebook’s history of continual change tends to indicate that it is probable. No one can blame them for trying to make money, but your careful planning might be all for nothing if there’s a sudden increase in costs.
I’m not picking on Facebook. All forms of social media have brought in significant changes over time, often requiring a reworking of plans. The lack of predictability is something to consider. You have a high degree of control with email marketing.
