Email will not be defunct in 10 years, but either will social networks

Email generates 86% of all online sharing activity, making it the preferred consumer sharing method by far, while Facebook and Twitter are the next most preferred channels for sharing, but only represent a fraction of all activity.

So, that little statistic counters the mountains of research that has surfaced this year declaring that email marketing has been replaced by social networks.

Benchmark data from millions of sharing activities on the StrongMail Influencer platform has identified email and blogs as most effective social channels for direct marketing conversions. 

Sharing online content via email generates the highest conversion rates,  while Twitter is the most effective channel for extending reach, according to the December 2009 “Social Influence Benchmark Report “, released today.

However, according to Q3 2009 data, while email dominates the sharing activity, each email shared by an influencer only generates 0.41 additional clicks. 

Conversely, sharing via Twitter generates more than 18 clicks per post, which translates into a 1,837% click-through rate versus 41% for email. 

This impressive click-through rate firmly establishes Twitter as the most effective channel for amplifying a marketer’s program across the social web. 

Peer-to-peer emails generate a 36.8% conversion rate, compared to just 3% for Facebook.  Conversions from Twitter programs remain very low, but trends within the data suggest growth in Q4 2009. 

Embedded links for sharing via web pages and blogs turned in the second highest conversion percentage at 20.5%.

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