More marketers are turning away from email marketing blasts and turning to “special offers” through people who are connected to their brand via Facebook or Twitter. This process is extremely cost-effective as it doesn’t take a lot of resource to post offers via social media and the maintenance of the “list” is, in essence, your followers. It also doesn't hurt that every follower is a targeted lead.
One of the biggest factors in the shift to social media marketing is the growing ineffectiveness of email marketing. People have started to completely weed out or ignore messaging that comes through email. Furthermore, the SPAM factor leaves a large amount of email marketing dropped into someone’s junk mail – never to be read.
Savvy marketers should focus less on building their email lists, and spend more time gaining followers on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets.