Often email marketing is overlooked due to the fine line between effective email marketing and spam marketing, the perceived demise of email as an effective way of reaching customers as well as common misconceptions from Alchemy Worx (2014). However, email marketing is actually considered to be the most effective online-channel for ROI (return on investment) (Charlton, 2014: Littlechild, 2014). Emails create impressions that lead to sales through other routes from the email (Middleton-Hughes, 2012) and are useful at telling companies the digital story of the customers, and as a result 85% of marketers cite email as the most effective lead-generation tactic (Social Media Today, 2014).
via Why should small businesses invest in e-mail marketing rather than social media | Stef G’s blog.