If you’re running a small business in the UK and trying to figure out where to focus your limited marketing time and budget, this is one of the most common questions we hear: should I build my social media following, or invest in email marketing?
The short answer: both serve different purposes and work best together. But if you’re only going to invest in one right now, the data strongly favours email marketing — and most small business owners are surprised to hear it.
The Social Media Reality Check
Social media platforms have been steadily reducing organic reach for years. On Facebook, business pages now reach approximately 2–5% of their followers per post without paid promotion. Instagram has followed a similar trajectory. This means that even if you’ve built a following of 2,000 people on Facebook, only 40–100 of them might see your average post.
You don’t own that audience. You don’t control who sees your content, when, or how. And if the platform changes its rules — as we’ve seen multiple times — your investment can be devalued overnight. For a broader look at how social media fits into your strategy, read our guide on short-form video content, where social media genuinely excels at discovery.
Why Email Marketing Continues to Outperform
Email is fundamentally different. When someone joins your email list, you have a direct line to them — no algorithm filtering, no paid promotion required. Research consistently shows email marketing returns approximately £36 for every £1 spent — an ROI that almost no other marketing channel can match.
The average open rate for small business emails sits around 20–25%. Compare that to Facebook’s 2–5% organic reach and the difference is stark. Your email list is an asset you own — it cannot be taken away by an algorithm change.
What Social Media Does Exceptionally Well
This isn’t to say social media has no value — far from it. It remains one of the best tools for discovery: being found by people who don’t know you yet. Our post on short-form video on Reels and TikTok explores exactly how businesses are winning new audiences organically. Social media also plays an important role in brand awareness and social proof.
The Winning Strategy: Use Both Together
The most effective approach is to use social media to attract new audiences and funnel them towards your email list. A simple lead magnet — a free guide, a checklist, a discount — can convert social media followers into email subscribers, giving you a direct, algorithm-free relationship with them.
Both channels need a strong website at their core. Your website is where social media followers and email subscribers land when they’re ready to enquire. Our web design service focuses on building sites that convert traffic from every source into real enquiries. Explore our plans to see how we can help make your marketing investment pay off.