Email Marketing: Links pay the most, clicked the least
According to separate studies released by StrongMail and ShareThis, links placed in emails have a higher conversion rate than links placed in Facebook, Twitter, or web badges. Although emails tended to lead to a higher percentage of conversions (i.e. sales and subscriptions), email links also had the highest percentage of actual link ignores where users more often ignored email links.
Quick thoughts: one can conclude from the studies that email may best serve conversion-based goals where medium related trust weighs in heavily in the conversion process (ps duh), leaving user base expansion goals best served by socially visible links on facebook or twitter (pps duh). Also of consideration is the difference in a rich visual experience that each medium provides combined with the general assessment of the medium as a communication tool vs. an advertisement. It’s easy to see that web badges can appear in spaces that are typically shared with advertisements, leaving the medium (the badge + its real estate) as being more associated with advertising than communication. Twitter links are bare when it comes to a visual experience (hurting conversion opportunity as visuals serve an opportunity to further convince and sway).
I wonder why they didn’t study the link conversion opportunities in Google Wave? Just kidding.
