Email Marketing vs Social Media: What to Prioritize in 2025

✍️ Author: Sara Villamil 

Are you pouring countless hours into social media, constantly brainstorming content, yet still wondering if it’s making a real impact? As a wellness business owner, you’ve likely been told that social media is essential—but is it truly worth the effort?

Or maybe you’re sending emails and wondering how many are opened, ignored, or sent straight to trash. When it comes to email marketing, how do you find the right balance between nurturing your community and overwhelming their inboxes?

If content creation is living in your brain rent-free, you’re not alone. In this blog, we’ll break down the ROI of social media versus email marketing to help you decide where to focus your time and money.

Table of Contents:

• Email Marketing and Social Media Basics
• Pros and Cons of Each Channel for Your Wellness Business
• Data-Driven Insights: Email Marketing vs Social Media Performance
• How You Can Leverage Email and Social Media

Email Marketing and Social Media Basics

When a thoughtful email lands in someone’s inbox, it creates a genuine opportunity to connect. Email allows you to nurture leads by offering value and support to those interested but not quite ready to commit. If you’re looking for ways to attract and engage potential clients, this beginner’s guide to lead magnets can help you create compelling offers that encourage email sign-ups and build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

Segmenting your email list by interests, past sign-ups, or engagement ensures your messaging reaches the right people at the right time. Personalization—like using a first name—can strengthen connections, but always double-check your contact list to avoid mismatched names!

Conversely, social media, like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc, provide powerful platforms for expanding your reach, sparking conversations, and building relationships in online communities. Social media is cost-effective, encourages two-way engagement, and lets your community share their experiences with your brand on a broad scale.

“Email prompts purchases at 3x the rate of social media, with an average order value 17% higher.”

— McKinsey & Company

Email Marketing vs. Social Media for Wellness Businesses

• Reach & Visibility
  • Email: Your message goes directly into inboxes, ensuring the subscriber sees it (as long as they open it).
  • Social Media: Posts are subject to algorithms—only a portion of your audience may see them unless you pay for ads or high engagement boosts visibility.
• Engagement & Connection
  • Email: Allows for a more personal, direct connection. You can segment and personalize messages based on client interests, class history, or wellness goals.
  • Social Media: Encourages broader engagement through likes, shares, and comments, fostering a sense of community and conversation.
• Content Longevity
  • Email: Messages stay in inboxes until read (or deleted), making it easier for people to revisit your content.
  • Social Media: Posts may get lost in the feed quickly, and stories have a limited lifespan.
• Lead Nurturing & Client Retention
  • Email: Ideal for nurturing long-term relationships with existing clients through newsletters, special offers, and personalized class recommendations. For example, a yoga studio with a membership program can use email to engage members with exclusive content and updates.
  • Social Media: Best for attracting new followers, generating awareness, and keeping your brand top of mind.
• Cost & Return on Investment
  • Email: High ROI—estimated at $36 for every $1 spent (DMA National Client Email Report)—making it one of the most effective marketing tools.
  • Social Media: Lower ROI unless using paid ads, but still valuable for organic reach and community building.
• Analytics & Tracking
  • Email: Clear metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions help you understand what’s working. (Wondering what a good open rate is? Click here to find out).
  • Social Media: Engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments, saves) provide insights, but tracking direct ROI can be trickier.
• Best Uses for a Wellness Business
  • Email: Share upcoming classes, special offers, wellness tips, personalized content, and automated reminders.
  • Social Media: Build brand awareness, engage your community, showcase client testimonials, share behind-the-scenes moments, and spark conversation. Learn how to use client testimonials effectively in your marketing.

Key Differences Between Email Marketing and Social Media

In this post, we’ll break down the ROI of both channels to help you decide where to focus.

Both email marketing and social media are valuable tools for wellness business owners, but they serve different purposes. Email creates a direct, personal connection, while social media builds visibility and community engagement. (Discover more strategies to market your wellness business effectively.)

Here’s how they compare:

• Reach & Audience Ownership
  • With email, you own your list—subscribers have opted in, meaning they genuinely want to hear from you. A yoga instructor, for example, can send class updates directly to students rather than relying on them seeing a social media post.
  • Social media depends on platform algorithms, so a Pilates studio’s post about a last-minute class opening might not reach enough followers unless boosted with paid ads.
• Cost Effectiveness
  • Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to connect with your community. According to McKinsey & Company, 91% of US consumers use email daily. The rate at which email prompts purchases is at least 3x higher than social media, and the average order value from email is also 17% higher.
  • Social media, while great for visibility, often requires paid ads to reach a wider audience. For example, a dance studio may need to invest in targeted ads to attract new clients outside their existing network.
• Personalization & Targeting
  • Email allows for segmentation, so you can send tailored messages based on client interests, past class sign-ups, or wellness goals. For example, a Pilates teacher offering on-demand content could recommend different classes to beginners and advanced students, ensuring each group receives content that meets their needs.
  • Social media is broader—while you can target ads, organic posts are less personalized. A wellness coach may share general self-care tips but can’t customize them for each client the way they could via email. According to this study, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands personalize their experience.
• Engagement & Connection
  • Email fosters direct, one-on-one connection through personalized content. A meditation teacher could send a guided audio practice directly to subscribers for a more intimate experience.
  • Social media encourages real-time interaction, community conversations, and brand awareness. A massage therapist might use Instagram stories to answer FAQs about their practice, engaging potential new clients.
• Longevity of Content
  • Emails stay in inboxes until deleted so clients can refer back to them. For example, I send out a monthly newsletter with my class schedule that students can save and revisit.
  • Social media posts, especially stories, have a short lifespan, often disappearing from feeds quickly. A yoga teacher’s Instagram post announcing a workshop might get buried in the algorithm within hours.

Quick Recap of Key Differences

Pros and Cons of Each Channel

Using both email and social media as part of your marketing strategy for your wellness business offers many advantages and also comes with challenges.

In this section, we’ll break down the pros and cons of each channel to help you decide where to focus your energy, nurture your community, and grow your wellness offerings.

Email Marketing

Email marketing offers powerful opportunities for wellness business owners to connect with their community in a direct and personal way. While it is an incredibly effective tool for nurturing relationships and driving engagement, it also comes with its own set of challenges—like finding the right balance between staying in touch and overwhelming your audience.

Having used email marketing for years, I know firsthand the struggles and the rewards that come with it. This guide to email marketing covers everything you need to know to get started.

Pros

• Higher ROI for customer retention.
• Excellent for delivering personalized content (e.g., class reminders, promotions).
• Helps build lasting relationships by providing consistent value and a customized experience. Explore strategies for enhancing customer experience here.
• Opportunity to increase brand awareness on a deeper level.
• Monitor what customers are responding to and tailor your strategy accordingly.
• Cost-effective, especially when using all-in-one software platforms that include email services like OfferingTree.
• According to the 2023 Square Future of Commerce report, 86% of consumers stated that they want to hear from businesses that they frequent, and 60% listed email as their preferred method.

Cons

• Reaching new audiences can be challenging without first growing your email list. Check out these tips to grow your list.
• Risk of emails ending up in spam folders, being left unopened and unread.
• High competition with other emails flooding inboxes.
• Unsubscribing is easy, which is always a risk, but over time, I have begun to see this as a pro as it ensures your emails reach only those who are genuinely interested!
• Email design and layout can be displayed differently across devices, which may affect readability and branding. With OfferingTree email marketing, you can preview emails on all devices before sending them to ensure consistency.

“Segmented email campaigns see a 760% increase in revenue.”

— DMA

Social Media

While it’s often seen as a vital tool for connecting with clients and showcasing your services, it also comes with its own hurdles. Having navigated social media for years, I completely understand the barriers and wins you may experience. (Looking for tips to make social media marketing work for you? Check out these strategies.)

Here is a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of social media:

Pros

• Brand Visibility & Audience Growth: Reach new clients who may never have discovered your business without social media.
• Showcase Your Personality: Share your unique brand and creativity, whether through behind-the-scenes snippets or insights into your wellness offerings.
• Educate Your Audience: Use posts to dive deeper into topics you might not cover in classes, like explaining the benefits of different exercises or philosophies.
• Highly Visual: Perfect for displaying the beauty of wellness practices such as massage, Pilates, yoga, or acupuncture, creating an emotional connection with potential clients.
• Real-Time Communication: Interact quickly with followers through comments and DMs for immediate engagement.
• Increased Reach: Connect with a broader audience, including those unfamiliar with your services.
• Quick Interaction: Allows for fast updates and immediate feedback when needed.
• Growth Opportunities: Exposure to potential collaborations and partnerships with like-minded businesses.

Cons

• Algorithm Changes: Frequent changes can limit organic reach, meaning not everyone who follows you will see your posts.
• Shorter Content Lifespan: Posts, especially stories, can disappear quickly, requiring you to continuously post fresh content.
• Time-Consuming: Creating engaging content takes significant time, especially when investing in high-quality visuals or complex reels.
• Lack of Control: It’s hard to manage what others say about you online, and negative comments can spread quickly.
• High Competition & Information Overload: In a crowded space, even if someone notices your post, they may forget it due to the overwhelming amount of content they consume daily.
• Being Hacked & Losing Your Profiles: This happened to me! Both my Facebook and Instagram were hacked, and I was never able to retrieve them, forcing me to start from scratch. I lost all my content, history, and contacts.

Data-Driven Insights: Why Email Marketing Outperforms Social Media

• 91% of U.S. consumers use email daily (McKinsey & Company).
• Email prompts purchases at 3x the rate of social media, with an average order value 17% higher (McKinsey & Company).
• Email marketing generates $36 for every $1 spent, while social media generates an estimated return of $2.80 for every $1 spent (DMA)
• 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that personalize their experience.
• 86% of consumers want to hear from businesses they frequent, and 60% listed email as their preferred method. (Square Future of Commerce).
• Email is 40x more effective than social media at acquiring new customers (McKinsey & Company).
• 66% of online consumers have purchased because of an email (DMA).
• Segmented email campaigns see a 760% increase in revenue (DMA).
• Transactional emails have 4-8x higher open rates than traditional emails (Experian).

How to Leverage Email and Social for Maximum Impact

Rather than choosing one over the other, integrate email and social media for better results.

• Grow Your Email List – Use social media to offer lead magnets like free meditations, breathwork exercises, mini yoga classes, or self-care guides in exchange for email sign-ups.
• Cross-Promotion for Engagement – Add social CTAs in emails to encourage follows, and run a giveaway for a free class, retreat discount, or wellness bundle to collect email addresses.
• Repurpose Content – Share client testimonials from social media in email newsletters or turn an email blog post into multiple Instagram posts or reels.
• Brand Consistency – Keep a unified look, tone, and messaging across both platforms so your community recognizes your retreat, class series, or wellness coaching offerings.
• Test & Optimize – Email a new class description and see what gets the most clicks before using it in paid social ads.
• Stronger Customer Insights – Combining email and social data helps you track what’s working, whether a specific workshop, a challenge, or a membership program.
• Boost Credibility – Share social media testimonials in emails to build trust and showcase fundamental student transformations or healing journeys.
• Expand Your Reach – Promote upcoming retreats, workshops, or one-on-one sessions across both channels to increase visibility, engagement, and bookings.

Make Email Marketing Easier with OfferingTree

Keeping your community engaged shouldn’t feel overwhelming. With OfferingTree’s all-in-one platform, you can automate emails, personalize messaging, and track results—all without switching between tools.

See how the software works and explore our demo video library. If you want to see the software in action, try OfferingTree free for 7 days to see what a difference we can make for your business!