With so many brands pouring plenty of resources into Facebook, many would probably be surprised to know that fans of their brands are twice as likely to sign up for emails from the brand as opposed to engaging on Facebook.

Forrester has a new report on “Social Relationship Strategies that Work” that looks into the relationships between brands and social media, and it raises some concerns on the effectiveness of some types of social media, particularly Facebook.   Facebook is yet again reducing the organic exposure of Facebook Page’s posts, this time targeting posts Facebook deems as being too promotional.  And despite the face Facebook has reduced organic impressions of Facebook Page’s posts by 50%, they have only seen paid impressions go up by 5%, meaning either brands aren’t willing to pay for what they feel they should be getting for free.

But Forrester is finding that email marketing is still a successful medium for brands looking to market to their fans.  They say that Facebook posts are getting delivered to fans only 2% of the time, while an email from the same company will be seen more than 90% of the time.

 Stop making Facebook the center of your relationship marketing efforts. That same survey shows that US online adults who want to stay in touch with your brand are almost twice as likely to sign up for your emails as to interact with you on Facebook. Plus your emails get delivered more than 90% of the time, while your Facebook posts get delivered 2% of the time — and no one’s looking over your should telling you what you can and can’t say in your emails. If you have to choose between adding a subscriber to you email list or gaining a new Facebook fan, go for email every time.

Many companies have pushed back their focus on email marketing – or abandoned it almost completely – as many feel that they have better potential to reach a larger audience, particularly friends of their current fans, through social media.  But with Facebook constantly reducing the organic exposure of brand’s posts on their Facebook Page, it makes sense for brands to begin focusing on email marketing once again as part of their overall online marketing strategy.

You can find the information for obtaining this Forrester “Social Relationship Strategies That Work” here.