Are eNewsletters Dead?

Maybe this idea is nuts. I was just on Facebook and one of the companies that I like said “Sign up for our newsletter and you’ll get the skinny on _______ events & _______ releases, and get discount coupons at our online store” and I thought to myself – I already like you on Facebook, isn’t that enough?

Digging deeper into this, what’s the point of asking for both? Furthermore, if I sign up for your eNewsletter – nobody sees that, so it’s not like I can become a promoter and encourage others to join. Maybe the moral of the story is that it’s not only cheaper, but more broad-reaching, faster and effective to just promote your brand through social media and not newsletters. It would sure make my inbox a bit cleaner too.

I’ve only had 3 espressos this morning so maybe I’m still a bit out of it. Any thoughts?