Is Email Really Dead?: The Truth About “Dead” Marketing Strategies

“The report of my death was an exaggeration.” - Mark Twain

If anything in marketing makes me mad, it's the social media posts that say things like:

"Email is dead."
"Lead magnets are dead."
"Blogging is dead."

Here’s what I want you to know:
These statements are rarely true.

The only time a marketing strategy is truly dead is when the platform itself is no longer operating. (Think: MySpace, Vine, and Google+.)

And yet, I see these declarations all the time.

So… why do people say this kind of thing?

From what I’ve seen, it usually comes down to one of two things:

1. They’re speaking from their own limited marketing experience, and applying it generally to everyone as an absolute 
2. They’re trying to get your attention by using a limited perspective to create a reason for you to buy something that is the “new” way

Now, I rarely talk about things like this. I don’t want to point fingers or call people out.

But it’s more important to me that you not get sucked into fear-based thinking.

Because these kinds of sweeping, absolute statements?
They’re not helpful and they’re not true.

These are limited views of marketing tactics that work just fine.
Just because a strategy doesn’t work for one person, or it falls out of trend, doesn’t mean it’s dead.
More likely, it just means that it didn’t work for them or their audience.

In fact, I saw a Reel on Instagram recently where someone claimed, “PDF lead magnets are dead!”
And I just had to laugh because that’s exactly how I’ve built my email list.

My introverted audience loves PDF lead magnets. They want resources they can read, think about, jot notes on… and then revisit later. So that format works perfectly for how they like to engage.

So let me be very clear:
There’s no single “right” way to market your business.

Your unique right answer to the question, ”What’s my best marketing strategy?” depends on 3 things:
✔️ Your business
✔️ Your customers
✔️ And you

If a marketing tactic feels out of alignment for you, don’t use it!
And if something feels like a fit… even if it’s “out of trend,” don’t let someone talk you out of it.

You have options.
👆 and that’s the whole point. 

So the next time you see someone speaking in absolutes, like saying a marketing strategy is “dead,” remember this:

Marketing tactics don’t die…

they just need to be used with the right intention,
in the right context,
by the right business,
for the right audience.

Don’t let someone scare you out of trusting your own judgment.

You get to do it your way.