E-Mail Privacy vs. Social Network Privacy

A new survey finds that consumers are far more willing to provide an e-mail address to marketers than they are to provide their social network user name or even their Twitter profile name. According to the study by Pontiflex, a lead-generation firm, 96% of online adults have shared an e-mail address while only 12% were willing to give their social network user name. Mediaweek writes:

According to Pontiflex’s interpretation of the research results, users may be more comfortable with sharing via email because of its opt in nature—and brands may need to start with that relationship with users before jumping into acquiring leads via social networking environments.

Obviously that’s true, but it’s also true that consumers tend to have more than one e-mail address. Many have an address they only use for marketing purposes. When it comes to social networks, the information is much more personal. And while consumers may have more than one social network profile, they guard that information much more closely than they would their e-mail inbox.

Bottom line, social network marketing is a two-way street; e-mail marketing is one-way.