Last Week's Facebook Outage Proves Why Email Marketing Is Still So Valuable

Last week saw Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp go down for several hours for millions of users, throwing business owners' content marketing into limbo -- and teens into a near-crisis.The social media giant Facebook has thrown around impressive growth stats for years, saying, for example, that users still spend an average of 41 minutes a day on the platform. But building your audience on Facebook, Instagram or any private company’s channel can be a double-edged sword when its algorithm gets switched up or its systems go down. So, whether you’re a coach, service provider, ecommerce business or local brick and mortar, it may be time to reconsider email marketing: It's one of the best ways to reach customers, build relationships and increase sales, especially if you’re on a budget.Yet, as a content marketer who spends most of his existence trying to captivate readers’ attention online, I’ve seen far too many general “Thanks For sSubscribing!” autoresponders (emails sent automatically to confirm you’re on the mailing list) flush opportunity down the drain.