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Selling products and services may have become a whole lot easier with the development of social media sites such as Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter, but these sites haven't proven as effective means of marketing as traditional email.

According to the data from the Direct Marketing Association, email is more effective than advertising through social media by three to one. The reason lies in the simple fact that retailers and businesses can tailor information to specific customers through email rather than attempting to draw in customers with one all-inclusive marketing strategy, which is undoubtedly hard to do. Emails allow for a more personalized experience, thus giving customers the sense that companies actually care about them by taking the time to individually appeal to each member of their target audience.

Additionally, more people use the Internet for email than for social networking, as found in a 2012 study by Ipsos, a private research firm. The study surveyed adults across 24 countries and found that 85 percent of them use the Internet for email, while only 62 percent use it for social networking purposes.

Data from the Direct Marketing Association reflects the Ipsos study as email provided $39.40 in sales per dollar of advertising in the past year compared to $12.90 from social networks. Moreover, purchases made by shoppers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (News - Alert) through the use of social networks decreased by 26 percent in 2012 compared to last year, while major retailers have been sending out more promotional emails.

While email has proven to be an effective method for marketing, Ted Wham, vice president of Responsys, a firm that assists companies in building digital relationships with customers, said it will never be as appealing as social media websites.

“But it depends on what’s sexy to you,” Wham said in a statement. “In my opinion, making a high profit rate and bringing in a lot of incremental dollars is very sexy.”