• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, January 21, 2022

Email will be the top channel among high-rolling entrepreneurs this year, followed by Facebook, according to 2022 Traffic Trends, a study by ecommerce platform ClickBank. 

Email will be the biggest focus for 28% and Facebook for 25%. Another 17% will focus on Google/YouTube, 14% on affiliate/influencer marketing, and 8% apiece on native and organic. 

Why is email beating Facebook? It may be because Facebook CPMs increased almost 50% in one year, as the study notes, citing outside data.  

This study is not projectable, given that it covers 100 of ClickBank’s own seven-figure clients, which may or may not be typical. But it offers a rare glimpse into a matchup of email vs. Facebook and other channels.  

Not that it’s either/or. Asked how many channels generated revenue for them in 2021, the respondents said: 

• 3-5 — 38% 
• 5+ — 33%
• 2 — 21% 
• 1 — 8%

Beyond that, here’s where their dollars are going in 2022 (ad spend covers the channel investments): 

• Ad spend — 50%
• Software/tools — 25%
• Product creation — 17%
• Headcount — 8%

The biggest challenges faced by these brands are: 

• Profit margins — 47%
• Operation process — 22% 
• Manpower — 13% 
• Tech stack — 11%
• Customer support/service — 7% 

What excites these companies? ClickBank received these direct quotes:

• Using AI for copywriting, video creation, and scripting
• Leveraging new tracking software to scale further
• Automation possibilities that didn’t exist a couple of years back. And by automation, I am not just referring to the rules that you set within the traffic sources, but also the overall daily routine tasks involved in running the business.
• Leveraging new social platforms for lead generation
• Rising costs will only allow the persistent entrepreneurs to prevail in 2022 amid fierce competition

With regard to email, the study offers these tips from Sendlane founder Jimmy Kim: 

- Your emails live or die based on relationships — This means you need a unique voice and tone in your customer emails.  

- Information and data are key — Email provides a wealth of data that can be used to deliver more meaningful messaging.

- Lead attrition is increasing — This is rampant with batch-and-blast email sends, especially when combined with deliverability.