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So we have all been talking a lot about social networks, and how they are fundamentally changing the way that we communicate. But while it is certainly true that these networks are becoming more and more vital to reaching your customers, clients and members, that doesn’t mean that email marketing has lost its importance too.

In fact, the two communication strategies can co-exist nicely, and address different needs for reaching out to consumers. Here are the Top 14 reasons that email isn’t going away anytime soon:

1. People still send hand-written letters via snail mail, even though they could instead make a phone call, send an email, text message, or status update.

2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration still require an email address. Some are starting to integrate social media into this process (through things like Facebook Connect), but that is still a small fraction, and they typically still allow for email information as well.

3. Email notifies you of updates from all social networks you are a part of (provided your settings are set up that way).

4. Email is universal, and social networks are not (at least not yet!). Nearly everybody on the web has an email address. Most places of employment give employees email addresses when they begin working there. Meanwhile, some of them are restricting workers from accessing social networks.

5. Email is still improving, and hasn’t suddenly stopped with the rise of social media. There is still innovation going on, and integration with social media. Look at the new Yahoo Mail, and how Google is constantly adding new features to Gmail.

6. Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email. Never mind that they update users about community-driven happenings via email. MySpace, still one of the biggest social networks, even launched its own email service recently.

7. More social media use means more email use. The people consuming the largest amount of social media are also the people consuming the largest amount of email.

8. Twitter and Facebook are fantastic products and companies; but that’s what they are, companies. Even though email is host to 279 million users vs. 301 million users of social media according to Nielsen, email isn’t going anywhere so on with many companies offering it as a service. Twitter and Facebook are just two companies that likely make up most of the social media users.

9. Your email recipients are still going to use business email for business purposes. They’ll not likely let their boss know that they’ve finished the spreadsheet and are ready for the meeting now by posting to Twitter. If they don’t use their business email address they probably also have a personal email account that they like to receive your email-only specials.

10. You can’t easily segment your friends and followers to do targeted marketing in Twitter & Facebook for the optimal response.

11. You can’t tell who clicked on a link with some social media outlets so that you can follow up with them again because they might be interested in your content. That said, since you also can’t tell who didn’t click on the link so you can follow up with them with a different message trying to get them to take action.

12. You cannot size your graphics or use more than one in Facebook. You can’t use them at all in Twitter. Graphics can help tell a story.

13. You are limited to 140 characters in Twitter, leaving it impossible to put full text or multiple messages in one Tweet.

14. You almost have to have separate social media accounts for your business and your personal life. Some customers might not care about that vacation you took where you…let’s just say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

As far as online marketing is concerned, email is still a great channel of communication, as many companies continue their search to find the right social media strategy to suit their needs.

There have been a significant number of studies released in recent memory, indicating that email marketing is doing quite well. Email open rates are up, having increased for the fourth quarter in a row as of Q2 of 2009. And studies have shown that email marketing is still one of the most popular channels for consumers, expected to reach over $2 billion by 2014.

Is the email landscape changing? Certainly. Social media has become a very large part of the online lives for many Internet users. Earlier this year, social sites were even said to have exceeded email in total usage. But while Facebook has come significantly close to matching Google in terms of unique visitors, that doesn’t make Google any less important, does it? The two can co-exist, and so can email and social media.

So email marketers are facing new challenges with an increasingly social and mobile web, but we are meeting those challenges too, and continually finding effective ways to connect with consumers with email.