Honestly I heard a podcast last year where this guy ran a small farm supply store and he said his email list of like 1,200 people made him more money than 50k Instagram followers. His point was that email is the only channel where you actually own the list, social can cut you off whenever they feel like it. I remember he said he gets like 4 or 5 sales from every email he sends, which sounds small until you add it up over a year. My sister runs a bakery and she still does a text and email thing every Friday with what's fresh, and she swears the regulars plan their weekend around it. So yeah, smaller numbers can still be the ones that pay the bills.