On occasion, I’m contacted by people on LinkedIn who say “I’m looking for advice on how to become an email marketer.” I first think…
“Why don’t they want to become something cool?”
Then I reflect on the benefits a career in email marketing has afforded me. I’ve met some wonderful clients and co-workers. I’m generally the solution to most problems. Plus, I get to tell people I send SPAM for a living. (The looks on their faces are priceless.)
I’m also reminded of a quote from Ben Chestnut’s (The Co-Founder of Mailchimp) where he said the ‘E’ in Email stands for ‘Employed’. There’s been a great deal of job security in email marketing, and I’ve been enjoying that reality for just over 10 years.
So, I thought I’d put together a little post on some practical advice I give to people asking this question…
Learn to Clarify Your Message
You have seconds, not minutes, of attention when someone opens your email. That should inform all of your decisions when crafting the inside of the email. Donald Miller (Author of Building a StoryBrand
According to Litmus, you only have 11.1 seconds of your subscriber’s attention if they open. Don’t waste that time with a million offers and long-form copy (unless your subscribers are somehow really into that). Focus your message on 1 primary message or theme and stick to it!
For me, I learned this and started thinking like a direct marketer when I was at Magazines.com. I’ll forever be grateful to the VP who taught me to think like this.
Marry Marketing with Technology
Don’t be afraid to nerd out. Part of what sets me apart from other marketers is my in-depth understanding of the technical side of email and technological systems. Jump at any chance you get to interact with developers on overlapping projects. Listen and ask questions. Eventually, you’ll be surprised how much you know about API calls, transferring data, deliverability, Sender Policy Frameworks and more.
Email won’t last forever, but an ever-changing technological landscape will be a content in our lifetimes. Take every opportunity to be a student of technology. You don’t need to be a developer, but you need to be able to speak their language and understand their abilities and limitations.
Know Your Stats
On a daily basis, I’m worried about deliverability, open rates, click rates, audience size, list churn, and other KPIs. You may not interact with the CEO every day, but you need to know your stats inside and out to make the most of the face time you do get with leadership. Even beyond leadership, in order to be a good partner throughout the organization, you need to be able to convey what’s working and not working in your channel.
It’s not all good news either. Sometimes the numbers don’t say what you want them to say. When that happens, don’t hide. It gives you a chance to be pro-active and shows that you have determination and persistence. Rarely is it just about the numbers… it’s more about what you do with the numbers once you get them.
Big Data, Big Opportunities
I’ve worked with clients that have 15+ million email addresses in their database. The larger the number, the bigger opportunity to drive revenue. It sadly can make for total disaster if something goes wrong. When it comes to data, you should have your table structures and any fields in your table memorized. It’s like being a chef… once you know all the ingredients you can work with, you can design the courses.
For example, if your VP of operations says, “We’re experiencing delays getting our newest inventory to our west coast stores. What can we do to mitigate the number of customers who see the new products in tomorrow’s email, but still push the products to people on the east coast?” If you don’t know your data, you can’t offer a meaningful solution.
If you know what’s at your disposal, you could say, “We have state information on 80% of our database. We can dynamically display different products for customers on the west coast.” Now you’re the solution-oriented team member who they trust to bail them out of jams. That’s a fun place to be.
Be Nice
No one wants to work with an ass. Be nice to others & they’ll trust you, include you, speak highly of you, and eventually give you more opportunities to thrive. Everyone has bad days… just make sure those are the exception, not the rule.
