Ready to take your email marketing team to the next level with some serious talent? It’s about damn time.
Really Good Emails found that 80% of email teams are three people or less; “Overall, and un-shockingly, it seems like email is something that gets pawned off on too few people as a job add-on rather than a dedicated role.”
Of those surveyed, 57% entered email marketing because a new position required that they work on emails; 19.5% had some previous coding, design, copywriting, or analytical skills which they volunteered; and 15.2% were forced into it by their boss.
Email marketing is too important a demand generation tool to simply relegate to whoever’s free on your marketing team. So what critical email roles should you invest in? Well, you’ll need a…
Strategist/Project Owner
This is basically the person that’s on the hook for results. They need to understand the ins and outs of your email marketing metrics and the wider marketing KPIs you’re working towards.
This email marketing leader will need a holistic view of your email marketing campaigns and how they contribute to your marketing team’s goals. This person should work closely with the marketing team’s leader to implement long-term campaign mapping and planning.
Copywriter
This’ll be your wordsmith. They’re responsible for every single piece of copy in your emails, from subject lines to headings, body copy, and call-to-actions.
No copy should be included in an email that hasn’t been triple-checked by your copywriter. They’re the gatekeeper, and you’ll be happy to have them when you avoid sending that email with the glaring spelling mistake in the subject line.
Some teams don’t have a dedicated copywriter resource and end up using a few different people to fill this void, which ultimately leads to bad copy going out.
Designer
You’ll also need a design whiz that ensure your emails look professional and on-brand.
Besides aesthetics, your designer should also understand how to design specifically for email, including for HTML or CSS styles.
They’ll be your style and creative gatekeeper, checking each email for branding consistency and overall look and feel.
This role could be part-time or freelance if your team doesn’t create that many emails, or utilizes modular email templates that can be easily customized by anyone.
Developer
This critical role in your email marketing team will be responsible for data integrations, coding dynamic elements, and writing queries for segmentation.
Your developer may be responsible for building your emails, and hand-coding when necessary. They may also conduct email testing with tools like Litmus and EmailonAcid.
However, there may be a platform out there that could allow your marketers to build these emails without having to rely on developers (hint, hint, it’s stensul).
Campaigns/Operations Manager
This superstar brings all the above professionals together to ensure everyone stays on schedule.
They’ll create a timeline for the email’s production and send, collect the materials needed for the email (like copy from the copywriter and creative from the designer), go back and forth with the developer on the email build, and deploy the email streams to a set schedule.
For smaller companies, this role could include other duties like quality assurance, final approvals, performance tracking, and data analysis. They could also build out the email workflows, conduct A/B testing, and create landing pages.
The five champions listed above are all critical components of any successful email marketing team. Don’t sell yourself short, invest in the skills you need.
