If you want the long answer, we could go on and on (but we’ll give you the Cliffs Notes version).
Email marketing is a key driver of demand generation when executed effectively, and a powerful, long-term lead nurturing tool that cannot be ignored.
Unfortunately, many organizations fail to properly invest in the right email marketing professionals and platforms.
As a marketing leader, it’s up to you to lead by example and invest in the skills, software, and systems that will empower your email marketing initiatives.
So let’s examine why you need to invest, and what an email marketer is worth to you…
What does an email marketer do?
You might be rolling your eyes right now and grumbling, “well, they send emails, duh.” But it’s so much more than that.
They manage the entire email marketing workflow, including:
- Setting overarching strategies and KPIs
- Planning email campaigns
- Setting up lead nurturing or drip campaigns
- Liaising with sales, product, customer service, and other marketing team members to leverage the latest content assets, product news, and events
- Overseeing copywriting and creative for each email
- Ensuring each email appears correctly across email clients and devices i.e. mobile optimization
- A/B testing, tracking performance, and analyzing results
These are just some of the core tasks that an email marketer has to contend with, there’s also a million other responsibilities that fall under their jurisdiction.
Why email marketers are invaluable to any marketing team
Many companies don’t have the resources or budget for a dedicated email marketing professional or team, so it often falls to a harried intern or junior team member.
But there’s a very good reason why your new marketing intern shouldn’t be assigned to “blast out a few quick emails.”
Email marketing means big bucks:
- A staggering 59% of B2B marketers state that email marketing is their most effective channel for generating revenue
- Every dollar spent on email marketing produces a 44:1 ROI, that can’t be ignored!
- 50% of U.S. consumers prefer to hear from brands via email, easily outranking other channels like social media (7%), mobile apps (7%), text messaging (7%), and chatbots (3%)
Seeing how important this channel is for marketing, investing in an experienced specialist is absolutely essential for today’s marketing teams.
How you can empower them
Once you’ve made the decision to hire an email marketing professional (or two, or three, 80% of email teams are three people or less), then it’s time to give them the skills and tools they need to succeed.
Encourage them to sign up to industry news sites and social groups, like MarTech Today, Marketing Land, Really Good Emails, the Email Geeks Slack channel, and many others.
Continuous learning and development is essential in the ever-evolving world of email marketing so industry events, conferences, webinars, and online learning courses are all great options.
If you’re struggling with what team members and skills to invest in, The 5 Key Players on Your Email Marketing Team blog should help!
