A recent event, jointly organised by the DMA and IAB prompted me to think about the diversity of expertise that email marketing requires. At its best, email marketing should be a convergence of different skills and techniques – a mixture of design, content, strategy and dissemination tactics, not to mention analysis and testing – all working in perfect unison.

The educational half-day seminar used a format from the long running BBC2 programme: Ready, Steady Cook – but with an email marketing twist!

Over fifty enthusiastic marketers from a range of companies and with a range of experience descended on the Oval cricket ground in south London to test their skills with the best in the business.

The idea was a simple one. Delegates were placed into teams and briefed on a fictitious scenario: as email marketers, they had each been approached by a venture capitalist who had recently acquired an ecommerce store – the imaginatively named, My Cup of Tea Shirts! The challenge was to come up with a strategy and tactic to improve the revenues of the company through email marketing.

This in itself was no easy task and to help, each team was given a shopping bag (think Ainsley Harriot) with a number of cards (or ingredients) to help guide them through the process.

The sheer range and depth of considerations on the cards was overwhelming – strategy, data acquisition & management, segmentation & targeting, design & content, measurement & evaluation, legals and ongoing testing & refinement.

Even though I live and breathe email marketing every single day, to see the various processes and considerations involved laid out in this format made me appreciate how daunting it can be.

The challenge with email marketing is that every single factor has to be assessed and taken into account. If there was one takeaway from this event for me, it was that no matter how skilled or accomplished you are in any one element, the real challenge is in making sure everything fits together and works in unison.

Our recent retail benchmark report – Hitting the Mark – came to the same conclusion. Whilst the retailers we assessed excelled in some areas, very few managed to score consistently in each of the 20 criteria we outlined as being important for effective email marketing.

The group that came out on top at Ready, Steady, Email was the one who managed to factor in every required element – both strategically and tactically. To bring back the cooking analogy, those who blended every ingredient in the right order with the right amount ended up with the best result.

Email marketers need a portfolio of skills and accomplishments. Unlike other marketing disciplines, practitioners are expected to be able to handle the entire process. Arming yourself or your team with all the skills is fundamental to success. It is very important for our industry that the IAB and DMA continue to take the lead. Events like these are eye-opening not only for the delegates but also for the ‘experts’!