Setting sail in the email marketing industry

A year ago, the former sailing instructor, was finishing a degree in biotechnology and now - via a brief stint in Fiji where she was doing a voluntary project teaching primary school children maths, english and sport - she's become an integral part of the team here at Jarrang after completing our internship programme with flying colours.

"I was so surprised, and happy, to be offered a permanent position," she says. "When I joined, I jumped straight in and threw myself into everything while trying to learn as much as possible. Every day I was learning something new and went home feeling like I'd gained so much. I tried to bring my own take on things and contribute with ideas which is why it was great to be given the promotion to a full-time position.

"The internship itself was so valuable. It's very hard to get an internship nowadays as businesses tend to want people who have experience. That's why it was amazing Jarrang took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity that's usually so hard to come by and so many other people don't get."

At first glance, email marketing seems a world away from biotechnology yet Fleur finds herself applying the knowledge she gained through her degree on a daily basis."It was while I was in Fiji working with children and coming up with creative ways to help them learn that I realised I wanted to pursue a career where I had the chance to be creative," she says. "And email marketing has been the perfect fit because there's an element of science and process behind it.

"In science, when you do an experiment you have a process to follow from start to finish to get a final product. You start with solutions and chemicals which, depending on how you put them together, will affect the final product. It's actually really similar to an email - even with the reporting and analysis afterwards!"

As part of her journey into the ever changing seas of email marketing, Fleur has been researching the latest trends and developments in the industry - presenting the rest of the team with 'Fleur's Facts' every week (if you're a regular reader of our monthly Jarrang Journal, you'll soon be getting a flavour of Fleur's Facts for yourself!). However, while there's lots of talk focussing on AI and automation in the industry, there's no substitute for getting the basics right.

"Great email marketing is about finding the perfect balance," Fleur says. "It needs to stand out from the crowd but the subscribers receiving it still need to enjoy it and engage with it. One of the most important things I've learnt is how the choice of words and images can have a huge impact on how successful an email is.

‍"New ideas are great too, and I love putting these forward to clients, especially things they might not have thought of before. And I love putting everything I've learnt into practice, working with the developers and being involved in the whole process of design and development so we end up with a finished product that we're proud of and our clients - and their subscribers - love."

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