Job Interview for a Digital Marketing Agency

DELETED_108974 · 10 Sep 2012 at 14:26

I have a job interview on Wednesday for a digital marketing agency and I am looking for some advice, interview tips, stories on working in this field, etc.

The role is for an E-mail Marketing Executive. My most recent job was call centre work and I was there for 2 years before I left (the job was soul destroying) but in my time there I gained a lot of experience but I can see jumping into the marketing side of things is going to be a big leap and a very different environment.

I should also mention I have a basic understanding of HTML and CSS which is what the company is looking for!

So any tips/advice, etc is most welcome!

WrathOfAchilles · 10 Sep 2012 at 14:53

removal old post

GravyMonster · 10 Sep 2012 at 15:00

Where abouts are you Kappa? I've not long left a company who sound very similar, doing a job which sounds similar

DELETED_108974 · 10 Sep 2012 at 16:45

Spunkey said:
Where abouts are you Kappa? I've not long left a company who sound very similar, doing a job which sounds similar

I am based in Cheshire!

Achilles, I believe it's a blend of both technical and creative. The job description does mention about analysing statistics and driving campaigns, advising clients where things could be improved upon, etc. But it does also mention about having a good eye for branding designs & principles and knowledge of Photoshop is welcome.

I am glad to hear that Exec is a Junior Role. They were looking for someone with a degree in marketing and 1+ years experience ideally but I have neither of these so my CV must have come across in a positive light to atleast be considered for an interview!

It seems really interesting and much better than call centres lol Many thanks for the advice so far! I am doing a lot of research on the company currently and to try and understand the marketing side a little bit more.

Hutchy · 10 Sep 2012 at 16:52

My guess is they will want you to be making them HTML emails using a third party service like Mailchimp or Campaign monitor to handle the tracking.

Remember that HTML for emails is slightly different to modern HTML as you will have to go back to using tables and basic CSS.

For the design, basic photoshop knowledge I would say would be required.

For the marketing, a service such as Campaign Monitor will handle most of the tracking for you providing you with click statistics etc etc. Other tracking jobs might be Google Analytics and using the UTM campaign parameters to monitor conversions from the emails you make.

References that might help you out:
UTM blog article: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-to-use-utm-parameters/

Tried and tested skeleton email templates for you to have a play with: http://mailchimp.com/resources/html-email-templates/

Advise on A/B or Split testing emails to see which of your emails works best:
http://help.campaignmonitor.com/topic.aspx?t=139

WrathOfAchilles · 10 Sep 2012 at 16:56

^ good tips above.

Tip to interviewing well is keep things in perspective. If you are going for a sales role then spend all your interview talking about your customer service experience you will miss out. Sales role they want to know about selling!

With marketing - its about return on investment. For every £1 they spend they want £x back. Unless of course the campaign is to drive foot fall (getting people though the door) or collecting data for future campaigns. But typically, success or failure is measured on ROI.

Bunka · 10 Sep 2012 at 17:36

It depends on which company you're looking to work for. If they're an agency and have their own deployment tool, then it's likely that they'll have developers who do most of the email creation. You'll then be in charge of client comms, reporting, upselling to some extent and QA/Deployment.

I spent two years working for an email marketing agency that worked pretty much purely with blue chip companies, so any questions, pop them in here.

gord · 10 Sep 2012 at 18:21

That job title says nothing about what you will be doing. Is there not a spec for what your actual responsibilities will be? If not, that's definitely a question you should ask, what will your day to day workflow be like.

Considering they want you to have basic HTML and CSS knowledge I can only assume they want you to build e-shots, but there is quite a lot of intricacy to designing good quality cross-client e-shots in what is quite a fast moving area of technology.

If you really want to impress them then ask questions about their marketplace and the number of recipients then have using mobile devices. Then if they have decent numbers drop in some research you've done about responsive email design and the jobs yours...

simisker · 10 Sep 2012 at 19:45

gord said:
That job title says nothing about what you will be doing. Is there not a spec for what your actual responsibilities will be? If not, that's definitely a question you should ask, what will your day to day workflow be like.

Considering they want you to have basic HTML and CSS knowledge I can only assume they want you to build e-shots, but there is quite a lot of intricacy to designing good quality cross-client e-shots in what is quite a fast moving area of technology.

If you really want to impress them then ask questions about their marketplace and the number of recipients then have using mobile devices. Then if they have decent numbers drop in some research you've done about responsive email design and the jobs yours...

Good post, gord

I wouldn't necessarily infer that HTML & CSS knowledge = "we'll have you building our e-shots"; it's more likely to be required when fixing the markup issues that inevitably occur across every broadcast platform [including the mighty Mailchimp and CM!] after import.

Mobile's the big email marketing thingy at the moment, as you would expect - small-screen devices overtook desktop devices for email reading quite a few months ago [generally speaking - ultimately it depends on target markets, of course].

DELETED_108974 · 10 Sep 2012 at 19:53

gord said:
That job title says nothing about what you will be doing. Is there not a spec for what your actual responsibilities will be? If not, that's definitely a question you should ask, what will your day to day workflow be like.

Considering they want you to have basic HTML and CSS knowledge I can only assume they want you to build e-shots, but there is quite a lot of intricacy to designing good quality cross-client e-shots in what is quite a fast moving area of technology.

If you really want to impress them then ask questions about their marketplace and the number of recipients then have using mobile devices. Then if they have decent numbers drop in some research you've done about responsive email design and the jobs yours...

Good call on the mobile devices statement! I'll work that in

Thanks for all the advice so far guys. I have had a look at the job spec and a lot of it seems to be targeting, segmentation, creation, deployment, list management etc.

simisker · 10 Sep 2012 at 20:40

Kappa303 said:
[...] deployment [...]

Ah, the "get lumped with the broadcast of a campaign that really must go today but was only given to you at 5:15 thanks to an over-promising account manager that cheerily waves goodnight to you as you settle in for an evening of unexpected and unpaid overtime" position

Good luck with the interview

smokedog · 10 Sep 2012 at 20:45

These roles normally require a portfolio. My first job after uni was a digital marketing designer aka spam designer.

DELETED_108974 · 10 Sep 2012 at 20:49

simisker said:
Ah, the "get lumped with the broadcast of a campaign that really must go today but was only given to you at 5:15 thanks to an over-promising account manager that cheerily waves goodnight to you as you settle in for an evening of unexpected and unpaid overtime" position

I sure hope not haha! But guess we will see

Probably beats getting shouted at by idiots on the phones in a call centre lol

JaFFa · 10 Sep 2012 at 21:05

This looks like account management not design of the actual creative. I have a team of account managers and when I interview the main thing i look for some one I can get along with. As long as you are not an idiot it's not exactly rocket science.

At entry level is just requires some one to be thorough and hard working. Show some commercial nous that you understand prioritisation and you should be fine.

reflux · 10 Sep 2012 at 21:06

I would seriously recommend you give this a read from cover to cover. It's a very good reference.

Whilst the role sounds like it's more the management side, you need to make sure you're as familiar as you can be with the work before you go in. Also the job title might be misleading... I used to work at a place with a Digital Marketing Executive and he was the only DM guy, so it was basically just a fancy job title.

But best of luck!

simisker · 10 Sep 2012 at 21:10

Kappa303 said:
I sure hope not haha! But guess we will see Probably beats getting shouted at by idiots on the phones in a call centre lol

Heh, sorry - was going to edit my post to soften the blow but you'd replied already.

I can say with some confidence that this job will be nowhere near as soul-destroying as call-centre work. Digital marketing companies tend to be a bit more free-range than battery, so to speak

DELETED_108974 · 10 Sep 2012 at 22:58

simisker said:
Heh, sorry - was going to edit my post to soften the blow but you'd replied already.

I can say with some confidence that this job will be nowhere near as soul-destroying as call-centre work. Digital marketing companies tend to be a bit more free-range than battery, so to speak

Lol nice chicken metaphor there! No problem though, this has all been done through a recruitment agency so from what they have told me it's a really nice company to work for, friendly staff, etc. Guess I will know more on Wednesday though!

JaFFa said:
This looks like account management not design of the actual creative. I have a team of account managers and when I interview the main thing i look for some one I can get along with. As long as you are not an idiot it's not exactly rocket science.

At entry level is just requires some one to be thorough and hard working. Show some commercial nous that you understand prioritisation and you should be fine.

Ahh that's good to hear. The initial e-mail I got from the recruitment agency states at this first stage interview it is an informal chat and to get to know me kinda deal. They are looking for someone who is bubbly, cheery, etc. and to see if they would fit in well with the team!

Hutchy said:
My guess is they will want you to be making them HTML emails using a third party service like Mailchimp or Campaign monitor to handle the tracking.

Remember that HTML for emails is slightly different to modern HTML as you will have to go back to using tables and basic CSS.

For the design, basic photoshop knowledge I would say would be required.

For the marketing, a service such as Campaign Monitor will handle most of the tracking for you providing you with click statistics etc etc. Other tracking jobs might be Google Analytics and using the UTM campaign parameters to monitor conversions from the emails you make.

References that might help you out:
UTM blog article: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-to-use-utm-parameters/

Tried and tested skeleton email templates for you to have a play with: http://mailchimp.com/resources/html-email-templates/

Advise on A/B or Split testing emails to see which of your emails works best:
http://help.campaignmonitor.com/topic.aspx?t=139

And thank you so much for the links they are really helpful!