"We want free thinkers" - Client Corner: Jonathan Kirk, Email Manager at icelolly.com

Tell us what you do over at icelolly.com?

For 7 years now I’ve supported icelolly.com’s CRM strategy in Leeds, as well as offering design solutions from everything to above the line activity on London Underground billboards to hyper-personalised 1:1 dynamic email templates, giving customers what they want at the right time.

Following the data has always been a key mantra of CRM in order to drive forward customer centric marketing comms. It involves deep diving into engagement metrics within campaigns and understanding what is working and what isn’t.

The job is different from day to day and it's one of the aspects that I love about it. This week I’ve already overseen a print job for an exciting event we’re involved with, and also created an email campaign for the tourist board of a key long haul destination.

What advice can you offer to someone who’s looking to start a career in your field?

Generally speaking there are a few roads you can take to get yourself into the world of email marketing and CRM. I graduated with a degree in Graphic Arts & Design, and this equipped me with some useful creative skills that became invaluable for producing engaging customer experiences whether within email or elsewhere.

Alternatively, those interested in the field could take a different, more varied, approach by going for an  apprenticeship as a marketing assistant. This is incredibly useful because you’ll be exposed to a wide variety of disciplines, whether it's helping a designer create some graphic banners right down to setting up a PPC campaign or creating SEO-friendly content. It might be that upon further inspection an apprentice takes an interest in a specific discipline, but it’s good to get a taste of a few things before settling for one path.

What type of people succeed in your industry?

Generally speaking I’d say it's hard to find individuals who are highly proficient at every aspect of their field, and that's ok. Employers never expect people to be superhuman, and what you tend to find is there are two kinds of marketeers in my experience - those who are completely within the data driven realm and those who sit within the brand and magical side of marketing.

If you can land somewhere in the middle and be open minded to different approaches, I think this would hold anyone in good stead.

It would be brilliant if the world of CRM and marketing was problem free but this isn't usually the case. There’s always something that will come along that is problematic; the data doesn't quite suggest what you assumed or something in the strategy is falling over, so it requires an individual who can make the tough decisions. Decisiveness is absolutely key, it's better to fail fast and correct the mistake quickly than it is to sit on a problem with choice paralysis for days on end.

Like any discipline that requires putting planning and strategy into action, individuals that tend to be passionate about understanding a customer’s wants and needs can be a very useful asset to companies. As marketeers, it’s our task to really get into the mind of the prospect and understand what is informing their purchasing behaviours. I had a solid ground within customer service before becoming a marketeer, and I feel like this was a useful foundation within the armoury of skills to have.

The marketing world is always changing and evolving, you’ll be bombarded with marketing spiel about what is best practice, what works well and your top 10 tips to becoming a marketing CRM hero, however people who are independent thinkers tend to be the kind of people who become successful within a business. Like in music or the arts, nobody really wants a soundalike or similarly in a marketing business, staff comprised of robots. Successful marketing often requires out of the box thinking, those who are willing to test and learn, try something different or even take risks.

Ideally we want free thinkers that can emphasise with a customer’s needs and deliver impactful solutions.