More than half of businesses earn $21-$40 for every dollar spent on email marketing. That kind of ROI doesn’t just happen—it’s the result of having the right email marketer on your team. Someone who gets the art and science of email campaigns and knows how to align them with your business goals and tech stack.
This guide will show you how to hire email marketer who can elevate your brand's marketing strategy and contribute to your bottom line.
The role of an email marketer
Personalization is everything today, and an email marketer is your direct line to your audience. They ensure every message they send out adds value and nudges readers toward action.
But it’s not just about writing catchy subject lines or hitting “send.” A skilled email marketer goes deeper—managing segmentation, setting up event-triggered emails, and analytics to make sure your email strategy works seamlessly with your broader business goals. You can rely on them to create tailored comprehensive email marketing strategies that keep your audience engaged and your bottom line healthy.
Email marketers are multitaskers by nature. On any given day, they might:
- Write and design email campaigns that resonate.
- Analyze performance metrics to figure out what’s working (and what’s not).
- Optimize deliverability to make sure your emails actually land in inboxes.
- Build automation workflows that save time and drive conversions.
Every decision they make is rooted in enhancing the customer journey and maximizing ROI.Here's a breakdown of their key responsibilities.Key responsibilities
- Building and managing successful campaigns: An email marketer takes your marketing goals, whether it’s promoting a product launch or turning leads into loyal customers, and turns them into action. They’ll craft visually appealing emails paired with copy that gets people to click.
- Audience segmentation: This is where personalization gets real. A skilled email marketer segments your audience based on behaviors, demographics, or purchase history. Why? So every email feels relevant and drives more opens, clicks, and engagement.
- Automation strategy: Think beyond one-off emails. Email marketers design automated workflows that work in the background to nurture leads and retain existing ones. These workflows might include welcome sequences, abandoned cart reminders, or re-engagement campaigns—each carefully planned to improve the customer experience and increase conversions.
- Analytics and optimization: Numbers tell the story, and a great email marketer knows how to read it. They’ll track open rates, clicks, and conversions to see what’s working. Then, they'll use this data to make adjustments—tweaking subject lines, refining content, and perfecting send times—that boost your overall campaign performance.
- Deliverability management: An email that lands in the spam folder is a wasted effort. Email marketers know this all too well. They’ll keep your emails out of spam jail by managing sender reputation, cleaning up your email lists, and following deliverability best practices to make sure your emails land where they should: the inbox.
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How to hire an email marketer
Here’s a step-by-step guide to hiring an email marketer that's aligned with your business goals and growth stage:
Step 1: Assess your business needs
The first step is to get clear on why you need an email marketer. Are you struggling with inconsistent campaign results? Or, are your open rates taking a nosedive? Maybe your automation tools are gathering digital dust? These are all signs it’s time to call in an expert.
Next, think about your specific challenges. Do you need someone to execute campaigns, map out a full-blown lifecycle marketing strategy, or fix technical headaches like deliverability issues?
The idea is to get specific about the expertise you’re looking for. If segmentation and personalization are your weak spots, you’ll want someone who can build targeted audience strategies. If automation workflows are nonexistent or clunky, look for someone who knows how to design and implement smooth, effective sequences.
Finally, consider your growth stage. Are you tweaking existing campaigns or scaling up to reach a bigger audience? Perhaps you're starting from scratch? Your stage of growth will shape the type of email marketer you need.
Step 2: Conduct an email marketing audit
Before you bring someone new on board, take a hard look at your email marketing campaigns. Look at key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and deliverability performance—these numbers tell the story of what’s working and what’s not. Think of it as a health check for your campaigns.
From there, identify gaps and opportunities. Is your segmentation strategy too broad? Are you failing to nurture leads effectively? Analyzing these areas will reveal where a new hire can have the most impact.
Use this audit to set clear email marketing goals, whether it’s improving customer retention or automating workflows. When you know exactly what you need, you can communicate your vision to candidates and find the perfect fit for your email marketing team.
Step 3: Define the role and responsibilities
Now that you’ve nailed down your needs, it’s time to clarify the role and what it entails.
Start with the basics: campaign strategy and execution. Your email marketer will need to plan, design, and send campaigns that actually move the needle for your digital marketing goals. If audience segmentation is where you’re struggling, make sure you prioritize candidates who know how to craft messages that hit home with different groups whether based on behavior, demographics, or purchase history.
Technical proficiency is another must. Whether you’re on Klaviyo or Mailchimp—or another platform—the hire needs to be comfortable with your email service provider (ESP) and know how to use its features to their fullest. Bonus points if they can set up killer automation workflows for onboarding, drip campaigns, and lifecycle marketing—because scaling without solid workflows is an uphill battle.
Let’s not forget the numbers. You need someone who can analyze campaign performance metrics and spot what’s working (or not), and accordingly tweak strategies for better results. And don’t overlook deliverability management. Your hire should know the ins and outs of inbox placement and sender reputation, plus how to dodge the dreaded spam folder.
Required email marketing skills and experience
Below are the key email marketing skills you'd want to look out for when hiring:
- Strategic thinking: Ability to develop and execute email campaigns that align with broader business goals, ensuring every email serves a clear purpose in driving growth.
- Copywriting: Proven expertise in crafting attention-grabbing subject lines, engaging email content, and persuasive calls-to-action that convert.
- Data analysis: Skilled in interpreting email performance metrics and applying insights to improve future campaigns.
- Technical proficiency: Hands-on experience with leading email marketing platforms and automation tools, including creating workflows and troubleshooting technical issues.
- Customer journey mapping: Strong understanding of how email campaigns fit into the overall customer lifecycle, from lead nurturing to retention and re-engagement.
- Deliverability knowledge: Deep knowledge of best practices for email deliverability, including maintaining sender reputation and avoiding spam traps.
Hiring options: full-time, freelance, or agency?
Broadly speaking, you have three options when hiring an email marketer:
Full-time email marketer
If email is a core pillar of your business—think: eCommerce brands with regular campaigns or SaaS companies running complex automation workflows—a full-time hire makes the most sense. They’ll dive deep into your brand, handle long-term strategy, and keep things running consistently. It’s an investment, but one that pays off when email marketing is a key driver of growth.
Freelance email marketer
Need someone to optimize a segmentation strategy or execute a killer product launch campaign? A freelancer is likely your best bet. Perfect for startups or smaller teams, freelancers bring specialized expertise without the commitment of a full-time hire. They’re flexible, cost-effective, and ideal for short-term projects or intermittent needs.
Marketing agency
For a bigger-picture, hands-off approach, agencies offer full-service solutions—strategy, design, execution, and reporting all rolled into one. They’re great if you lack internal resources or need end-to-end support. Just remember, agencies might not be as hands-on or personalized as an in-house team member.
Factors to consider before you decide
Before making a decision, weigh in the following factors:
Budget
Your budget sets the stage. Full-time hires mean salaries and benefits, while freelancers and agencies work on project-based or retainer fees. If funds are tight, freelancers or smaller agencies can still deliver high-quality results without stretching your wallet.
Scope of work
Look at your email marketing game plan. Are you building lifecycle workflows and running regular campaigns? A full-time marketer is probably the way to go. But for one-off tasks or seasonal projects, freelancers or agencies will do the job.
Timeline
Need results ASAP? Freelancers and agencies are usually faster to onboard and can start delivering right away. Full-time hires, on the other hand, take longer to onboard but bring long-term consistency and brand integration. Think about whether you need quick wins or sustained growth.
In-house vs external help
What’s your team’s capacity? If your crew can manage external partners, a freelancer or agency can fill the gaps. But if you’re scaling and need someone to lead email marketing from within, a full-time hire might be the smarter call.
Writing an email marketing job description
Start with a clear, to-the-point job description that tells candidates exactly what’s expected and why it matters. Here's how to get it right:
Role summary
Kick things off with a snapshot of the role. What will they do, and why does it matter to your business? Think: “We’re looking for an experienced email marketer to drive engagement, boost conversions, and fine-tune lifecycle campaigns for our growing brand.” Short, sweet, and focused.
Key responsibilities
Get specific. Outline the day-to-day tasks, but don’t stop there—connect them to results. Things like:
- Designing and managing campaigns
- Segmenting audiences for better targeting
- Building automation workflows
- Analyzing performance data to optimize results
- Keeping deliverability rates sky-high
For bonus points, tie these to measurable outcomes: increasing open rates, driving revenue, or improving customer retention.
Required qualifications
Make it easy for candidates to self-qualify. List must-haves like education, experience, and certifications. For example: “Bachelor’s degree in marketing (or equivalent), 3+ years of email marketing experience, and a Klaviyo specialist preferred.”
Skills you’re looking for
Here’s where you highlight the magic mix of strategy, creativity, and technical know-how. Proficiency with email platforms, strong data analysis chops, engaging copywriting skills, and a knack for deliverability best practices should all make the list.
Company values
This is your moment to stand out. Talk about what makes your workplace special and the values you live by. Collaboration, innovation, customer-first thinking—whatever drives your team, share it here to connect with the right candidates.
Compensation details
Be upfront. Candidates appreciate transparency, and it saves everyone time. Include salary ranges, perks like remote work or professional development budgets, and anything else that sweetens the deal.
Sourcing and recruiting candidates
Finding the right candidate requires selecting the right channels to source talent. Below are some of the best options:
Marketing-specific platforms
If you’re after specialized email marketing talent, try platforms like MarketerHire. They’ve already done the heavy lifting by vetting candidates, so you’re getting experienced professionals without the guesswork. Plus, they’re flexible—you can scale your team up or down as your needs change.
With its vast professional network, LinkedIn is a go-to for many. You can post jobs, search for candidates, or even connect with passive talent. The catch? Competition is stiff, so landing top talent here might take a little longer.
Industry events
Conferences, webinars, and marketing meetups can be excellent opportunities for networking and finding skilled email marketers. While effective, this approach requires time and might not be scalable for urgent hiring needs.
Referrals
Referrals are like shortcuts to quality hires. Whether it’s from your team or your broader network, they offer pre-vetted candidates who are likely a good fit. Just remember, this method works best when you’ve got a strong network to tap into.
Onboarding and integration
Start by giving them instant access to everything they’ll need: ESPs, templates, brand guidelines, and analytics dashboards. The sooner they have the tools in hand, the sooner they can start contributing.
Introduce them to the key players they’ll work with—sales, content, and anyone else who’s part of the workflow. These quick intros ensure alignment from the get-go. And don’t skip sharing the big picture: your email marketing strategy, how past campaigns performed, and what’s next. That context is their foundation.
To ensure a seamless integration, a 30/60/90-day plan is also useful.
Think of it like this: the first 30 days are all about learning the ropes—email marketing tools, systems, and workflows. By day 60, they’re running their first campaigns. By day 90, they’re optimizing and finding their groove. Set clear, measurable goals along the way, like launching a campaign or boosting deliverability, to track progress and keep everything on track.
Finally, keep communication flowing. Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins are a great way to review milestones, answer questions, and offer feedback. They’re also a chance to make sure your new hire feels supported and ready to take on more. Done right, onboarding isn’t just about getting them started—it’s about setting them up for success.
Measuring success
Hiring an email marketer is just the start—what really matters is their ability to deliver results. To keep your email campaigns performing at their best, you must track the right metrics and consistently refine your approach.
Key metrics
To know if your email campaigns are crushing it, keep an eye on these key metrics:
- Open rates: See how well your subject lines and sender reputation grab attention.
- Click-through rates: Check if your content is compelling enough to get readers to take action.
- Conversion rates: Measure how many purchases, sign-ups, or other goals your emails actually drive.
- Subscriber growth: Track how quickly your list is growing through sign-ups and lead-gen efforts.
- Unsubscribe rates: Watch for signs of disengagement—irrelevant content or too many emails might be pushing people away.
Tracking and adjustments
Keep your email marketing strategy sharp by building regular reviews into your workflow. Each quarter, sit down with the email marketer and analyze what’s resonating with your audience and spot emerging trends. Use those insights to adjust key elements like subject lines, CTAs, design, and timing.
Why MarketerHire is the best place to hire email marketers
MarketerHire takes the stress out of hiring the right talent by connecting you with pre-vetted email marketing specialists, so you can skip the endless resume shuffle. Need someone to create engaging email marketing campaigns or fine-tune automation workflows? MarketerHire pairs you with professionals experienced offering top-notch email marketing services.
Here's what Nick Dazé, CEO of PocketList, has to say:
“If we hadn't had access to the MarketerHire network, we would have blundered our way through this very serious problem to a degree that may have jeopardized our entire platform.”
Speed and flexibility are what make MarketerHire stand out. Regardless of whether you’re looking for part-time help with a project or long-term support from a dedicated pro, you’ll find the right talent fast. Start finding your perfect email marketing expert with MarketerHire today!