Email marketing specialist

What does an email marketing specialist do?

An email marketing specialist plans, builds, sends and measures email campaigns that bring customers and leads back to a business.

The work covers newsletters, promotions, onboarding series and automated messages triggered by what a customer does.

The role usually sits in a marketing or CRM and lifecycle team. You find it in banks, retailers, e-commerce firms, software companies, agencies and public sector bodies. SSOC 2024 places closely related work under digital marketing professional.

You work with copywriters, designers, data analysts, web developers and sales teams. You also check consent and unsubscribe rules with legal or compliance staff.

What the work involves

• Plan the email calendar with the campaign and product teams.
• Write or brief copy, build emails in the sending platform, and check them on different devices and inboxes.
• Segment the contact list and set up automated journeys such as welcome, abandoned cart and renewal series.
• Run A/B tests on subject lines, send times and layouts, then record what worked.
• Check sender health, bounce rates and unsubscribes, and clean the list.
• Report clicks, conversions and revenue from email to the marketing manager.

Pay in Singapore

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Skills an email marketing specialist needs

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Email marketing specialist job description

A Singapore company is hiring an email marketing specialist to run its email programme from planning to reporting.

You will build campaigns and automated journeys, test subject lines and layouts, keep the contact list healthy, and report on clicks and sales. You will work with content, design and data teams.

Responsibilities

• Plan and schedule promotional, newsletter and lifecycle emails each month.
• Write or edit subject lines, preheaders and body copy in the brand voice.
• Build and test emails in a marketing automation platform before every send.
• Segment audiences by behaviour, purchase history and stage in the customer journey.
• Set up and improve automated flows such as onboarding, re-engagement and win-back.
• Design and run A/B tests, and share results with the wider marketing team.
• Monitor deliverability, including bounces, spam complaints and authentication settings.
• Keep contact records clean and follow consent and unsubscribe rules.
• Report campaign results and suggest changes for the next send.
• Work with designers and developers on templates that display well on mobile.

Requirements

• Diploma or degree in marketing, communications, business or a related field. Some employers accept strong portfolio work instead.
• Typically 1 to 3 years of experience in email, CRM or digital marketing for a specialist role.
• Hands-on use of a platform such as HubSpot, Marketo or Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
• Clear writing and a good eye for layout, with basic design skills in a tool such as Canva.
• Comfort with reading campaign data and running simple A/B tests.
• Working knowledge of HTML and CSS for email is a plus.

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Email marketing specialist career path

Most email marketers start in general marketing, specialise in email or CRM, then move into lifecycle strategy or team management.

The titles below are common in Singapore, though they vary by employer.

1. Marketing executive

   Entry

   You support campaigns across channels, build basic emails and learn the sending platform and brand rules.

2. Email marketing specialist

   Mid

   You own the email calendar, run tests, manage segments and report results.

3. Senior CRM or lifecycle marketer

   Senior

   You design journeys across the customer lifecycle, set testing plans and coach junior staff.

4. CRM and lifecycle manager

   Lead

   You lead a team, own email and other owned channels, and set targets with the marketing head.

5. Head of CRM or marketing

   Head

   You set customer retention strategy, manage budget and tools, and answer for results to senior leaders.

The titles are ones commonly used in Singapore; employers may name the levels differently.

Related jobs and their pay

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Email marketing specialist interview questions

We wrote these questions from the skills this job needs. They are not an official question bank.

1. What are SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and why do they matter for email marketing?

   What a good answer covers

   • SPF lists the servers allowed to send for your domain.
   • DKIM adds a signature that shows the message was not altered.
   • DMARC tells receiving servers what to do when checks fail and sends reports.
   • Together they help inbox providers trust your domain, which supports inbox placement.
   • You work with IT or the platform vendor to set them up.

2. Open rates are less reliable than they used to be. Which metrics do you track instead, and why?

   What a good answer covers

   • Mail privacy features can load emails automatically and inflate opens.
   • Click rate, click-to-open trends and conversions are stronger signals.
   • Revenue or sign-ups per email tie results to business goals.
   • Unsubscribe and complaint rates show list health.
   • Opens still help as a rough trend when read with other numbers.

3. How would you design an A/B test for a subject line on a list of 40,000 contacts?

   What a good answer covers

   • Test one variable at a time and state a clear hypothesis.
   • Split the list randomly into equal groups.
   • Pick a primary metric, such as clicks, before the send.
   • Decide the sample size and run time up front so nobody reads the result too early.
   • Record the result and apply it to the next campaign.

4. How would you segment the list for a retailer with online and store customers?

   What a good answer covers

   • Start with purchase history, recency and frequency.
   • Separate new subscribers from repeat buyers and lapsed customers.
   • Use browsing or product interest where the data exists.
   • Keep segments large enough to measure.
   • Check that each segment has valid consent for the message type.

5. Describe how you would build a three-email welcome series in HubSpot, Marketo or Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

   What a good answer covers

   • Define the trigger, such as a form sign-up, and the goal of the series.
   • Map each email to one message and one call to action.
   • Set delays between emails and exit rules when the contact converts.
   • Add a fallback for missing data, such as a first name.
   • Test with seed addresses and check reporting before launch.

6. Write a subject line and preheader for a 48-hour sale on running shoes, and explain your choices.

   What a good answer covers

   • The subject line is short and clear, with the offer and the deadline.
   • The preheader adds detail without repeating the subject line.
   • The tone fits the brand, with no spammy words or all capitals.
   • You suggest a second version to test.
   • You check how it looks truncated on a phone.

7. How do you use ChatGPT in your email work, and where do you draw the line?

   What a good answer covers

   • Use it for first drafts, subject line ideas and tone variations.
   • Edit the output for brand voice, accuracy and claims.
   • Keep customer personal data out of the tool.
   • Follow the company's policy on approved AI tools.
   • Test AI copy against human copy to see which performs better.

8. How do you make an email you designed in Canva work well across inboxes and mobile?

   What a good answer covers

   • Use live text for key messages instead of text baked into images.
   • Add alt text, since many inboxes block images by default.
   • Keep a single-column layout and large tap targets for mobile.
   • Keep image file sizes small so the email loads quickly.
   • Preview in several clients and in dark mode before sending.

1. Your last campaign went mostly to spam folders, and open rates fell sharply. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Check seed tests and inbox placement reports to confirm the problem.
   • Review bounce, complaint and unsubscribe rates for that send.
   • Confirm authentication records are still valid.
   • Look at what changed, such as the list source, volume, content or sending domain.
   • Pause large sends, send to your most engaged contacts first, and clean inactive ones.

2. The sales head wants a promotion sent to the entire database. You think it will hurt results. How do you respond?

   What a good answer covers

   • Listen to the sales goal and the deadline.
   • Show data on how engagement differs across segments.
   • Explain the risk to sender reputation and unsubscribes.
   • Offer a plan: send to engaged segments first, then a reminder to others.
   • Agree how success will be measured and report back.

3. Ten minutes after a send, you notice the discount code in the email is wrong. What happens next?

   What a good answer covers

   • Stop any remaining batches or paused sends immediately.
   • Check whether the code works, and tell customer service and sales.
   • Decide with your manager whether to send a correction.
   • Write a short, clear correction email if needed.
   • Add a checklist step, such as a second reviewer, to prevent a repeat.

1. Tell us about a test that failed. What did you learn?

   What a good answer covers

   • Describes the hypothesis and how the test was set up.
   • Reports the result honestly, with numbers.
   • Explains why the result may have happened.
   • Shows what changed in later campaigns.
   • Takes responsibility instead of blaming others.

2. Describe a time a designer or stakeholder gave feedback you disagreed with, close to a deadline.

   What a good answer covers

   • Stays calm and asks what goal the feedback serves.
   • Uses data or past results to explain a view.
   • Finds a compromise or tests both options.
   • Meets the deadline.
   • Keeps the working relationship good.

1. Your team wants to email a list bought from a vendor. What do you say, given Singapore rules?

   What a good answer covers

   • Check whether the contacts consented to marketing from your company under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).
   • Ask the vendor for proof of how and when consent was given.
   • Point out that rented or purchased lists often damage sender reputation.
   • Suggest building a list through sign-ups and opt-in offers instead.
   • Involve the data protection officer or legal team before any send.

2. How would you plan email campaigns for Singapore audiences across festive periods and languages?

   What a good answer covers

   • Build a calendar around Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas and big sale days.
   • Consider whether some segments prefer Chinese, Malay or Tamil content, and test it.
   • Keep imagery respectful and inclusive, and check your assumptions with colleagues from those communities.
   • Check send times against local commuting and lunchtime patterns.
   • Track results by segment and apply what you learn the next year.

Common questions about an email marketing specialist job

Sources