Alumni April Mullen, who majored in Art History while attending UMSL, has been a digital marketer since 2007, and specializes in email marketing with 5 years’ experience at Scottrade as an email marketing supervisor. Mullen currently works for DEG, a company specializing in digital marketing, where she provides advice to clients and develops strategic plans for email marketing projects. Mullen is currently back at UMSL providing her knowledge and expertise as a digital marketing instructor.
Mullen’s Art History degree has changed her outlook on the world significantly; and credits her degree with providing her an enhanced ability to identify and interpret art. These abilities have been an integral part of her job in a digital marketing field that requires the ability to analyze and interpret information from the customer’s point of view. April engages in rigorous and exacting analysis in order to dig deep into what customers really want and need.
Although April’s career seems to be on the fast track, she faced challenges early in her career by often being too eager to learn, which often led her to be overly stressed about things she had no control over. To overcome this challenge, Mullen reminded herself of the quote “control your controllables”, which helped reduce her stress by simply managing what she was given, and doing the most with what she was given.
For current students, Mullen recommends participating in volunteer opportunities and internships, and states:
“…you have to find your niche, and expose yourself to many areas so you can find out what you are truly interested in” and to “build your experience to help you for your future job.”
April Mullen will be the guest speaker at the Social Media Club of St. Charles November event “How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business”
Click Here to RSVP
Interview Q&A with April Mullen
First off, tell us what “email marketing” is?
Email marketing occurs when a business sends emails to consumers advertising goods and services.
Who are the main users of email marketing?
Any consumer that actively uses their email.
Do you use email marketing in your everyday life, and if so, how?
Yes, I provide advice and strategy to companies on the optimal consumer demographics that should be targeted for a particular campaign.
What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of email?
What I love about email is that it provides the highest return-on-investment (ROI) of any digital channel, which provides an excellence source of revenue generation for clients. My least favorite aspects are the regulations now governing email marketing, which includes government regulations giving Internet Service Providers the final decision on email delivery, where in the past, emails could be delivered to anyone without permission.
What does the future of email marketing look like?
Email marketers have the skills to take consumer data and find the best way use the data to increase sales and awareness. For example, shopkick, an application available to iPhone and Android users, which uses GPS technology to push notifications to customers when they walk into a certain store. During the holiday shopping season for example, a shopkick partner such as Macy’s can send a notification when a consumer arrives at a store location.
ExactTarget is an email platform that collaborated with Ford Motor Company, and is often referred to as Ford’s version of Siri (iPhone’s Automated Help Function). ExactTarget allows important vehicle diagnostic information to appear on the car’s dashboard, and has the ability to direct the driver to businesses that service vehicles.
Notable email marketing statistics
- 26% of emails are opened on an Apple iPhone (emailclientmarketshare.com), and 42% are opened on a mobile device (campaignmonitor.com/guides/email-marketing-trends/).
- ROI on email marketing is 4300% and 58% of people check their email first thing in the morning. Doesn’t get more personal than that for marketers!(slideshare.net/LitmusApp/the-8-second-challenge)
April Mullen will be the guest speaker at the Social Media Club of St. Charles November event “How to Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business”
Click Here to RSVP
Authors
This article was written by University of Missouri – St. Louis Social Media Marketing Undergraduate students Howard Stamps, Nathaniel Cole, Jessica Zavoral, Christopher Hill, Kathryn Todd, and Molly McCormack.
Excellent interview. so thrilled to have April as a faculty member here at UMSL.
April is the bomb dot com in terms of email marketing strategy and best practices. Plus, she’s spot on: “Email is not dead.”