5 Tradeshows, 1 Month: Here are 5 Things We Learned

Smiling handsome speaker standing and explaining graphs on business conference in meeting hall

When you have 5 tradeshows and events in a single month, you learn a few things from the people you meet. September 2019 was one of our busiest tradeshow months this year, and the team brought back 5 key email marketing takeaways they learned from our time in the exhibitor halls, sessions, and networking with marketers.

1. Everyone has a different word for “knowing your customers”.

In an industry where the goal is to know your customers almost better than they know themselves, every company has its own catchphrase or buzzword-based program for this – Think Saleforce’s “Customer 360”. We heard plenty of them throughout the month, and they all boil down to the same thing: marketers are eager to know all they can about their customers, and to gain this knowledge, they need the ability of companies to pull insights from various channels into one platform, especially in the early stages of the customer journey.

There is a significant gap in data in these beginning stages, so marketers need to consolidate their insights from various channels into one place. With key data available at the start of the customer journey, there are more opportunities to optimize every touchpoint along the way, including customer service and internal decision-making. As a result, brands can better address customer empowerment by empowering themselves right from the start.

2. We should all create more micro-moments for our empowered customers.

It’s no secret that today customers have more information at their fingertips than ever, and this means they’re more empowered when it comes to making buying decisions. But because customers are more informed and empowered, the traditional customer purchase journey is a bit more complex with fewer predictable stops and more winding roads.

What is important for marketers in decoding the complex customer journey is to create as many impactful micro-moments with the customer as possible. What counts as a micro-moment? Think of an auto-lease for a moment – when the auto-lease is almost up, there are a few choices a person can make: they can renew their current lease, lease or purchase a new vehicle from the same dealer, or move on to another manufacturer/dealer.

With this in mind, the automotive company has an opportunity to create a micro-moment before the lease is up – they could send a simple reminder email on how to return the car (an easy win, honestly), add a small offer to keep the existing car by continuing the lease or purchasing the car, or send details on setting an appointment with a dealer who can walk them through the steps to continue the customer relationship.

Advanced tip: Email Intelligence data helps you consider the demographic and household data or your customers. In this example, the dealer can use Intelligence data to identify potential changes in the customer’s life since their last purchase and make the best recommendations or provide relevant incentives.

The only way these micro-moments can be effective, though, is with a full customer profile. This includes accurate, impactful data insights such as behavioral, demographic, life stage, and buyer intent data. Using Email Intelligence data with first party data from customers in email marketing, retargeted ads, and even website design helps create a more personalized experience that a customer with plenty of buying power will appreciate. The bottom line: A full picture of your customers helps you anticipate micro-moments along the customer journey that keep customers engaged.

3. New customers need loyalty-like marketing.

Loyalty marketing the gold standard for B2C marketers; it has some of the best ROI and your opportunities are endless. Additionally, AI engines are upping the effectiveness by using algorithms to provide consumers with:

Personalized product recommendations
Specially selected content
A perfect time and place to act

While this is excellent for customers who have been with a company for a while, the customers at the beginning of their brand journey deserve marketing that’s just as impactful. But how can marketers accomplish this?

One tool available is Email Intelligence. With this, you can easily enhance customer records with data that’s specific to them, what they care about, and create a comprehensive contact picture to help you keep customers engaged after their initial interaction. Because even new customers should be treated like your most loyal buyers.

4. Real-time data is super important. Trust us.

In order to treat those early stage customers like your most loyal fans, getting the data you need when you need it is critical. After all, first impressions are everything. The ability to get real-time data early on in the process to make real-time predictions and decisions at the right time on the right channel helps you create highly effective long-term marketing initiatives.

Additionally, maintaining a centralized database keeps you intelligent and agile when that data comes to you in real-time – Intelligent because all contact data is housed in one place, but also agile because you have the ability to market to customers from various channels in less time. And on that note, the cleaner your data is to begin with, the better your real-time data insights will be. This is why Email Validation is a great complement to Email Intelligence – clean your email list first with validation and then add key data points with Email Intelligence.

5. Opportunities to demo your product or service are awesome.

Any time you’re able to get feedback on a product or service, it’s a huge help. That way, you know what people love, what needs a little work, and where to go from there. We were lucky enough to get feedback about one of our integrations this September from both customers and the CEO of our integration partner company, thanks to a live demo we had at the tradeshow. It’s helping us move forward with optimizing this integrations and plan better for our future opportunities.

And while this is great, it’s also helpful to get feedback from product/project managers. They are the ones using the tools day in and day out. Having their feedback is key to optimizing your product or service long-term. That said, any feedback is better than no feedback, so we’re eager to keep seizing our opportunities for live demonstrations in the future!

This month and the next aren’t quite as hectic, but our insights from the September tradeshow and event circuit are valuable beyond the booth tear down. Want to stay up to date with what shows and events we’ll be at next? Our newsletter has everything you need.