What TowerData Learned at the 2016 Email Insider Summit

What’s better than spending a week in picturesque Park City, Utah enjoying powdery snow and copious amounts of steaming hot cocoa? Spending the week with some of the most innovative email marketing professionals in the industry, of course. The MediaPost Email Insider Summit (EIS) is always a memorable experience, and this year was no different.

This year’s featured presentations covered everything from cross-channel strategies, content distribution, email acquisition and attribution to hot new technology. But the overall message of the event was a returned focus on the importance of strategy basics and a reminder not to get swept up in buzzy products that might just be a flash in the pan.

Missed EIS? To keep you in the loop, here are a few of my favorite highlights.

Technology, Personalization and the Customer Experience

Given email marketers spend the majority of their workdays immersed in marketing technology, it’s no surprise the role of technology in personalization was a core theme of many presentations and roundtable discussions. As the platforms and methods for data collection and management become more sophisticated, marketers are expanding their capabilities – especially in the realm of automation, analytics, personalization and multichannel marketing.

With these additional tools, marketers can provide the types of customized experiences consumers have come to expect. Though some marketers still fear becoming too personal in branded communication, consumers are becoming more comfortable with brands collecting their data – so long as they are receiving relevant offers tailored to their needs.

This is particularly true of customers who have enrolled in loyalty programs. If a consumer is participating in a loyalty program, they’ve given the brand the go-ahead to learn more about them by tracking their purchases and observing their shopping patterns. But in exchange for allowing a brand to collect this data, they want a completely personalized experience.

Detroit Pistons: The Experts in Customer Loyalty Programs

One of my favorite presentations was by Jason Scott, director of eMarketing at Palace Sports & Entertainment-a marketing partner of the Detroit Pistons. Scott discussed how Palace has leveraged real-time content in email and their app, PalaceNet, to enhance the fan experience before, during and after Pistons games.

For example, fans who have opted in via email or downloaded the PalaceNet app not only receive access to VIP parking, seat upgrades, live ticket availability and exclusive discounts but they can also request in-seat delivery of concessions and Pistons merchandise. In addition, they receive stats during the game to see how their attendance has affected the team’s win percentage. Users even receive real-time post-game traffic updates around the arena.

The Detroit Pistons’ loyalty program is a great example of how an organization can use technology to offer unique, highly personalized experiences and, as a result, encourage casual fans (or customers) to become brand loyalists.

From hitting the slopes with a few of TowerData’s partners to connecting with colleagues and learning from top experts, this year’s EIS was one for the books. I’m certainly looking forward to next year!

Did you attend EIS 2016? What was your favorite part? Tweet @TowerData and let me know!

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