With Christmas fast approaching and the weather getting colder, I’m taking the opportunity to reflect on the knowledge I’ve shared and lessons I’ve learned over the past few months. I’ve been fortunate enough to have attended and presented at a variety of events with customers, my industry peers and the brands they serve, and each one proved vital in revealing some fresh insight into email marketing and its future.
We invited customers to join us at the Return Path Academy in London on the 26th September, where Elliot Hogg, Priyanka Roy and I spoke about trust in email marketing, seasonal campaign strategy and reviewed our 2018 Sender Score Benchmark report.
The event was invaluable for us to learn about the pain points brand marketers suffer with, and hear about their experiences in their respective email marketing campaigns, allowing us to understand where their concerns are and how we can better assist them in the future.
Interestingly, we are seeing a number of brands take a more fluid approach when planning their Christmas campaigns, with many making adjustments later in the year. Traditionally, brands would have had their Christmas campaigns locked in by October, however, with technology enabling the easier availability of data later in the year, marketers are able to make changes as they go to ensure better targeted campaigns which yield even greater success.
At the Festival of Marketing in October, it was apparent the conversation around GDPR is far from over, it has only just started. Indeed, marketers will still be contending with, and adapting to, the new regulations for the foreseeable future. Guy Hanson shared some of his insights on why GDPR and email marketing was a force for good, while Priyanka Roy and I held ‘Jam Sessions’ on some of the lessons we must learn from GDPR.
It also proved a great forum for discussion around the replacement of the ePrivacy Directive. With the new ePrivacy Regulation, known as the cookie policy, set to be aligned across EU member states, what knock-on effects could this have on email marketing?
Most recently, email marketing’s dynamic duo, Priyanka Roy and I, had the pleasure of linking again at the brilliant Emarsys Revolution event to present on customer centricity in email marketing. I was encouraged by the focus we are seeing from brands on customer centricity, and their agreement that it must be considered in approaches to future campaigns. The event was a great coming together of marketers and I was fascinated to hear about their current work in various industries and what their priorities are for the next 6 to 12 months.
As our days become darker and we enter the colder months of our calendar, the future remains bright for Return Path in the UK! These events are a great opportunity for enabling me and the fantastic team I work with to share our passion for the industry, our expertise on email deliverability and our view on what is important in the future. The connections and knowledge gained at these sorts of events are invaluable when looking at how Return Path can help shape the marketing campaigns of tomorrow.