For professionals, networking is the name of the game: Sharing our thoughts, comparing tactics and picking up a best practice or two from our peers, expanding our circles. But think about it – how many professional events have you participated in during the last 12 months? How many travel arrangements were made on your behalf? And if you look closely at the bottom line – what were the biggest takeaways from these events? How many of them lived up to the promise – the catchy title on the banner or the motivational key speaker you’ve seen before?
The modern marketer is well familiar with the challenges of creating a worthwhile marketing event, but, let’s agree on one thing – and if there’s disagreement, these numbers will probably solve it – 84% of vice presidents and C-suiters believe that event marketing is THE critical component for a company’s success. The number of companies organizing more than 20 events per year increased by 17% between 2017 and 2018, and most marketers (41%) believe that events are the single-most effective marketing channel, over digital advertising, email marketing and content marketing –reflecting a 32% increase since 2017.
Constant pursuit of knowledge
From Optimove’s early days, we were big believers in content and devoted much of our time (and the few resources we had) towards content marketing. I’ll be frank, I don’t think we were aware of the benefits and advantages a well-established content marketing machine brings. This was around 2011-2012, and most of these concepts just started garnering attention. We wanted to share our values, knowledge and narrative. Get it out there for anyone willing to read. Nothing has changed since then except our size – our urge to share experiences and thoughts was and is an innate part of Optimove’s DNA, allowing us to educate and spark new ideas. We do this through our weekly blogs, our vast academy, our downloadables, white papers, webinars, and of course, PostFunnel.
In 2015, we hosted our first Optimove Connect, which grew to be one of the world’s premier relationship marketing events. A two-day symposium hosting leading strategists, brands and practitioners from across the global community of CRM specialists. At the heart of this initiative stood our initial desire – let’s connect, get inspired, network and share ideas with people like you – looking to find answers to the same questions that bug them in their daily work. Top marketers focused on maximizing customer value.
A rapidly changing ecosystem
After launching PostFunnel in 2017, we wore this thought leaders’ hat with much pride. Creating a website for marketing professionals with daily in-depth articles and special projects helped us establish ourselves as a force to be reckoned with throughout the CRM industry. But we wanted to keep pushing ahead and that’s where the PostFunnel Forum comes in. It’s our series of regional events that will bring relationship marketing movers and shakers together to share new ideas, insights, and the occasional marketing quip.
It’s essential to stay on our toes as the competition over customers becomes fiercer by the day and technology, org structure, and strategy becomes more deeply rooted into customer-centric, emotionally intelligent marketing. The agile brands that change their approach to meet the needs of the ever-evolving customer, caters to gens Y and Z, those are the companies who will come on top. At Optimove, succeeding in such a rapidly changing ecosystem means learning, studying, absorbing ideas, talking to colleagues, and looking for any opportunity to craft our skills. The way I look at it, as long as this activity serves the goal of sharing knowledge and allows us to take that step—however small—towards a more refined version of ourselves, we’re fine.
Starting off
All that said, it’s my honor to invite you to join us for these two events – our PostFunnel Forums. These two evenings—one in London and the other, New York—delve into tips for catering to the new and advanced customer. A panel of seasoned CRM executives will discuss how they shifted their marketing strategies to successfully accommodate these new challenges, and more. Eat, drink and network the night away with some of marketing brightest stars. I hope to see you there.
