On January 27 and 28th, MailCon hosted over 30 successful panel discussions and speaker sessions at our Virtual Experience 2021: The World’s Largest Virtual Email Marketing Event.
We’re enormously grateful for Dot818, our Title Sponsor, Ongage, the Registration Sponsor, Dotdigital, the Session Sponsor, Simon Data, the Engagement and Wine Tasting Sponsor; along with Halon MTA, EmailOversight, and Phonexa for sponsoring the interactive games and activities. Additionally, we are grateful to all of our speakers, panelists, vendors, partners, and attendees. You are the reason why we were able to host this important event during these unprecedented times!
This conference was unique because, for the first time, it took place virtually in response to the ongoing pandemic. Our virtual conference portal did just that – attendees enjoyed virtual sessions, Ai-powered networking, engaging activities with the opportunity to win prizes, and much more.
1. Virtual Conferences Take a Village
Brella, our Ai-powered networking tool, made it seamless for attendees to connect during and post-conference. Likewise, the MailCon app allowed one-to-one messaging and each sponsor and attendee had a great networking experience. Without the innovative support of the technology partners at MailCon, this event wouldn’t have seen the same level of success.
2. Important Topics Were Covered and Then Some
Women of Email, a professional network for women in marketing, was a key player in the MailCon event, with many members of the organization participating in different sessions. In particular, The Battle for the Inbox: Under-Used & Effective Deliverability Techniques to Crush the Competition session had three speakers from Women of Email on the docket. Attendees of this talk and others deliverability-focused learned new and never-before-heard deliverability hacks. The speakers dove into ESP-specific deliverability issues like Gmail’s promotions tab and other niched issues. The main takeaway for 2021 from the industry experts? Give your audience what they want – figure out what your audience needs and send emails that way.
3. Virtual Conferences Can Still Be Fun
Even though in-person wining-and-dining was unable to happen this year, a virtual wine tasting event served as an excellent replacement for MailCon participants that attended. Hosted by Bouchaine Winery in Napa Valley, the Simon Data sponsored experience included a tour of the fermentation room. At the same time, attendees sipped on wines from the comfort of their own homes. To make the tasting even more memorable, Dylan Flye, VP of Client Development at Simon Data, served as a comical emcee of sorts as he guided everyone through case studies from some of Simon’s most successful clients, like Vivino and Equinox.
4. A Little Legal Insight was Shared
From record-keeping to auditing your procedures, a team of compliance experts uncovered exactly what marketers need to do to manage consumer data correctly. The Good, the Bad, and the Legal: Navigating the “Wild West” of Email Compliance took a deep dive into the rules behind compliance and data for both the United States and Canada. For both business marketers and compliance specialists, the regulatory ramifications that come with email marketing and database management were explained in a way that was actionable and certainly left attendees with several steps they can take to ensure their database management didn’t land them on the “wild side” of all things compliant!
5. The Future of Email Marketing Was Uncovered
Attendees were able to get a glimpse into the future during the session “What’s Fresh in Email Marketing for 2021.” Despite the early morning start-time, Gavin Laugenie of Dot Digital and Kerel Cooper of LiveIntent kept things lively and fresh as they talked through the latest email marketing trends and what’s in store for 2021. Key takeaways like what innovative practices would make the most significant impact on the ever-evolving inbox made this event informative and fun for all. Similarly, Nicolas Garnier from Mailgun spelled out exactly how an email should be designed for success within the next year. With an increased social consciousness among consumers, a key takeaway from his session included bearing in mind the authenticity of your email’s messaging, design, and photo selection.
6. Movement and Engagement is Possible, Even if at a Distance
The MailCon team and presenters worked hard to curate a virtual event that provided attendees with as many opportunities for engagement and networking as possible. As a fitness fanatic and experienced coach, Sam Wardman from Phonexa’s UK team led attendees in a fun-filled virtual Zumba class that was fun-filled and engaging and ultimately allowed participants to incorporate exercise right from their home offices. Additionally, international certified Kundalini instructor, Yvette Pickard, provided a relaxing space for attendees to recalibrate between speaker sessions and find a sense of calm during Virtual Meditation and Deep Breathing.
7. Important Questions In Email Marketing Were Analyzed
Women of Email’s Co-Founder & President, Jen Capstraw, hosted a fireside chat with Alyssa Nahatis from Adobe in their “Asking For It (Even When You’re Scared To)” discussion on leadership in email. This empowering session covered how to find your strengths, how to move up within your career or role, and how to cultivate your own “hype-file” – in the words of Alyssa Nahatis, “It’s imperative to not only celebrate your own wins but those of the team because the team is really what makes everyone successful.”
8. Online Marketing Is Important
In addition to having a virtual conference, the past year has pointed out so many ways in which a digital marketplace is essential for continuing business in these unprecedented times. Fortunately for MailCon attendees, they were able to get a time-sensitive look at exactly how their strategic online marketing practices will need to shift post-COVID-19 during a session hosted by Peter Ross at 829 Studios. From connecting with your audience on social media to changing your content messaging structure in your posts/ads, the session covered everything related to how to increase customer retention and content messaging that appeals to the masses.
9. The 5 Things to Know Before You Send Another Email
Moderator Jennifer Caravantes (Phonexa) lead Bryan Jenkins (Email Oversight), David Giovanchini (Rox Marketing), and Andrew Cabral (Connect Your Leads) in sharing their pragmatic tips that will make the most significant impact in retaining subscribers within the email marketing space: focusing on your goals surrounding customer aquisition and branding, align your data quality and strategy, make data cleaning and validation a priority, interact with your audience to see who is the most engaged, make sure to exhaust all your options of reengagement before dropping your subscribers – let them make a choice on their own if they can.
10. It’s All About Networking
Courtesy of our session sponsor, Dot Digital, on-demand viewing is available for all MailCon attendees, giving them the ability to tune-in on their own time and leave more room for post-conference follow-up and networking. Whether you caught the live sessions or are watching them on your own time, engaging with participants, speakers, and sponsors is encouraged and recommended – here at MailCon, we aim to serve as a bridge between email experts, marketers, and users even in a virtual way!
We’d also like to extend the utmost gratitude towards all of our attendees, sponsors, partners, with a special thanks to: Jen Capstraw and the entire Women of Email Organization, Sky Cassidy and the team at MountainTop Data, and John Karsant and the team at Brightest Minds.
With our eyes on a hopeful future and circumstances for in-person gatherings, we tentatively hope to see you all soon at the next MailCon event in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace on October 30th and 31st in 2021.
