Email can and should be at the center of a first party data-building strategy. Our loyalty mavens share how they are using email interactions and behaviors to deepen their user profiles and better connect with loyal customers across devices and channels. What incentives drive customer participation in data gathering? How are they also using this data to find new brand loyalists?

With tons of data about every aspect of a player’s golf game, Taylor Made is in a unique, albeit sensitive, position to inform, advise and educate its customers towards better play. But how can the brand harness just the right data across disparate systems, determine messaging type and frequency, and personalize the experience for each golfer’s needs? John Gonsalves explains how the company has pivoted to a data-driven messaging approach that aspires to the same goals as a good caddy – to know just when, where and how to whisper in the player’s ear.

Leveraging Loyalty - Bridgette Darling, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Adobe
Data-Driven Messaging - John Gonsalves, VP, Digital & Direct to Consumer, TaylorMade Golf
Personalization at Scale -  Heather Grimstead, Director of Global Email Marketing, WeddingWire

Automated email is only as good as the behavioral triggers (and the timing) that drives them as well as the messaging. We ask our experts to share the surprising triggers and content follow ups that drove performance, deepened relationships and grew the brand.

What is and is not working in your email design approach? EIS members submit sample campaigns for review. Marketers from two direct-to-consumer brands that are famous for their creative messaging will offer their own advice and critique.

Unraveling AI - Olly Downs, Senior Director, Consumer Analytics, Zillow
Triggering Tactics - Arthur Sweetser, SVP Strategic Accounts, MessageGears
Design Workshop - Eric Bandholz, Founder, Beardbrand and Erik Teng, Senior Email Marketing Manager, Email, Quip
The New Privacy Challenge - Neil Tolbert, Consent and Preference Team Lead | CIPP/E, CIPM, OneTrust

Even in larger marketing operations, the email program often falls to the smallest of staffs, sometimes teams of one. The Atlanta Hawks’ Charma Parker explores how she amplifies resources, finds new efficiencies, and looks for the right traits in future hires who can help an email team punch above its weight. 

As email touches a range of other social, performance, mobile channels, the necessary skill sets for new hires get trickier. And as brands get closer to consumers, it is critical that marketing teams better reflect the diversity of their customer base. Our final panel hits close to email marketers' home. What are the skills, who are the people, and how do we mentor a team that is ready for a multi-channel future that can personalize messaging to a diverse constituency?

ESPs, DMPs, CDPs, oh my! The acronyms around email and customer management are moving targets, but organizations large and small have to build tech stacks that anticipate scale and need years in advance. the process is key, and we ask veterans of the tech/vendor shopping spree to share their best practices around that process. How did they work across departments to assess needs, evaluate solutions, score the vendors, stress test the tech and the partners?

Evaluating the Tech - Ryan Heft, Email Marketing Manager, KEEN Footwear
Staffing Smart - George DiGuido, VP of Subscription Marketing, Business Insider