Dan Bond is Head of Digital Marketing at Adestra. He’ll be among the speakers at the Figaro Digital Marketing Conference on 27 November. We asked Dan for a quick preview of his presentation.
Hi Dan. ‘Email: The Insight Factory’ is the title of your presentation at the Figaro Digital Marketing Conference. What can we expect to hear?
I will be heroically attempting to show all the useful and interesting data you can get from sending email campaigns. And I’ll be giving examples of how you can use that data to inform your digital marketing, across all channels.
Why does this matter to marketers right now?
It’s easy to get fixated on the next big thing in marketing, but actually there’s lots you can find out through the channels you’re already using. Understanding your audience is what it’s all about. Which, you know, is useful in marketing.
We’re impatient! Can we have one take-away from your presentation?
No.
Oh, alright then. As it’s you.
It’s easy to get caught up in the busy activity of day-to-day marketing. Take some time to stop and really analyse all the feedback you’re getting from a particular campaign. Just pick one at random. You’ll probably find out some surprising, interesting and useful things.
Maybe you should spend more time looking at this feedback?
And don’t forget to do your analysing with a nice hot drink, delicious and revitalising.
What’s the single biggest issue facing marketers in your sector at the moment?
I’d say the sheer volume of options available, and things to consider. The list isn’t getting any smaller; new channels, new tools, new technology, new approaches.
But actually, the key is to keep things simple. Focus on your goals and objectives, only do the things that help achieve those. Then optimise. You should try new things of course, but assess whether the effort is worth the results.
Be agile in your approach. Experiment, test, innovate, and other words that mean similar things.
What factors do you anticipate dominating digital marketing in 2015?
I anticipate that marketers will tie themselves up in knots trying to second-guess what the next thing dominating digital marketing will be. Do you see what I did there?
Predictions are folly, but generally we’ll be doing more of everything. More emails, social posts, content, and there’ll be new things for us to worry about too. And the key will be staying focused and finding the right approach to achieve your goals.
I do eagerly await the first articles about best practice marketing for smartwatches. Optimise those first three words, people!
Anything else you’d like to tell us?
Adestra is celebrating 10 glorious years of helping companies do great things with email. In fact, it started just as the TV show Friends was finishing. So far, despite many hours poring over the data, I have yet to prove a link between these events. But it’s only a matter of time.