Adapting to Hybrid

More than two years later marketers and event managers continue to adapt to an ever-changing landscape. First, marketers transitioned to virtual events which evolved into a hybrid model. This combined the best elements of in-person and virtual conferences. Now, we’re seeing standalone in-person events making a comeback, according to a recent study by Splash, an event marketing technology company. 

Splash surveyed 253 event professionals and 3,133 event attendees in the U.S. for its Getting Back to Business, An Outlook of Events in 2022 study, and found that organizations are bullish about events in 2022:

• 50% of companies plan to host more in-person events in 2022

• 92% continued hosting virtual events even when in-person events resumed, and 46% plan to host more virtual events in 2022 than they did in 2021

• 79% to host hybrid events in 2022

Why e-Gifting?

With event participation increasing across the board, it’s incumbent upon marketers and event managers to boost engagement with customers, prospects, and partners and find new ways to cultivate and grow business relationships. E-gifting is an excellent way to do this for in-person, hybrid, and virtual events.  

Marketers can use e-gifting to easily build personalized relationships with prospects and clients by sending gifts digitally in seconds via email or text. Recipients receive a customized gift notification and can modify or exchange the gift on their device before it ships. This helps eliminate the need to gather shipping information in advance while ensuring a satisfied recipient with a gift they truly want. It’s the end of “one size fits nobody” event gifts that no one wants or uses. With e-gifting, there’s no need to worry about what size the person wears or what color they prefer. What’s more, the shipping completes with a few clicks of the mouse so it’s really a great time-saver.

An added benefit is that marketers don’t need to “guesstimate” how many gifts to bring to an event. They don’t need to worry about the costs of shipping gift items to the conference venue or storage hassles. Plus, there’s no issue with having to transport unused items back to the office to store them in the “marketing closet” to take up space and gather dust or — even worse — simply throwing the excess away. 

Demonstrate a Touch of Personalization

One of the interesting features of e-gifting is that it allows marketers and event managers to show a creative side. To personalize any gift, it’s easy to add a video message, which has been shown to increase close rates for more than 50 percent of sales professionals who leverage video as part of their sales cycle. Personalizing gifts leaves a lasting impression. It lets the recipient know they are appreciated. It also shows that the tailored gift meets their unique needs or interests. 

Additionally, e-gifting can help companies build long-term relationships with customers and prospects. Who wouldn’t want to receive customized gifts? Whether they receive them at an event or for other occasions such as a customer anniversary or as part of a seasonal campaign? 

According to a study by Coresight, conducted among 300 corporate gift buyers, 80 percent of respondents claimed that gifts have improved relationships with coworkers and clients. Moreover, 48 percent said gifting improves customer loyalty and delivers a substantial benefit, as it makes recipients feel valued. Marketers and event planners are taking note. The same Coresight study projects the U.S. corporate gifting market to reach $306 billion by 2024. 

It’s easy to see why recipients favor e-gifting. The burden lightens from carrying around lots of corporate swag, since everything associated with the gift is done online. Plus, gifting platforms offer an interactive digital unwrapping experience, thereby making the gift even more memorable. The bottom line is that, by seeing the item online and making changes based on personal preference, the recipient has a better experience. This leaves a positive lasting impression. 

Case Study: e-Gifting at an In-Person Event

Spending time personalizing a gift might be what separates you from the competition. Consider Bishop-McCann, an award-winning event management company that partnered with GiftNow to design and deliver the gifting experience. 

Attendees at a recent conference received an attractively designed flyer during registration. This comes with a unique QR code and instructions on how to access and redeem their gift. Once scanned with their device, the QR code opened a digital gifting experience complete with an animated greeting, a thank you message, and a choice of one of six stylish and sporty designer sunglasses. Attendees make their selections on their devices and provide shipping information to receive their gifts. For those who wanted a more tactile experience, Bishop-McCann provided samples. Attendees could try on the sunglasses before choosing. They were also given the option to forego their gift and donate its value to a charitable organization. 

The entire experience meant that attendees didn’t have to tote around their sunglasses, worry about losing them at the venue, or misplace or damage them when traveling home. Instead, their gift safely arrived at their office or home after the conference. 

Event Statistics

Ninety percent of the conference attendees claimed their gift. Of that total, five percent opted to donate the gift’s value to the charitable organization. Sixty-five percent sent a digital thank you note raving about the unique experience, the convenience of not having to lug their gifts around, and the opportunity to donate to a charity. The thank you messages also provided another opportunity for Bishop-McCann to engage with attendees.

“Our client and their conference attendees were thrilled by the e-gifting experience Bishop-McCann designed with GiftNow,” said Melissa McCray, Strategic Account Manager at Bishop-McCann. “E-gifting delivered a fun and memorable experience that stood out from the typical swag that’s often handed out at events. E-gifting also provided multiple opportunities for our client and their conference attendees to engage and connect during the event and after when they received their gifts at their preferred shipping address.”  

Final Thoughts

By simplifying and improving the gift-giving process, e-gifting helps marketers focus on making their events special. It gives them the confidence that their event gifting strategy will make a lasting impression. 

The post How to Boost Event Engagement with e-Gifting appeared first on DMNews.

This article discusses who Kelly McGinnis is, and where Kelly McGinnis is now. It includes information, titles, and skills acquired by Kelly.

Who is Kelly McGinnis?

Kelly McGinnis is Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.)  She is responsible for shaping the company’s corporate affairs strategy and managing stakeholder relations.  She oversees a global team that includes media relations, internal communications, government affairs, consumer relations, community relations, and the LS&Co. archives.  She’s also a member of the company’s worldwide leadership team, which determines the global direction for LS&Co.

Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of Levi Strauss & Co.

McGinnis is a seasoned, communications leader with more than 20 years of experience. Throughout her career, she has led teams both in-house and at agencies on a variety of accounts in the consumer goods, apparel, technology and financial industries.

Prior to Joining Levi

Prior to joining LS&Co. in August 2013, McGinnis served as vice president of global communications for Dell. Before Dell, McGinnis held leadership positions at agencies, including AxiCom, US, which is part of the Y&R Brands, Fleishman-Hillard and Shandwick International.

Degree and Bachelors of Kelly McGinnis

McGinnis holds a Bachelor of Arts from Miami University and a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Washington.

Conclusions

With a bachelor’s degree from Miami University and  and master’s degree University of Washington, Kelly McGinnis is a seasoned professional. She worked for massive global corporations, and used her skills well.

This article was originally published in 2015, and republished in 2022 for reviewing.

Related Post: Experian CEO to Retire

The post Who is Kelly McGinnis, and Life Now appeared first on DMNews.

The DMN Awards 2017, formerly known as the Marketing and Tech Innovation Awards, has been refreshed with new categories as well as a brand new look to reflect today’s rapidly changing marketing landscape. We will honor the best campaigns, platforms, marketers, and teams across 23 categories including content marketing, customer experience, mobile, social, and analytics.

In addition, we’ll crown an overall winner as the best marketing technology company and best campaign.

Enter today and tell us your marketing story!
Entry Deadline is Wednesday, November 30, 2016.

Winners will be announced at a cocktail reception in New York City on March 1st, 2017 proceeding DMN Connect.

If you are interested in becoming a jury member, please complete the following application form. The deadline for jury applications is Monday, November 14, 2016.
  
ENTER NOW

DOWNLOAD THE ENTRY KIT PDF

The post Introducing the 2017 DMN Awards appeared first on DMNews.

Eligible marketers include: a senior client-side marketing executive (e.g., director, VP, SVP, CMO) or a senior executive (e.g., president, CEO, marketing VP, CMO) at a marketing partner/vendor company (e.g. a creative agency, marketing services firm, data or list company, or marketing technology firm).

Nominations close on Monday June 13. The honorees will be celebrated at an event in New York City in September. To nominate someone, click here. To see more about the 40 Under 40, click here.

The post DEADLINE EXTENDED: Announcing Request for 40 Under 40 Nominations appeared first on DMNews.

Date:  Wednesday, May 25

Time:12:00 PM EST / 9:00 AM PST

Do you feel like you’ve reached a plateau with your current Email Service Provider?

 Are you looking for ways to make your email strategy bigger, badder, bolder?

 You already know what email can do for your business, but now you need more  — additional features to take you to the next level of success. That’s where marketing automation comes in: Automation allows you to grow your business by reaching today’s consumer with the right message at the right time, wherever they are.

In this webinar you will learn: 

• What marketing automation does and how it can help you achieve quantifiable goals;
• How a comprehensive automation solution can redefine the email marketing landscape for any-size business, nonprofit or educational organization;
• The specific marketing automation must-haves you need to help grow your business and boost your ROI

Speakers:

Hank Hoffmeier, Manager of Strategic Services,iContact

Kris Ostrowka, Manager of On-Boarding and Engagement, iContact

The post When Email (Alone) Isn’t Enough appeared first on DMNews.

Register Now

If you work in marketing operations, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  Most workdays are consumed with analyzing marketing data and handling requests from across the organization. Between executing campaigns, tracking budgets, managing reports and providing key updates, your hands are full.

Your team may be skilled marketers with immense technology know-how, but managing work effectively is often a common struggle. Better project management is the key to control the chaos, but where do you start?

Join Workfront, Put It Forward, and The Hub as we discuss 5 easy ways to conquer your workload. In this free webinar, you’ll learn how to:

· Better manage work requests
· Strategically prioritize work
· Standardize processes
· Integrate marketing applications to improve efficiency
· Prove the value of your team and marketing activities

Speakers:

Mark is a highly experienced leader focused on enabling enterprises with the process and methods needed to harvest and create value based on their data and information assets through product development, technology innovation and market organization. In his current role, he is focused on solving the challenges of enterprise data management and information governance. Team building, product development, data management and business integration are central themes in most situations.

Brandon Jensen, Director, Marketing Operations, WorkFront

Brandon is a seasoned operations leader who has served in various marketing, sales and order processing operational roles with Workfront and Novell. His current role as the Director of Marketing Operations for Workfront, allows him to work with the things he loves: systems, process and data. He gets his kicks out of solving problems through data analysis, brainstorming processes on whiteboards and, at home, playing the role of human jungle gym with his kids.  He holds an MBA and Bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University. 

The post 5 Easy Ways to Improve Marketing Operations Project Management appeared first on DMNews.

Register Now

There are a lot of digital marketing & optimization mistakes that many businesses are still making. It could be that people got into some bad  habits over the years and have failed to leave those habits behind. Or it could be that someone came into marketing from another field and missed out on a few of the ground- floor basics. 

Join Linda West, Director of Digital Marketing at Act-On Software to explore the following 5 common mistakes and how to fix them:

1. Uncovering missed opportunities for testing & optimization

2. The curse of unrealistic expectations: setting goals and timelines

3. The danger of picking the most popular, not the best, channels for your campaigns

4. Debunking the myth of mobile: It’s not just for B2C

5. Avoiding the bad content boobytrap 

Speaker:

Linda West, Director of Digital Marketing, Act-On Software

Linda West supports overall lead generation goals with strategic planning, content creation, and analysis of campaign effectiveness at Act-On Software. Prior to joining Act-On, Linda worked at a New York based marketing agency, implementing digital programs for a variety of B2B and B2C clients across the globe. Linda has also worked for some of the world’s largest publishing companies, transitioning their traditional marketing programs to a cost-efficient online model. With extensive experience in traffic generation, lead nurturing, and lead scoring, Linda’s expertise is focused on content strategy and digital lead generation. Follow Linda on Twitter at @misslindawest.

The post The Five Most Common Digital Marketing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them) appeared first on DMNews.