Overview of ExactTarget's Connections 2011

The Power of One in Email Marketing

ExactTarget, one of the largest email service providers in the world, heavily embraces the “power of one.” It makes sense because their toolset dramatically facilitates delivering emails that literally are unique to each recipient. With email, it is all about relevance. And when you can deliver email that is 100% customized and personalized to each recipient, you stand a far better chance of that email being opened and acted upon. ExactTarget, in their Connections 2011 conference, took the theme of the power of one to an entirely new level. There were so many powerful tips, thought-provoking ideas, and inspirational stories, it’s difficult to summarize them all, but here are a few I think you’ll find valuable:

• The Real Power of One Guy to Overcome All Odds
  In this session, Aron Ralston – the man who beat all odds by amputating his own arm to survive a climbing accident and lived to tell us about it – truly defined the Power of One. In a room filled with more than 3,000 people, you could have heard a pin drop. It was truly amazing to hear the story, first-hand, from the man the movie 127 Hours was based on.
• ExactTarget Continues to Deliver the Goods
  ExactTarget continues to demonstrate its prowess. Expecting to reach over $200 million in revenue this year, ExactTarget shared the results of some of its $40 million investment in product development. Scott McCorkle, Chief Operating Officer at ExactTarget, provided an incredible, real-time demonstration of the Audience Builder and Interactive Hub reporting platform to demonstrate ExactTarget’s ongoing commitment to help marketers deliver personalized, customized emails to the individual level.
• Content Continues to Rule
  C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley – authors of the book Content Rules – gave a great presentation about the importance of content in email marketing and provided a number of useful tips and reminders relating to content.
• Designing for Mobile – 6 Strategies to Optimize
  Effective marketers must understand and embrace the mobile market. While many tips and tricks about designing for mobile have been published, Chris Studabaker of ExactTarget shared some very helpful ways to think about how to design for mobile. With more than just design tips, this session was filled with commonsense strategies for maximizing return-on-investment (ROI) when delivering to both desktop and mobile clients.
• Quick Lessons from the Final Day at ExactTarget’s Connections 2011
  The last day of the conference included a rapid-fire set of sessions from leaders across the spectrum of digital communications and marketing. Read this post for some quick snippets and great thought-provoking tips.

Whether you attended or not, let us know what you find most interesting. We’d love to hear from you!