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E-mails are still one of the most effective tools for communicating with customers. Few people can judge that better than Diana Falke. As an essential part of the mailingwork GmbH, she is an expert in all topics surrounding e-mails. She is also the co-organizer of the E-mail Practice Day.
In this blog, she lets you share her experiences of addressing potential event participants and her experiences of using an event app to engage with the participants. Have fun. ?
LineUpr: Hello Diana. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself and the mailingwork GmbH.
Diana: HelloHi Eric. mailingwork is both the name for an email marketing software as well as for the company that develops. Our team now has close to 50 members and I support mailingwork in the area of marketing and sales. Our business is the digital customer dialogue. We provide strategic and practical advice to our medium and enterprise customers on personalized newsletters, e-mail campaigns, marketing automation, and lead management.
LineUpr: You organize the E-Mail Practice Day once a year. Tell us more about this event. Who is the typical target group of this event and what unique added value can the participants expect?
Diana: Email Practice Day is the marketing event when it comes to mailings. Here, marketing professionals, brands and agencies get exclusive know-how. They learn how to use e-mail marketing to push their own business profitably. According to individual interests we offer two formats: The E-Mail Practice Day Conference, which is filled to the brim with best cases and insights from top speakers. And the E-Mail Practice Day Workshops, which are deep dives in special interest themes and help marketers to achieve their goals.
LineUpr: How do you reach this target group? What channels and tools do you use for marketing and presentation?
Diana: The most important hub for marketing is the event website. This is where we direct all the leads that we reach mainly via e-mail and newsletter. In addition, we use the possibilities of Xing Events professionally and rely on social media, for example Facebook ads. Equally important is personal contact. The personal contact is at least as important. We speak to our customers directly on the phone about the conference and also take flyers with us. Essential basic tools for the acquisition are our CRM and of course the mailingwork software.
LineUpr: Do you also use printed products to market the event or distribute information locally? If so, which and why?
Diana: Definitely! We print flyers that we take with us to appointments with customers or to events. On the one hand, we can start a good conversation with them and, on the other hand, a flyer is more present at the workplace than, for example, a link in an e-mail. What we no longer do is a printed version of the conference day programme. But we have on-site monitors, your app and a moderator who leads the guests.
LineUpr: You used LineUpr for the first time. How did you find out about us and what was the decisive argument for you to use an event app?
To us, it is essential to be in contact with the audience.
Diana: We wanted to use an event app for the Email Practice Day. First and foremost, to interact with the audience and to provide quick polls. This makes the programme more lively. We then discovered LineUpr during our web research.
LineUpr: Have you already used event apps? If so, what are your experiences so far? If not, what was against you using an event app?
Diana: To us, it’s essential to be in contact with the audience. From experience, we know that sometimes it’s hard to get direct feedback from the audience. The idea was to use an app for the first time in the hope of strengthening the interaction. And that worked!
LineUpr: How did you use the app before, during and after the Email Practice Day?
Diana: We communicated a few weeks in advance, for example in the newsletter and the registration confirmation, that there will be an event app and what will be possible with it. Among other things, we pictured hotel recommendations or information about the Get-Together. On the conference day itself, the moderator pointed out the app right at the beginning and presented it briefly. In essence, the programme was loaded and questions were asked about it.
LineUpr: How did your visitors react to the app?
Diana: Our guests were thrilled – very clearly! The exchange between the speakers and the audience was excellent. Our intention was correct: Many people find it easier to ask questions via an app instead of talking in front of a large audience. We also got a lot of great feedback about the app in our survey. There were quotes like “super practical and simply structured”. There is a strong desire to continue using the app as we did this time.
There is a strong desire to continue using the app as we did this time.
LineUpr: Is there a special story about the E-Mail Practice Day that you would like to share with us?
Diana: In the four years that E-Mail Practice Day now exists, we have had many funny, unique and yes, even speechless moments. A guest did not want to miss the event or his wedding day and brought his wife with him.
LineUpr: Which top three tips would you like to give other organizers when using LineUpr?
Diana: Tip 1: You should get all the speakers in the same boat at an early stage, so they can prepare to work with Quick Polls. Tip 2: It’s good to present the app live. Tip 3: Do not overload the app, instead keep it short and concise.
LineUpr: Thank you, Diana, for the refreshing interview. It is always great to get an insight into the everyday life of organizers. And that’s even truer when it comes to such a special event. More information about mailingwork is available on their homepage and their blog.
We look forward to your next events and to how we can support them with LineUpr.
