Achieving instant return on marketing investment is this year's headline at the International Council of Shopping Centers' (ICSC) European Marketing Conference. The conference, now the largest European marketing conference of its kind, is being held at the Marmara Taksim Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey from April 6-8, 2011, will also show how to successfully harness email and social media.
Key speaker at the conference is Tamara Gielen, email marketing specialist who worked as Director of Email and Digital Dialogue Strategies at OgilvyOne and as Marketing Manager at Ebay where she was responsible for strategy, implementation and analysis of all retention email marketing programs for eBay across Belgium. Since setting up her consultancy she has worked on email marketing programs for international organizations such as Microsoft, DHL Express, Booking.com and NATO, and is an industry blogger. Other keynote speakers will be announced shortly.
According to Tamara, email marketing is the single most effective tool in a company's marketing arsenal and not getting it right could do a business massive damage.
With social media, such as Facebook and Twitter now phenomenally successful across the world, Tamara highlights the crucial role that email plays in converting visitors, fans and followers into buyers.
"Social media is great at capturing people's attention, and combined with a strong email program you can capitalize on their interest, but if your messages don't provide value to them, they'll ignore or block you," she says.
"Capturing the email address of a fan or follower quickly is essential to build that relationship. I often compare it to dating: social media is like the bar you go to meet people. When you find someone you like, you ask them for their contact details (an email address) to keep in touch. You start building the relationship until eventually you ask them to marry you (the sale)."
Shopping center professionals want more people in their shopping centers, spending, for longer. Encouraging them through social media and email marketing is an essential part of all marketing campaigns.
ICSC European Marketing Conference 2011, April 6-8, Istanbul, Turkey: 'Successful marketing means business'. For more information or to register: www.icsc.org/2011ems or contact Ivana Mackintosh on imackintosh@icsc.org or call +44 207 976 3107.
Source: Nicky Godding
