The first European Virtual MarTech Summit of 2022 took place on March 22nd and 23rd. The event convened business marketers from across Europe ready to explore topics such as Customer Experience, Personalisation, Automation, Right-Housing, and more.
The agenda was the culmination of efforts by a cross-industry representation of speakers from countries across Europe including Hungary, Germany, Italy, Holland, Turkey, and the UK.
Overall, we had approximately 600 participants, including marketing technology enthusiasts from 32 different countries.
We asked audience members to think about their pain-points and the challenges they face and that is how we made sure this digital content was worthy of people’s workdays.
Valuable observations were made throughout the 2day virtual summit which was a mixture of live panel sessions, fireside chats and keynote talks in real-time, which allowed for much engagement and questions from the audience.
One of the most requested topics for us to cover is scaling personalisation and it was made clear throughout the event that it is at the forefront of a great customer experience, despite many of the audience not yet being on this journey, for fear of data privacy matters. We were reminded that there are always ways to enrich the customer journey through personalisation and Hyper-Personalised Marketing Campaigns on Every Channel.
A theme that we are proud to have covered during this event for the first time was right-housing and it was so interesting to hear from the audience on the split they currently have. An enlightening panel meant it was great to hear what the best indicators are to understand when to bring activity in-house or move agency-side. The panellists gave good insight into the pros and cons and key drivers for in-housing vs. Hybrid model vs. agency.
A real buzz was created around the panel on brand storytelling and following on from hearing about The Successes and Failures in Brand Storytelling from a stellar line-up of panellists representing 3 varied industries we got to learn how a brand’s superpower is the authenticity of its storytelling, as well as how these speakers are attempting to ensure inclusiveness and diversity in their brand stories.
What many people are interested to hear about is The Metaverse. We can see from the below that many in the audience are still very much in the planning phase, but we were encouraged throughout the session to admit that the Metaverse is real and to think more on what could be in it for us. With predictions that the Metaverse will be the next major marketing channel and we need to think about how we can use it responsibly.
Some of the key takeaways, of which there were many, include:
- There is no one shoe that fits all when it comes to personalisation, but there is a type of shoe everyone should wear to execute successful marketing today. Find what works for your organization at the point of the journey that you are at and apply it as authentically as you can.
- After many years where Digital has been a bit side-lined and managed as an add on to a brands marketing efforts, we can say that the “tide has changed” and now Digital is central to every brand and it is where the Marketing and Customer considerations start. The new Generation of Leaders are the ones that have led Digital Transformations, Delivered Revenue Growth through digital actions and have a full understanding of Digital to lead conversations within their Brands.
- When telling your brand story, treat your audience as people with issues to solve and not consumers to sell to.
Once again, thanks to all MarTech enthusiasts who tuned in to the Virtual MarTech Summit and shared a moment of learning and networking with us. For those who could not make it to the live sessions and feel like you have missed out, do not worry, you still can relive the summit, on-demand.
Finally, the registration for our next European Virtual MarTech Summit in August is now open so simply register a pass for you and your team here – https://themartechsummit.com/global-virtual-europe
The MarTech Summit Team is pleased to have hosted an elite and engaging community. Stay tuned for more to come by following our social media accounts and joining The MarTech Community on Slack!
By Catherine Collinge.
