EP #11 How has the email industry transformed in the last decade

Despite multiple rumors from significant marketing companies in the past, email continues to stand firm as a dominant marketing medium. This week we bring you another industry leader & chat about how the email industry has transformed in the last decade.

Joining us on the podcast today is Lisa Shosteck, an email marketer and the Director of Email Experience Council (EEC), who also helps manage their board of what we call the Member Advisory Committee.

They discuss:

Transcript

[00:00:00] Dennis Dayman: Well, hello and welcome back to another brand new episode of, ForTheLoveOfEmail podcast by Netcore Solutions. As you know, I’m Dennis Damon, your host of these podcasts and the Netcore team has been working again hard these past few weeks and months to bring us some great stories and guests so that we can bring in advice from all different experts around the world.

[00:00:20] And again, this week we have a phenomenal guest. We are bringing in another industry leader to chat about sort of how the email industry has been transformed just in the last decade. And that’s kind of weird for me to say “decade” because for me, I’ve been doing this around 25 years, and so emails for me have been around quite a bit longer, but just again, in the last sort of 10 years, we’ve continued to see a change in the marketplace.

[00:00:42] When it comes to types of platforms that we’re no longer just doing batch and blast, but AI is, that’s sort of coming into this. Privacy has been coming into this and a lot of them, things that have happened in the last three or four months now with COVID coming into play have also sort of changed how the email industry is transforming and how it’s connecting with brands and with people.

[00:01:06] So to bring some more experts he’s into this, right we’re bringing in a very good friend of mine, Lisa Shosteck, who is the director of the Email Experience Council, as we call it the EEC. And she is there to run the organization, but also manage the board or what we would call the Member Advisory Committee or the MAC.

[00:01:22] And I’m so glad to be talking to you today, Lisa, about all, all these things right now. and that, I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of the EEC since its inception. And, I will just, say on my own, but I was probably the best sure person you ever had, but that’s just my opinion.

[00:01:39]But it’s been a long time since you and I have been able to work on something. So I’m glad to have you here. So welcome to the podcast, Lisa.

[00:01:44] Lisa Brown Shosteck: Thanks, Dennis. And thanks for having me. I’m looking forward to chatting, catching up, and talking off things email.

[00:01:52] Dennis Dayman: Yeah, yeah. I wish we could have been together. We were all supposed to be together just, a month or so ago, for the Email Experience Council’s event.

[00:02:00] And unfortunately, because the times are changing, you guys also, like everybody else had to go virtual. And I think that was probably what, two weeks ago, three weeks ago now, if I’m correct. I am losing track of time now.

[00:02:11] Lisa Brown Shosteck: Yeah. Yeah, it was a couple of weeks ago. I know. And we had Nashville as you know, on our target list for a few years.

[00:02:18] So it would have been super fun and it’s always a good time getting together with you guys in person. I know, as you said, we’ve worked together for several years. A hundred, I don’t know, but mainly always virtual. So I looked forward to at least, or annual conferences where we get to hang out.

[00:02:38] So, I’m hoping, “knock on wood”, next year we’re heading to Florida, Bonita Springs, Florida, and it looks like really past resorts. So I’m hoping that this happens.

[00:02:54] Dennis Dayman: That’s, you know what? We all like to have a little bit of fun with it, right? I mean, over the years, Miami, then we had a good one four years in New Orleans.

[00:03:00]And, it’s just always a good time to not only get people together, to share their experiences, but do it in such a way where it’s fun, it’s relaxing and we don’t necessarily have to make it work 24 by seven. And interestingly, what that is sort of an idea, a question or a thought here for you.

[00:03:20] The EEC has been the premier organization for brands and other marketers to come together to get the information that they need to understand what’s happening in the marketplace and the changes that are happening, to get training. And again, we do all this by coming together, even as competitors, right?

[00:03:38] And so, that event has been a tremendous one for us over the years. But, I’d like for you to maybe for our listeners to explain sort of the mission of the EEC and how it’s helping that marketing community. And then from there, maybe, we have a lot of subcommittees, right? We don’t just have an organization that has a conference, but you guys are doing a lot of work in between these events that are keeping people plugged in.

[00:04:00] So can you tell us a little bit about sort of what’s going on with the EEC and, how it’s working for our listeners?

[00:04:04] Lisa Brown Shosteck: Yeah. yeah. Really, in a nutshell, I think our mission is, we want to educate, right? We want to knowledge share, connect, email marketers across all sectors. So whether your background is coming from a brand or an agency, or maybe the provider side, or you’re a consultant, we want to kind of make this is not only a sense of community but, an opportunity to connect with other email marketers and to raise email marketing for the industry to drive excellence. And at a personal level, I think it helps people because again, it gives that sense of community and networking, and I’ve heard from several people. 

[00:05:00] And actually, I mean, just independently so it wasn’t like in a room where it was an echo chamber. But I’ve had several people over the years tell me if they, if there’s one thing, if there’s one thing they could take away from the EEC is just that sense of community and connecting with people and making lifelong friends. I would say as a side benefit, it’s the education we’re able to offer, through our webinars, through our annual conference. As you know we’ve done meetups over the years and in cities throughout the US and then, just our online resources as well.

[00:05:31] And then on a professional level, I would say it would help get your name out there, your brand kind of puts you as a thought leader. You can contribute to it like our blog. You can present it on a webinar. We’re really open to hearing new voices and also learning from experts in the field.

[00:06:00] As you mentioned, we do have our membership advisory committee or MAC, that’s our board-level committee. And then we have many subcommittees that you can get involved in as well. We have our education events, subcommittee, and that’s the one that puts on our webinars and poaching clinics to meetups.

[00:06:12]And we have our award subcommittee. Which I know, you Dennis, have firsthand experience, not only, serving on the awards, but also being one of our award recipients. We’re proud to shine a spotlight on you in the industry and obviously leave a Mark on privacy and compliance issues and, really taking the lead on that for the email marketing industry.

[00:06:50] Dennis Dayman: Wow. I think I need to put a check in the mail for that one. That’s a lot!

[00:06:49] Lisa Brown Shosteck: No, not at all. And, what else do we have? We have our best practices and standards committee, which you are, you have your hands in pretty much every subcommittee we’ve ever had.