The Finnish Marketing Association, better known as MARK, helps marketing professionals succeed at all stages of their careers by offering weekly expert webinars with the best experts in Finland. An encouraging community that supports learning, as well as everyday inspiration, is at the heart of MARK. Inspiration was promised when Sanna Laakkio of the Finnish Marketing Association sat down with me to discuss events as part of marketing.
Every Thursday, an ambitious team from the Marketing Association produces and curates a new webinar on the related to marketing. The format of the events stays the same in terms of forewords and moderation, and they have really found their audience. The active participation of members is constantly developing in a good direction.
The participation rate is high due to continuous development
About 80% of those who register attend the webinars, which is a really high participation rate. The contents are so carefully curated that the audience won't leave before the end of the event. High-quality content and successful implementation also increase members' participation activity all the time.
“We follow the needs and wishes of the members closely and on a daily basis. Data is only meaningful when analysed and actively used to develop activities. Last fall, we received feedback that the final discussions at our events were of very high quality, but unfortunately they always went a little over the original time of the event.
From the beginning of the year we launched quarter afters for webinars and changed the duration of the event to 60 + 15 mins. In this way, there is time set aside in the participants' calendar for the final discussions. The content of our entire operation is guided by the wishes and needs of the industry experts in Finland. Our members keep us informed through the feedback they leave after each event. We want to be customer-centric in everything we do, and the functions offered by Lyyti make this very easy, ” concludes Sanna's recipe for success.
Lyyti's customer service gets full points
MARK has been a customer of Lyyti for a few years now, and they definitely want to bring out the ease and user-friendliness of implementing Lyyti. The system takes into account the needs of both the user and the participant very intuitively.
“During my thirty-year career, I haven’t come across a similar service where customer service is as amazing as it is at Lyyti. The customer service chat always takes great care of any questions and genuinely wants to solve problems. In addition, our own contact person helps with wider issues,” underlines Sanna.
In the future, with the help of Lyyti, MARK will also carry out event payments, and in Sanna's words, it will bring the use of the technology to an even deeper level.
An event is a connection, regardless of how it is implemented
So far, online events have been the best form of MARK events. The change in recent years has been huge, as the Marketing Association changed from 100% live events to 100% online events in just a few weeks in the spring of 2020. The longing for live events has been talked about by many, but the last couple of years have still been about encounters.
“Instead of events, I would rather talk about a common shared space and time, interaction, that is, creating community,” shapes Sanna nicely about the changed mindset around events.
Sanna says that she also experienced a significant amount of online encounters during the pandemic. She appears as an executive director and speaker to a wide range of audiences, and the content often also addresses intense interactions.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the world of hybrid events. For me, what matters most at events is the presence and strong interaction of the speaker. The connection can now be established regardless of location, channel and platform. All that matters is whether the presenter is engaged themselves and the participants, will land in the common space. Only then can a deep connection be established ”.
MARK - The activities of the Finnish Marketing Association and inspiring events can be found at https://www.markkinointiliitto.fi/ and in the MARK me content service www.markme.fi
