OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2016. At Connections 2016, you’ll see and hear about the latest trends in digital marketing. Here are five hot topics we recently identified in our 2016 State of Marketing report—and a few recommendations for content that will help you take advantage of the latest developments in digital marketing.

Trend #1: Top marketing teams are integrating the customer experience

High-performing marketing teams are 7.7x more likely than underperformers to strongly agree they’re leading customer experience initiatives across the business—bridging the gap between marketing, sales, and service.

Must See: Customer Experience is the New Marketing

Join Scott McCorkle, CEO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and special guests from Change.org, Fanatics, Capital One, and UnitedHealthcare, who will share their vision for building 1-to-1 customer journeys across the enterprise.

When: Tuesday, May 10, 10:00 a.m. No registration necessary.

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Trend #2: Top marketing teams get smart with tech adoption

To keep pace with a dynamic industry and continually make marketing communications smarter, 72% of top teams will increase spending on marketing tools and tech in the next two years.

Must See: Marketing Cloud Product Keynote

Join Marketing Cloud Chief Product Officer Bryan Wade to hear about the latest trends in digital marketing technology, and a look at Marketing Cloud’s future.

When: Wednesday, May 11, 10:00 a.m. No registration necessary.

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Trend #3: Top marketing teams win with a customer journey strategy

High-performing marketing teams are 8.8x more likely than underperformers to strongly agree that they’ve adopted a customer journey strategy as part of their overall business strategy.

Must See: Attention Email Marketers: How to Get Started with Journey Builder

Learn how to go from campaigns to journeys with specific advice from our product team and best practices from customers that have made the leap already.

When: Wednesday, May 11 at 2:00 p.m. Log into Agenda Builder to add to your schedule.

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Trend #4: Real-time channel orchestration strikes a chord

Leading marketers understand the value of a cross-channel approach. Among high performers who have integrated their digital marketing channels with their overall marketing, at least 95% rate the integrations as very effective or effective.

Must See: Getting Started with Cross-Channel Journeys

Join Kate Duggan, Director of Digital Marketing, Loyalty for Albertsons Companies and Matt Fischer, Director, CRM Product Management from Rue La La as they share how they're using the phased approach of crawl-walk-run to map, iterate, test and overcome obstacles to launch 1-to-1 journeys.

When: Tuesday, May 10 at 1:00 p.m. Log into Agenda Builder to add to your schedule.

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Trend #5: Intelligent email is driving higher revenue.

As email personalization capabilities grow more sophisticated, the channel becomes even more critical for marketers to deliver a holistic customer journey. Top teams are 4.2x more likely than underperformers to leverage predictive intelligence or data science to create personalized emails.

Must See: Outfox the Inbox: Tactics for Driving Email Engagement

Forrester Researcher Shar VanBoskirk will share insights for delivering truly engaging email experiences. She’ll provide tactics businesses of any size can use to reach prospects and customers with personalized content, and explain how leading brands use behavior, location, and anticipated needs to deliver emails that stand out in the crowd.

When: Wednesday, May 11 at 1:00 p.m.  Log into Agenda Builder to add to your schedule.

Not yet registered for Connections? Now’s the time!