Tuesday in Litmus Live Week held a very special place for Taxi. Paris, our very own Technical Success Manager, gave an exciting talk on how an Email Design System can improve your production process. With fantastic insights and genuinely actionable takeaways, the talk went down a storm and we hope you were as inspired as we were.

Whilst that was an awesome way to kick off proceedings, the day went by with even more great content and ideas being passed around. Our Litmus Live Week blog article for Monday explored some of the key themes of the day. Today we will look at some memorable and insightful quotes from speakers, and what these mean for the #emailgeek community.

Doing the same thing over and over, and expecting the same result, will get you nowhere

One thing we have the power to change is how we work and what internal changes we make. If we do this, we get time back to be more creative and gives us time to improve our work ethic, relationship with peers and mental health.

This wasn't the only time this idea was mentioned. Jon May from RAC also said this is the way it's always been done - a phrase that strikes fear into the hearts of many. We couldn't agree more Jon. We can, and should, embrace any changes that we can make for the better.

...what we can do, is make sure our emails are...less creepy. When you think about it from that perspective, the question really becomes...

Challenge the assumptions of our audience of our selected personas and use our data! Sometimes saying our audience is 18-35 year old males is not enough - think of how many people fit in this age group and how different each individual is. Don't make assumptions. Age just like gender and race is a spectrum - age varies just like vision and hearing. When we are thinking of one audience we can't think of one of the other we need to think of everyone in between.

"Use their reasoning to validate yours"

What happens when we try to get someone to do that 'they don't want to do'? They say no. Simple and understandable. Trust in your ability to deliver what you promise is also a key component in getting buy-in. But also (and with greater importance here) is that audiences reject information that, even if 'correct', makes them feel wrong or incorrect.

We can create messaging that doesn't tell our audiences they are doing it wrong to get engagement with our solutions. Our messaging should use their reasons for choosing the path they have taken to validate why what we are offering is beneficial to them. In essence, help them to realise through change rather than enforced action. Instead of 'you're doing this wrong', it's more 'we can help you solve a problem you're trying to fix'.

"Inclusion is a positive action we can take to level the playing field a little bit. As creators, we have a little bit of control (to do so)"

The accessibility and inclusion talk by Leslie LeCroy and Kathryn Colohan was very powerful and insightful. And it included a load of immediately actionable takeaways. As email marketers, or marketers in general, we are the ones creating the content. So we also have the chance, and responsibility, to take action to be more inclusive. This includes:

• Adding diverse voices
• Challenging, and avoiding, unconscious bias
• Don't 'avoid to include' - representation is much better than choosing something that doesn't represent anyone.

"The more personalised you can get in the first touch point, the more likely they are to respond"

Personalisation is still top of the tree in email marketing, being one of the most discussed and desired features by marketers and audiences alike. So having an initial email or communication that is as personalised as can be can really effective in getting a response or interaction.

And keep the personalisation going throughout future communications! Making sure all emails are as relevant to the individual as possible can build trust, loyalty and excitement amongst your audience. This equates into some serious engagement! Really good personalisation is much more effective than 100 emails or calls.

"The number one goal is that customers have a good experience"

This one doesn't need too much explanation, we can all agree on this! But how they have a good experience is the cause of much debate. It's why we keep coming back to Litmus Live Week!