Boss Mode

Need to Convince That On-The-Fence Boss?

1. Recall your memories of all the times your boss said something like “We really need to get better at this email thing,” “Getting more loyal customers is a top priority,” or “Maybe we should send an email to everyone and pray that not too many unsubscribe.”

2. Take a look around our site and see how it differs from other conferences that are baiting you to attend. This is an email conference by email conference people (the founders have spoken at or attended more than 50 conferences all over the world). Unspam is a community of fellow email geeks, not a big conference company just trying to put butts in seats. Think of how the experience and environment will be better and more tailored to your position and the goals or struggles of your company.

3. Read over the common pushbacks below, and, if needed, get advice from other attendees on how they convinced their bosses in the Email Geeks #email-events slack channel.

4. Once you’re sufficiently caffeinated, have done your homework, and role-played your case in your head, customize an example letter found near the bottom of this page and share it with your manager; preferably in person.

Common pushback and ways to handle it

Here are some common objections we’ve heard from bosses, and how to address them.

Objection #1: “The trip is too expensive.”
Response: What if attending UNSPAM gave us ideas that helped us boost our click rates by 2% or increased our subscription retention rates by 5%? What if it helped us segment subscribers better or helped us with designs that increased our conversion rate? That's worth more than the cost of my attendance! UNSPAM is the only conference that focuses specifically on email engagement and the unique challenges and opportunities that come with that. Not only are the sessions at UNSPAM tailored for the ever-changing best-practices and tactics in email, but there are hands-on group activities and access to experts which will help us with our subscriber experience – ultimately maximizing our email investment and increasing our readership and loyalty.

‍Objection #2: “UNSPAM looks just like any other digital marketing conference.”
Response: The people behind UNSPAM are building it specifically to not be like “any other digital marketing conference.” It is run by ReallyGoodEmails.com, which is the go-to site for anyone working on email. Essentially, it is the only email  conference by those who analyze email every day for its impact on readers, with specific insights about design, writing, content creation, frequency, and strategy that other conferences wouldn’t have access to.

Objection #3: “But aren’t we going to / just came back from [insert software]  conference?
”Response: Yep – but UNSPAM is strategically placed in the [insert season] to catch up on the changes and see how people are actually putting into practice the things covered at that conference. Plus, this isn’t a software conference but rather a knowledge gathering for the purpose of sharing, learning, and bettering the attendees – not bragging about results or trying to get us to “upgrade.” UNSPAM is put on by the team behind the agnostic ReallyGoodEmails.com which has access to a lot of information that won’t be presented at other conferences too.

Objection #4: “You can learn the same content from webinars.”
Response: Webinars can fill the gaps but can’t replace an in-person conference experience. At UNSPAM, I’ll meet other people who are in the same industry and use the same tools but are doing things differently and have different perspectives. These are people who I can shoot ideas to or compare notes with. There’s also the chance to network directly with speakers and ask them targeted questions I have to meet our specific goals.

Objection #5: “Let’s wait 'til next year–we don’t know much about this event.”
Response: True, but we could say that about anything. Postponing this another year just puts us behind the competition by a year who may be at UNSPAM or are doing better at this channel. The reason people attend this event, among the other reasons, is because of the transparency from speakers and attendees. There are things shared at UNSPAM that are hard to learn or find elsewhere. That’s why some of the biggest brands sent employees from all over the world to go to this last time. I can also reach out to people on the Email Geeks slack channel and get their opinion and more details if needed.

“This was certainly a unique conference. I walked away with knowledge and inspiration to go back to work and shake things up. My boss was jealous she didn't attend.”

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An example letter to send to your boss (but put it in your own voice, of course). Or you could just use ChatGTP:

Dear [ENTER MANAGER’S NAME],

I would like your approval to attend UNSPAM conference. This conference is dedicated to email marketing, with sessions covering innovative email techniques, responsive design, content creation, testing strategy, production processes, and more. Unlike most digital marketing conferences, the sessions at UNSPAM don’t focus on using specific platforms or tools—the content is applicable to anyone. This approach means I’ll come away with real world advice, best practices, and practical takeaways that will make me a better email marketer.

Between the content presented in the sessions, live workshops, expert roundtables, and networking with fellow attendees, I plan to learn new techniques, increase my knowledge regarding email best practices, and gather ideas to inspire the optimization of our own programs.

UNSPAM will have sessions covering:

· Copywriting techniques unique to email
· Benchmarks across the email industry
· How to improve oneself and the team for better emails
· Trends in email design and where email is headed
· Strategies and optimizing emails
· Understanding behavior and building relationships with readers
· Running successful email programs

Learning how to [insert what you expect to learn here] will help me [ insert a new skill here] on [specify a project you’re working on here]. Upon my return from UNSPAM, I will share takeaways, including those that we can implement immediately and maximize our email marketing programs. You can also learn more about the conference at https://unspam.reallygoodemails.com.

I’ve broken down the approximate cost of my attendance at UNSPAM:
· Airfare/Travel: [$IF APPLICABLE]
· Hotel: [$IF APPLICABLE]
· Conference Pass: [$AMOUNT]
· Total: [$AMOUNT]

Thank you for your consideration of this request.
[YOUR NAME]