Rytis Lauris, How to Adapt to iOS 15’s Impact on Email Marketing – InnovaBuzz 463

Rytis Lauris, Omnisend

In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Rytis Lauris, the Co-Founder and CEO of the eCommerce-tailored email & SMS marketing automation platform Omnisend. Having spent more than 10 years building and bootstrapping startups and working in the digital marketing and eCommerce field, Rytis was well-placed to do the same with his own company. Omnisend has grown to become a top-rated app in the Shopify App store without any outside investments.

The key to Omnisend’s success is its rich customer data and omnichannel-driven approach, empowering small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses to generate more sales at an affordable price. With his vast experience in startups and especially eCommerce marketing, Rytis can deliver useful insights and actionable advice on all things eCommerce, email marketing, and entrepreneurship.

In our discussion, Rytis talked to me about:

• Lifetime value of customers and why it’s important to nurture existing customers
• Best practices for email marketing
• The implications of the new privacy settings of iOS 15

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

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Show Notes from this episode with Rytis Lauris of Omnisend

Key points and takeaways from this episode include:

• Omnisend helps online stores communicate with their customers and analyse customer behaviours to run automated campaigns in order to retain their existing customers. 
• Email marketing, SMS marketing, and push notifications marketing, drive at least 15-30% of your revenue, depending on how well you do these things.
• Start thinking in terms of lifetime value, not campaigns.
• Retention is vital to the success of a business. You want customers that repeatedly buy from you, instead of a single time buyer. 
• The quality of your product or service has to be really good in order for customers to be willing to return. You also have to communicate with them on a consistent basis to remind them about your existence and what you offer.
• Some of Apple’s iOS 15 updates affecting email marketing include hidden IP addresses and iCloud Plus users having an option to create temporary email addresses. Email opens will no longer be properly recorded as well because Apple will be pre-loading all images that you are sending immediately upon receipt of the email on Apple Mail. This means that you’ll get 100% open rate, which is fake data.
• Automate as much as you can. Automated emails generate almost 30% of conversions, based on a recent study by Omnisend.
• Automation helps you send more relevant messages and are usually accepted way better based on a customer’s intent when browsing your website.
• Email will remain an effective marketing channel. It will just be a bit more difficult for you as a marketer to understand your customers’ behaviours. 
• Segment your customers – Apple vs Android users. 
• Always keep your list up to date. Old contacts could harm your online reputation. 
• Clean your list. Send only to people who have opened at least one of your emails in the past 12 or 6 months.
• It’s important to understand the correlation between your opens and clicks.
• Include call-to-action buttons when sending content-based emails or newsletter to direct readers to your landing page or website.
• Constantly grow your list because it’s vital to have fresh subscribers.
• Create a timestamp for every person’s subscription date and clean your list at least once every 6 months. Take the oldest list using the subscription dates, and reach out to your customers to express their will to to continue to receiving your message. 
• Opens are dead, but email isn’t. Email will remain a highly effective communication channel with your existing customers.

The Buzz – Our Innovation Round

Here are Rytis’ answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.

1. #1 thing to be more innovative – Don’t be afraid to do things.
2. Best thing for new ideas – Talking to people.
3. Favourite tool for innovation –  Google, podcasts, books.
4. Keep project/client on track –  Communication.
5. Differentiate – Talk to your customers. They will show you what uniqueness you have. 

To Be a Leader

Talk to people and just do things. Don’t keep your ideas for too long and start executing them.

Reach Out

You can reach out and thank Rytis through their website.

Suggested Guest

Rytis suggested we have a conversation with Romain Lapeyre or Philippe Roireau of Gorgias. So Romain and Philippe, keep an eye on your inboxes for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz Podcast, courtesy of Rytis Lauris.

Links

• Website – Omnisend
• Twitter – @RytisLauris
• LinkedIn

Opens are dead, but email isn’t. Check out OpensAreDead.com for all the latest news, best practices, and thought leadership around the implications of iOS 15 on email marketing. 

Cool Things About Rytis

• He started his first business when he was 22 years old.
• He speaks English, Lithuanian, and sometimes Russian.
• He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Vilniaus Universitetas.

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