The Unofficial TikTok Shop Podcast with Jordan West

Ep 621: Email Marketing Ain’t Dead—But You Might Be Doing It Wrong (With Rytis Lauris)

·40 min·4 clips

Rytis Lauris reveals why email marketing isn't dead, despite Apple's latest attempt to kill it.

The episode begins with Jordan West introducing Rytis Lauris, CEO and co-founder of OmniSend, a marketing automation platform with over 120,000 customers. Rytis explains that OmniSend focuses on email, SMS, and web push notifications for e-commerce brands, positioning itself as an alternative to larger competitors. Jordan shares his early e-commerce experience using MailChimp and notes the shift when Shopify integrated with other platforms. Rytis describes OmniSend's origin from a digital marketing agency and its focus on small businesses. They discuss the perception that email marketing is dead, with Rytis arguing it remains highly effective, driving 15-30% of revenue for many brands. He compares email to a physical address, emphasizing its personal identification value. The conversation turns to Apple's email privacy changes, such as Mail Privacy Protection, but Rytis notes these haven't significantly impacted conversions. Jordan raises the controversial topic of keeping disengaged subscribers on email lists. Rytis advises against deleting them after 90 days, recommending 12 months of no clicks instead, to avoid spam traps that harm deliverability. He stresses the importance of constantly refreshing lists by acquiring new subscribers. Rytis gives an example of a streetwear brand using TikTok campaigns to convert followers into email subscribers for pre-sales. Jordan asks why brands are switching to OmniSend, and Rytis cites better pricing, cleaner interface, and superior customer support compared to competitors. He reveals OmniSend is bootstrapped, with 250 employees and no outside funding, operating on month-to-month contracts to prioritize customer value. They discuss how shareholder-driven decisions can alienate partners, contrasting with OmniSend's customer-focused approach. Looking ahead, Rytis and Jordan explore the impact of AI on marketing automation. Rytis believes AI will handle granular segmentation and heavy lifting, but human creativity will remain essential for crafting messages and strategy. He shares that OmniSend is implementing AI tools for tasks like writing subject lines. Rytis reflects on a past belief that marketing could be fully automated with one click, but now sees the enduring need for human touch. He recommends the book 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things' by Ben Horowitz for its realistic portrayal of business challenges. The episode concludes with Rytis sharing his LinkedIn and OmniSend's website for resources.

As heard by us

Retention marketing for online stores centered on owned audiences and repeat customers.

Redis Loras, OmniSend's CEO and co-founder, treats marketing automation for online stores as a retention play. The focus stays on email, SMS, and web push, with campaigns and automated flows aimed at getting existing customers to buy again.

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Why you'd press play

You can turn TikTok attention into subscribers if the offer is actually for them.

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