This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Rytis Lauris. Rytis is the co-founder and CEO of Omnisend, the Powerful marketing automation platform focused on moving eCommerce marketers beyond generic email marketing tools. It’s currently the fastest growing marketing automation platform in the industry. Because of this, Rytis has gained a lot of notoriety within the eCommerce community for his insights on omnichannel and the future of eCommerce.
With over a decade of experience building and boostrapping successful startups in e-commerce, I wanted to have Rytis on to discuss the importance and future of marketing coming out of the Wuhan Coronavirus quarantine and how important it is for you to understand the different ways you need to market to stand out.
www.omnisend.com
Rytis Lauris on LinkedIn
Rytis graduated with a degree in political science and no experience in technology or marketing. When he was 21, a friend ask him to help with a business he was starting. He had no experience but figured it out and made it work. He never looked back and has been an entrepreneur ever since with a number of businesses. He got into digital marketing (which Onmisend was born from) and had success, but while running that business, started a few others that didn’t work out. One was a postcard business and the other was a polling tool for presenters on stage at conferences and events. He learned a major lesson in that every business has to solve a real problem. The two failures were “nice to have” products, but not necessities.
“You have to find a monetizable customer pain/problem to solve. That is the only way to build a proper business.”
What is Onmichannel marketing?
- It is a way to communicate with a customer based through multiple mediums at once including email, text, chat, messenger, push notification, Facebook/Google/social ads and retargeting.
- It is one tool where you can market through all channels at lunch.
- It can be customized to communicate across the different mediums at different times and different ways to customers during their lifecycle.
- You need a way to meet customers where they are – and nowadays that is in a number of channels.
At the 12 min mark, Rytis talks about Omnichannel in action with examples…
- Marketing needs to follow the same path in how buyers behave and each customer will have different preferences and behavior.
What works best for a B2B and for a B2C strategy with Omnichannel?
- Most of the work Rytis does is with B2C and mainly physical goods.
- Omnichannel works better for B2C.
- B2B doesn’t typically buy through things like Facebook Messenger and typically has a more formal process and decision-making process.
- It does depend on what the product is as some B2B products may make sense for Omnichannel.
- The consumer channel is the bigger opportunity for Omnichannel.
- Omnichannel can work for informational type products or services as well for B2C.
- It is especially good for things sold online as it can track everything.
Are there any changes or shifts you see happening or coming because of the virus?
- Massive change that will make a major impact for the future – almost all businesses are transforming to a digital presence by nature.
- Consumers have all gone digital and expect it, so your business has to accommodate it.
- In harder times, businesses turn to selling into their customer base instead of investing to get new customers. This can work as it is a warm market, but they have to be careful not to sacrifice the future and keep a focus on gaining new clients.
Amazon? Friend or Foe? Should it be a part of an Omnichannel strategy?
- It’s a tricky question, but ultimately, the answer is yes.
- Everyone should have Amazon as a part of their strategy, but not rely on it solely.
- It is easier to start on Amazon. It has the traffic and the platform and the tools you need to get going.
- Once you are going, you need to be building your own brand, own platform, and owning the customer journey.
What is the difference between a Omnisend type solution and a Hubspot type?
- Hubspot is more for B2B needs, Onmisend is built more for B2C.
- Hubspot and other tools like it are more CRM and drip campaign type tools.
- Omnisend has order follow up sequences, synchronizing with your online store, etc. Hubspot does not.
- They are really completely different types of solutions and focuses.
If you had to give one of your best pieces of advice, outside or Omnichannel, for entrepreneurs to market their business, what would it be?
- Be consistent.
- Deliver what you promise.
- Respect your customers and they will respect you.
- Marketers and businesses need to think in terms of campaigns and lifetime values of customers.
- It needs to be about what customer want to hear from you, not what you want to say to them.
How important can the little things be such as reviews online, etc?
Very important!
Social proof and reviews are critical for selling online and validating your products/services.
You customer feedback is gold and must be listened to.
Another little thing is keeping people informed and up to date.
What has surprised you most on your entrepreneur journey?
- Rytis never thought of himself as a creative person, but entrepreneurship brings that out in him and has made a large impact on his success.
- The 80/20 rule is real. 20% of the effort drives 80% of the results. Stay true to this.
What is your best advice for an entrepreneur starting out?
- Just do it. Whatever it takes – find a way and make a way.
- And there is no better day to start than today.
- Plan on the move…
Anything else you want to share?
- Use Omnichannel
- Be consistent
- Think in terms of customer lifecycle.
Best Quote: "You have to find a monetizable customer pain/problem to solve. That is the only way to build a proper business.”
Rytis's Misfit 3:
- Just do it. Take action and take the first step.
- People overestimate what they can do in a short amount of time and underestimate what they can do in a longer amount of time.
- Dream responsibly.
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