Send newsletters and grow your loyalty program

Welcome to another episode of the Tekpon SaaS Podcast! In this installment, host Cristian Dina sits down with Rares Banescu, the brains behind TheMarketer, to delve into the motivations, challenges, and innovations driving his latest endeavors in the marketing tech landscape.

Rares Banescu starts by addressing the pressing issues current customers and retailers face. With increasing pressure on these groups, Rares aims to enhance customer loyalty and retention while attracting new traffic. The episode reveals his innovative approach to achieving these goals through TheMarketer, a platform that leverages existing tools like emails, SMS, and loyalty programs.

One of Rares’s standout ideas is developing a collaborative marketing loyalty program. This unique approach allows businesses from various industries—such as eyewear, footwear, and fashion—to share customer benefits across different stores. The collaborative model aims to attract new customers without relying heavily on dominant advertising platforms like Google and Facebook, which Rares mentions have seen rising costs due to increasing competition and market dynamics.

What does theMarketer do?

Rares’s journey to founding TheMarketer is also quite compelling. He started his career in sales before moving into executive positions, eventually launching his direct marketing agency. Initially focused on email and SMS strategies for sectors like banking and travel, he identified the limitations in his business model and pivoted towards a scalable subscription model, giving birth to his SaaS company, Retargeting. Understanding the need for an email marketing platform that catered to user experience, Rares spent roughly 30 months in development—from research and design to stabilization—to create a robust and effective product.

Retargeting specializes in marketing automation tailored for e-commerce platforms. It gathers substantial data to operate effectively, boasting close to 5,000 customers and significant operations in several European countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.

Yet, Rares doesn’t stop there. His vision includes expanding TheMarketer into the US market while participating in notable events like the Affiliate Marketing West event in Las Vegas, slated for February 2025. Interestingly, Rares prefers the dynamic, fast-paced world of startups over larger-scale operations and plans to eventually sell the company within three to five years. The firm started with a local focus in Romania and has gradually expanded across Europe, now making strides in North America.

Why choose theMarketer

TheMarketer focuses heavily on personalized communication, where Rares leveraged his experience from Retargeting Biz, another marketing automation company he owns. This platform integrates data from various sources, such as small e-commerce plugins, CRMs, ERPs, mobile apps, websites, and even physical stores for larger entities. What sets TheMarketer apart is its ability to provide personalized content based on customer preferences, thus enhancing the user experience.

The direct marketing component of TheMarketer is ideal for businesses with a substantial need to communicate with many contacts, ranging from 1,000 to 200,000. The loyalty program, mainly geared towards e-commerce businesses, shows promising results in significantly boosting customer retention. Rares shares a persuasive case study where TheMarketer upgraded a large Romanian IT&C retailer’s email marketing platform within 60 days, resulting in a notable revenue increase.

Rares acknowledges competition but remains confident in TheMarketer’s competitive edge. The primary competitors are Klaviyo and, secondarily, ActiveCampaign. TheMarketer offers a cost-effective solution with unlimited email sends, outclassing Klaviyo’s limitations. Additionally, as the primary partner with AWS in Eastern Europe, TheMarketer sends close to 1 billion emails monthly and has seen recognizable growth in the US and Canada following its listing on the AWS website.

In closing, Rares thanks the host and encourages new entrepreneurs to listen to the podcast to analyze and track their progress. He emphasizes learning from existing successful models rather than reinventing the wheel. He also admires Google Drive’s integration and utility in daily tasks, which has helped streamline his workflow and collaborative efforts.

Tune in for a riveting discussion with valuable insights and forward-thinking strategies on the Tekpon SaaS Podcast!