What a year we leave behind! To say the least, very exciting things have happened at Rule and we can hardly wait to see what the new year has to offer. But before we say goodbye to 2021, we look back in the rearview mirror and sum up the year that has been on Rule.
This was Rule 2021:
Growth
The past year has also been marked by a pandemic that sometimes led to unpredictable situations. Despite this, both our fantastic customers and Rule as a company have increased their growth during the year. We continue to solve our customers’ communication challenges at a furiously high pace and the fact is that we have grown by more than 50% this year, compared to the previous year. This has meant that we also needed more talented people in our Rule team. With that said, we can proudly announce that in 2021 we have also had the largest staff growth ever in Rules history. We have had the honor of expanding all our specialized teams, which has resulted in us, together with our customers, being able to develop and achieve goals at a very fast pace.
Rule became a “Gasell” company in 2021
Every year, Dagens industri appoints the fastest growing companies in Sweden as “Gasell” companies and in 2021 it was Rules’ turn. The Gazelle survey ranks Sweden’s most successful companies and the fact is that less than 1% of Sweden’s limited companies meet the requirements to be called a Gasell company. This therefore feels very glorious to us and we are incredibly proud of our journey so far. Now we are accelerating towards new goals!
Updates and improvements in the platform:
During the year, we have built an even stronger tech team that has worked hard to produce improved product development processes. As a result, many development dreams have come true and new solutions and functions have emerged during the year. Here we present some of them.
Journey Builder
FINALLY, we have let the world take part in perhaps this year’s coolest and most innovative addition when it comes to hyper-personalized communication. We’re obviously talking about the Rule platform’s addition, Journey Builder. Through a user-friendly platform and an intuitive interface, you can easily build welded loops of communication with dynamic content. Journey Builder’s smart technology then automatically selects content sections tailored to the recipient and merges them into one email. With more strategic and accurate content throughout the customer journey, you increase customer satisfaction and the digital business. Avoid hassle and mass mail, let Journey Builder do the work.
At the end of the year, we were contacted by Ehandel.se who drew attention to an all too common mistake that many e-retailers are completely unaware that they’re making. It’s about mass mailings and mail bombs. They turned to some industry experts and asked if Rule had a solution to the problem, and we have. Journey Builder is the answer to the question of how to prevent mass mailings and instead ensure that the right person receives the right message at the right time, via the right channel. The future platform for digital communication is Journey Builder. Read the whole article here.
Product Alerts (Back in stock)
The smart and very efficient function Back in stock is part of our Product Alerts API which can be used to effectively notify customers when a sold-out product is back in stock. The advantage of Back in stock is that the customer can choose to subscribe to updates related to a specific product. When the stock status of the product is changed and updated, a selection of the customers who have chosen to subscribe, ie those who want a notice, will be notified. By using Rules Product Alerts API you can get your customers more engaged and your communication becomes more relevant and accurate.
Preferences for email
A very flexible and in-demand function that we have launched is preferences for email, which gives subscribers the choice to decide for themselves what type of email communication they want to receive from your business. Instead of completely unsubscribing from your mailings, the customer can, with the help of preferences, opt out of communication that they don’t want to receive and only receive emails with things that interest them, such as different destinations. This will result in a reduced number of deregistrations on your send outs and a more committed customer base, which in turn results in increased sales and digital growth.
Rule Node.js SDK
Now our customers who develop their own systems with Node.js can integrate with Rule in a much easier way. We have released an API development kit that we call Rule SDK, which you can import into your code. This way, you can then quickly and easily manage your subscribers and trigger automations and more. Installation and instructions on how to use the Rule SDK can be found at the SDK website. Also read our KB article for more information.
Design, branding & visual identity
Based on our customers’ user experiences in the platform, we were able to conclude that our existing design needed to be modernized with the user in focus. The biggest and most important lift that we have strived for is to design a new design language where you can easily navigate from step to step in the platform. Inside the Rule platform, we have updated several basic pages and you can already check out the “login page” that has been updated, to get an insight into what the new design will look like. In 2022, you can expect many exciting and cool updates in the platform, both graphically but also technically. We will release all new components and updates as they become ready and also inform you about when it happens. Keep an eye open!
Partnerships and integrations
During the year, we have built more integrations and standardized methods for building new connections between Rule and systems that our customers use in their daily work. With our new, driven Partner Account Manager Emil on board and a cohesive tech team, 2021 has meant many new partnerships and integration opportunities that strengthen both our product and our customers’ experiences with us.
Yotpo
Our integration with Yotpo has made it possible for brands to engage their customers in unmatched ways. With up to 20 triggering events sent from Yotpo to Rule, brands have complete control over multiple communication flows with fully customizable emails. Some examples of communication that can be set up are: Send referral emails to new customers, reward customers when the recommendations are completed, inform the customer about their existing level of loyalty and tell a customer when a coupon is handed out, and more.
WooRule 2.0
In 2021, we updated our WooCommerce-plugin to improve the user experience, which means you can now connect your store to Rule with just a few clicks. The interface has been simplified but still offers the same fantastic functionality as before. We have added new features and listened carefully to customer feedback to make our WooCommerce integration as intuitive and useful as possible. We have also added the Cart in Progress function so that you can easily send emails from an abandoned shopping cart to your customers, as well as a cash register integration with Klarna to make your web shop as efficient as possible.
Vendre
Vendre is a complete e-commerce platform that contains all the components you need to run e-commerce, whether you sell b2c, b2b or your own brand. With the integration between Rule and Vendre, you can automatically sync activity and send over events that take place in your webshop directly to your Rule account and thus communicate accurately with your customers via email marketing and SMS.
GDPR Dokumentation
New laws make stricter demands on entrepreneurs and GDPR Dokumentation wants as many people as possible to comply with the GDPR, which we at Rule share the same opinion about. Our partnership with GDPR Documentation ensures correct handling of customer data and publication of content as storage in our platform. Through our partnership, our customers can gain clear and competent expertise from GDPR, while you can sell more and increase your revenue through our communication platform.
Wasa Kredit
Rule has started a partnership with Wasa kredit which is a personal finance company that offers leasing and renting directly at checkout. By integrating Rule with Wasa credit, you can develop your customers’ digital buying journey through personalized communication and increase traffic and conversion to your website.
Nordisk Ehandel/Evalent
When you integrate Rule with Nordisk E-handel, collected customer data such as order history is automatically sent to your Rule account, which means that you can easily collect all relevant customer data in one and the same platform. With the help of these customer insights, you can segment your Rule members and personalize your digital marketing, which will result in increased trust, more conversions and more digital business.
Prestaworks – Prestashop
A brand new partnership that we have recently started is with Prestaworks – the Nordic region’s largest supplier of e-commerce solutions based on PrestaShop. Their main focus is on you as a customer to feel great freedom and high development potential. By integrating Rule with Prestaworks, you as a user can manage your digital communication via Rule and have all customer data such as activity, behavior, patterns, browsing data, etc. gathered in one place.
Exhibitions, events and webinar
D-congress 2021
In October, we exhibited at this year’s first physical exhibition D-Congress in Gothenburg and then finally got to meet our fantastic customers and partners again after a long time at a distance. The fair was a success and we couldn’t have been happier with the result. Did you miss us or for some reason couldn’t attend the exhibition? Now you have the chance to meet us this spring at Mar / Tech Expo at Kistamässan on 21-22 April. We are in stand A: 11. Come and hang out, talk about digital growth and cook ice cream with us! Use our VIP code: 1214 for free admission to the fair and also get 10% off conference tickets.
Rule and C.A.G Ateles Black Friday webinar
In October, we held together with our partner C.A.G Ateles a webinar focusing on how to maximize your sales during Black Friday. The webinar was hosted by Rules CSM Philip Simon and our PAM Emil Silverflod together with Per Dunger from C.A.G Ateles. Together, they went through how to best set up marketing activities during large shopping events, which discount levels are most profitable and answered many popular questions related to Black Friday. If you missed the webinar or would like to see it again, you can do so below.
In conclusion..
We are incredibly grateful that our fantastic customers and partners continue to use Rule and are so committed to the platform. Now we look ahead and accelerate towards new goals and challenges. With that said, we round off 2021 and put full focus on what the new year has to offer. Let’s go!
Do you want to get started with digital communication? Explore Rule for free for 30 days or contact us and we’ll tell you more.
