AnnounceKit is a product announcement tool that helps SaaS companies send in-app and email notifications directly to their users — here’s how iVent, a UK-based virtual events company, used it to grow their subscriber list by 35% and achieve a 40–50% email open rate, up from just 10–15% before.
SaaS companies often struggle to announce their product updates and company news to their customers, especially when they are growing so fast. iVent is also one of these fast-growing companies.
The 2020 pandemic has surged an interest in virtual events, which meant more customers with less time to learn and adapt. As a growing business, they had to adapt to keep closer contact with their customers.
AnnounceKit provides them with easier ways of announcing the latest news to their fast-growing customers. That’s why they chose AnnounceKit to keep their long list of customers updated.
Company
iVent
Website
ivent-hq.com
Headquarters
Harrogate, United Kingdom
Industry
Information Technology Services
Features Used
Standalone Feed
Widgets
Email Notifications
iVent is a UK-based virtual events company specializing in designing, managing, and delivering virtual and hybrid events and on a mission to shift the event industry into a more sustainable future. Using their powerful digital platform, they have delivered successful virtual events and created digital hubs for international clients like KPMG, Jet2, Oxford University, Fujitsu, and more.
They’ve been developing and co-creating virtual and hybrid events of all shapes and sizes with their clients, for all kinds of organizations, for many years. Their platform is also utilized by organizations such as universities, associations, consultants, financial institutions, and a long list of blue-chip brands, cost-effectively providing a global outreach.
The Challenge
“As a SaaS company, we are constantly changing and improving ourselves along with our product.” says Nikita Ovcinnikovs.
iVent has been delivering virtual events for over 11 years. Still, prior to the pandemic, the process was slower as event managers who came to them usually had a good lead time before their event and a slower learning curve to get to know their product. Therefore, they managed to keep in touch directly to let them know of anything noteworthy. However, during the 2020 pandemic, things have changed dramatically. The customer list has grown. They decided to adapt to the changing climate by implementing more efficient ways of staying in touch with their customer base.
We felt like our customers were being left out before using AnnounceKit.
Nikita Ovcinnikovs, Product Manager at iVent
“Being a service-driven company, we felt like our customers were being left out and often not updated with what’s happening in the product. We needed an efficient way to make sure everyone is up to date with the product updates.” says Nikita.
They used to update their customers through Mailchimp campaigns which were daunting to create and were often left unread or not delivered due to email filtering issues. “After our big growth in 2020, we have also considered GetBeamer, but its features did not fit what we were looking for.” says Nikita. They also tried creating open Slack channels, updating each customer using Monday.com, and using their knowledge base as the source of updates. But neither of them met their expectations.
The Solution
When they saw that AnnounceKit offers a comprehensive list of features at a good price, and their competitors were also using AnnounceKit, they decided to give it a chance!
“With AnnounceKit, we can offer email updates for those who want to subscribe as well as a blog-like portal for anyone to recap what happened. We also integrate it into our Support Centre in Zendesk so clients who use our Knowledge Base and Support can also get notified there through a widget about the latest news.” says Nikita. They knew that their customers liked to be kept up to date via email, so basically to get notified when something new happens.
Apart from keeping their customers up to date, they also wanted an easy tool to set up and integrate with other tools they use. “Setting up an AnnounceKit update takes about 5-10 minutes. Mailchimp campaign could take anywhere between 1-2 hours to set up.”
Our active subscriber list has grown by 35% after using AnnounceKit
Nikita Ovcinnikovs, Product Manager at iVent
iVent was trying to keep their customer base updated on the latest updates of any company news with AnnounceKit, and they managed to do it! “Our subscriber list is growing every month, as most of our new customers sign up to receive announcement emails.” says Nikita. But there is nothing to worry about with AnnounceKit. Their click-through rate is higher, and customers are less confused about the latest things that they are doing.
The Outcome
Speaking to the role AnnounceKit plays in helping iVent to mail their subscribers, Nikita says, “Our open rates were anything between 10-15%. However, with AnnounceKit, now we have an open rate of around 40-50%. I think what helps with that is the fact you have to confirm email subscription with AnnounceKit, which means that the email is more likely to land in Inbox rather than Spam folders.”
We had open rates anything between 10-15% while using other email campaigns. However, with AnnounceKit, our open rates has grown to another level.
Nikita Ovcinnikovs, Product Manager at iVent
Message to Potential AnnounceKit Users
As a successful product manager, Nikita gives importance to staying in touch with customers and being transparent, which in the end achieves better product adoption and customer happiness. Therefore, he advises other companies to keep in touch with customers all the way through. He says, “The best thing you can do is to stay in touch with your customer base.” and AnnounceKit is a great tool to support them in this.
The best thing companies can do to stay in touch with their customer base.
Nikita Ovcinnikovs, Product Manager at iVent
Key Results at a Glance
| Metric | Before AnnounceKit | After AnnounceKit |
|---|---|---|
| Email Open Rate | 10–15% | 40–50% (3–4x industry average) |
| Subscriber List Growth | Stagnant | +35% |
| Time to Create an Update | 1–2 hours (Mailchimp) | 5–10 minutes |
| Spam/Delivery Issues | Frequent | Eliminated (double opt-in) |
How iVent Set Up AnnounceKit
One of the reasons iVent chose AnnounceKit over competing tools was how quickly the team could get up and running. For a fast-moving virtual events company managing hundreds of client relationships, implementation speed matters as much as feature depth. Here is the step-by-step process iVent followed to go from evaluation to live deployment:
Step 1: Chose the right feature combination. iVent activated three AnnounceKit features: the Standalone Feed (a public changelog portal where customers can browse all past updates), in-app Widgets (embedded directly into their platform so users see announcements without leaving the product), and Email Notifications (an opt-in subscriber list that sends updates directly to inboxes). This combination meant customers could stay informed through whichever channel they preferred.
Step 2: Integrated with their existing support stack. iVent also connected AnnounceKit to their Zendesk Support Centre using the widget integration. This meant customers browsing the knowledge base or raising a support ticket would also see the latest product news — closing the gap between support and product communication. Setting up the Zendesk widget took minutes using AnnounceKit’s native integration.
Step 3: Launched the subscriber list with double opt-in. The double opt-in requirement — where subscribers must confirm their email before receiving updates — turned out to be a key driver of the open rate improvement. Because every address on the list actively chose to be there, emails landed in inboxes rather than spam folders. This single change took open rates from the 10–15% range to 40–50%.
Step 4: Established a cadence for publishing updates. With Mailchimp, creating a campaign took 1–2 hours per send. With AnnounceKit, publishing a product update takes 5–10 minutes. This speed reduction meant iVent could post updates far more frequently — keeping customers consistently informed rather than batching news into infrequent, overwhelming emails. Their subscriber list grew 35% as new customers signed up specifically to receive these notifications.
Why Keeping Virtual Event Attendees Informed Matters
In the virtual events industry, the gap between what a platform can do and what attendees know it can do is often the deciding factor in whether an event succeeds or falls flat. iVent’s clients — universities, financial institutions, blue-chip brands — are running high-stakes events where technical confusion or missed features can embarrass the organizer. Proactive communication about platform updates is not a nice-to-have; it is a core part of the service iVent delivers.
The wider SaaS research backs this up. Companies that communicate product updates regularly see higher feature adoption rates and lower churn. When customers are unaware that a problem has been fixed, or that a new workflow now saves them time, they continue working around the old problem — building frustration and eroding trust. A simple, well-timed announcement through a channel customers actually read can recover that trust within minutes of being published.
For event-tech companies in particular, where platform updates often occur in direct response to client feedback, closing the feedback loop with a visible announcement also demonstrates that the vendor listens. iVent’s Nikita Ovcinnikovs summarized this philosophy simply: the best thing a company can do is stay in touch with its customer base. AnnounceKit makes that loop fast enough to be sustainable for a growing team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AnnounceKit?
AnnounceKit is a product announcement and changelog tool designed for SaaS companies. It lets product teams publish updates through in-app widgets, standalone changelog feeds, and email notifications — so customers stay informed across multiple channels without the overhead of managing separate email campaigns or documentation.
How does AnnounceKit improve email open rates?
AnnounceKit uses a double opt-in subscription process, which means every subscriber has explicitly confirmed they want to receive updates. This results in cleaner lists with genuinely engaged recipients, which dramatically reduces spam folder placement. iVent saw their open rate jump from 10–15% with Mailchimp to 40–50% with AnnounceKit — well above the SaaS email benchmark of around 21%.
What open rate can I realistically expect with AnnounceKit?
Results vary by audience and industry, but iVent achieved a 40–50% open rate after switching to AnnounceKit — three to four times higher than their previous Mailchimp campaigns. The combination of double opt-in subscriptions and shorter, more focused update emails tends to produce significantly higher engagement than traditional newsletters.
How do virtual event companies use in-app announcements?
Virtual event platforms typically use in-app announcements to notify clients about new features, platform changes, scheduled maintenance, and event management tips. iVent embedded AnnounceKit widgets directly into their platform and Zendesk support centre, so organizers see relevant updates in context — whether they are managing an event or looking up help articles. This reduces support tickets and improves adoption of new capabilities.
How long does it take to set up AnnounceKit?
Most teams can install the AnnounceKit widget and publish their first announcement within a single afternoon. iVent noted that creating an AnnounceKit update takes 5–10 minutes, compared to 1–2 hours for a Mailchimp campaign. The platform offers native integrations with tools like Zendesk, Intercom, and Slack, so setup rarely requires developer involvement for standard configurations.
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