Newsletter and onboarding journey optimization

Challenge

As Norway's first and largest book club, Bokklubben’s mission is to foster a love for reading by curating top literary experiences for members. 

Their editors review books published by Norwegian publishers, selecting and recommending the best as the "Book of the Month." While Bokklubben also operates an online store that sells books and home decor at discounted prices, recent years have seen the e-commerce side become the primary focus of Bokklubben’s digital presence.

In 2022, Bokklubben aimed to refocus its digital strategy from book sales to promoting the value of its membership—highlighting personalized book recommendations and the joy of reading. They sought TRY’s assistance to:

• Improve engagement with the "Book of the Month" emails and reduce book cancellations.
• Optimize sales newsletters by testing editorial content against the current sales-driven emails to strengthen brand value and increase book and decor sales.
• Enhance the onboarding process for new members to deepen their understanding of the benefits of membership and encourage active use of services.

Solution

The project began with a comprehensive analysis of Bokklubben’s current practices and potential areas of improvement, which involved:

• Mapping the customer journey from a new member’s perspective.
• Documenting existing customer communications.
• Evaluating all emails, especially those for the "Book of the Month" launch.
• This groundwork provided critical insights, allowing us to structure an optimization plan for newsletters, sales emails, and onboarding.

Nyhetsbrev og e-post

To safely and systematically refine Bokklubben’s newsletters and emails, we created a test plan for weekly A/B testing. We tested various elements - subject lines, emojis, images, button colors, and content structure. These tests aimed to boost book and decor sales, decrease cancellations, and build brand perception as a trusted literary guide.

The redesigned "Book of the Month" email included eye-catching GIFs in the header, a restructured layout for easy reading, information about the book’s author, and an editor’s recommendation to make it more engaging.

For sales emails, one of the weekly emails was transformed into an editorial newsletter featuring themed book recommendations from Bokklubben’s editors. This content-focused approach helped foster a sense of community and enthusiasm for reading

New member onboarding

In a workshop, we designed a new onboarding flow that outlined each email’s goals, message, audience, structure, and timing. We developed a 14-day welcome sequence of eight emails that introduce members to Bokklubben. Seven of these emails are sent to all members, while the eighth is a reminder for those who haven’t yet redeemed their welcome gift.

The onboarding emails welcome new members with a greeting from Bokklubben’s director, explain the "Book of the Month" process, introduce the editorial team, share reading inspiration, and provide information on Bokklubben’s online store and book formats.

Results and value

A/B tests revealed a reduction in cancellations for "Book of the Month" selections, demonstrating the positive impact of the new email design. This design shift also helped strengthen Bokklubben’s brand, presenting it as an expert and friendly guide in the world of literature. 
 
Sales email tests showed that editorial content could also drive sales, with only a slight drop compared to dedicated sales emails. This promising result supports Bokklubben’s shift towards an editorial-focused email strategy to foster a deeper connection with readers.
 
The revamped onboarding flow provided new members with a warm, informative introduction to Bokklubben’s offerings, aligning with the organization’s new strategic focus on member services rather than pure sales.