Klaviyo support helps Guideposts grow revenue from flows 223.5% YoY

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Guideposts is a non-profit Christian bookstore and media company founded in 1945 by Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking, and his wife, Ruth Stafford Peale.

The Peales knew the book business well—The Power of Positive Thinking sold 15M+ copies in 30+ languages—and Guideposts carries on their legacy in a modern way: selling faith-based books via an online store, and promoting them via emails and newsletters sent through Klaviyo.

Learn how Guideposts went from problem-solving to proactive growth with Klaviyo support

Challenge

When Jenni Fox started as Guideposts’ email marketing lead, she had her work cut out for her.

The team had started using Klaviyo without a dedicated email marketer, and customer feedback highlighted 2 main issues with the initial email program:

1. Overuse of lists made unsubscribing hard: Guideposts had separate lists for its promotional emails and each of its newsletters. When customers unsubscribed from one list, they continued getting sends from the others.
2. Deliverability issues meant desired emails went MIA: “We were having a lot of trouble with bounces,” Fox says—so much so that when she started, Guideposts hadn’t sent to Outlook inboxes in months.

It was time for an overhaul. But Fox was working with limited digital resources, and she needed help.

Solution

Fox worked with her Klaviyo customer success manager (CSM) to find solutions to both problems.

Together, they clarified Guideposts’ unsubscribe flow. For the deliverability issues, Fox outsourced resolution to Kickbox on her CSM’s recommendation.

Soon, Fox and Klaviyo support transitioned from problem solving to a proactive growth initiative: launching automations.

Strategy

Here’s how Guideposts resolved their initial technical difficulties:

1. One list with many segments makes unsubscribing easier: Fox set up a master subscriber list, with segments for each type of Guideposts email content. Customers can now opt in and out of segments, or leave the list entirely, in a new email preference center—a WordPress landing page synced with Klaviyo.
2. Agency support and list hygiene solved deliverability: Kickbox’s connections to major inbox providers helped Guideposts get back into all inboxes—including Outlook. To prevent future issues, they stopped sending to subscribers who hadn’t engaged for over a year. Bounces dropped 50.7% YoY in Q1 2023.

With their struggles behind them, Guideposts has transitioned into a growth strategy with their Klaviyo CSM—launching an array of new automations that grew revenue from flows more than 3x YoY in Q1 2023. 

They’ve got 2 new flows in the works, too: a win-back flow for disengaged customers, and a failure to launch flow for long-time subscribers who have yet to buy.

“Our customer success manager is such a valuable resource,” Fox says. “Every single time I meet with her, I come out with more great ideas that I want to implement.”

Our customer success manager is such a valuable resource. Every single time I meet with her, I come out with more great ideas that I want to implement.