Case Study: Marketing Channel Launch & Growth – Email

Case Study

Marketing Channel Launch & Growth: Email

Company: Wanderu

Disciplines:

The Project

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting travel was not only ineffective, it was socially unacceptable. Wanderu’s primary acquisition channels, like out-of-home ads, PR, and social media advertising, were either paused due to budget constraints or rendered ineffective by the circumstances. With travel demand at a standstill, attracting new users became nearly impossible.

Recognizing the need for a strategic shift, I proposed and led the development of a robust lifecycle marketing program. While most people weren’t traveling, some still needed to, and Wanderu remained one of the few platforms able to show what routes were still running. To keep the brand top of mind and maintain engagement with our vast user base, I launched Wanderu’s email marketing channel, laying the foundation for a long-term, data-driven user retention strategy.

The Challenge

Before 2020, Wanderu’s email marketing efforts were limited to occasional announcements and a generic newsletter—never a true priority and rarely given the attention needed to grow into a high-performing channel. But with traditional acquisition tactics off the table during the pandemic, email emerged as a powerful, untapped opportunity to re-engage users and drive bookings.

I took the lead on transforming email into a core marketing and communications channel. My challenge was clear: prove that investing in email as both a lifecycle and promotional tool was not only strategic but financially sound. I’m always up for a challenge, and this one became a defining opportunity to deliver impact where it mattered most.

The Goals

Build and optimize a comprehensive email ecosystem

Develop and maintain a full suite of transactional, lifecycle, and promotional email campaigns designed to support users throughout their entire journey – from first visit to repeat bookings – ensuring consistent brand touchpoints and measurable impact at every stage of the funnel.

Establish a scalable test-and-learn framework

Implement an ongoing A/B testing program to evaluate subject lines, CTAs, send times, creative formats, and content types, using performance data to continuously iterate and scale high-performing campaigns across audiences and geographies.

Expand and enrich the emailable user database

Grow the size and quality of the emailable audience by optimizing email opt-in opportunities, improving list hygiene, and leveraging engagement-based segmentation strategies to maintain high deliverability, open rates, and long-term list health.

Evolve the email platform into a dynamic personalization engine

Transform the email channel from static messaging to a personalized experience by utilizing user behavior, search patterns, and booking history to recommend relevant trips, destinations, and deals, delivering value at the individual level and driving conversion.

Drive measurable retention and revenue through lifecycle marketing

Position email as a key revenue-driving channel by launching automated lifecycle programs (e.g., welcome, cart abandonment, re-engagement) that increase repeat bookings, improve customer retention, and contribute to overall LTV growth.

The Strategy

To transform email into a high-performing growth and engagement channel, I developed a comprehensive email marketing strategy centered around three core pillars: infrastructure, experimentation, and personalization.

Select a robust email marketing platform with a user-friendly interface and a suite of features suited for travel engines.

The first step was selecting a reliable email marketing platform with the right balance of functionality, scalability, and usability to meet Wanderu’s needs and our lean team structure.

Develop a diverse email ecosystem using best practices, as well as Wanderu-specific opportunities.

I set out to build a manifold email ecosystem that included transactional, lifecycle, and promotional campaigns, starting with industry best practices and expanding into more tailored, Wanderu-specific campaigns based on observed user behaviors and booking trends.

Conduct ongoing A/B testing across all email types

With no historical precedent for performance, I knew it was crucial to implement a rigorous test-and-learn framework to optimize every aspect of the program – from send times and subject lines to template structure, content types, and segmentation. A/B testing became a continuous practice, not only to refine existing campaigns but also to uncover entirely new email opportunities based on user engagement signals.

Seek and utilize any and all opportunities for personalization

I was adamant that the key to long-term success was evolving the channel into a personalized recommendation engine by leveraging behavioral data to suggest relevant routes, destinations, and deals – ensuring each email delivered value tailored to the individual recipient. This would lay the foundation for a long-term lifecycle strategy that would increase retention, drive repeat bookings, and contribute meaningfully to Wanderu’s bottom line.

The Tactics

To bring the strategy to life and build a high-impact email program from the ground up, I implemented a multi-pronged approach focused on platform selection, infrastructure development, message variety, and smart audience targeting.

Platform Selection & Setup

After evaluating multiple platforms, I selected Blueshift as our email marketing solution for its ideal mix of power and ease of use. Key features that made Blueshift the right fit included:

User-friendly interface – easy for a lean team to navigate and manage.
Robust visual editor – streamlined creation, testing, and optimization of email templates.
Live trip catalog integration – enabled real-time, personalized content pulled directly from Wanderu’s database.
Email on Acid integration – allowed for thorough cross-device and cross-client QA.
Advanced segmentation engine – supported detailed audience targeting and dynamic content delivery.
Cross-channel potential – offered built-in capabilities for future expansion into push notifications and SMS campaigns.

This foundation ensured that we could scale quickly, stay nimble, and deliver relevant, high-performing campaigns.

Deliverability & IP Warm-Up

To ensure long-term deliverability success, I initiated a multi-week IP warming period, gradually ramping up send volume to introduce Wanderu’s dedicated sending domain to mailbox providers. This process helped build sender reputation, reduce bounce rates, and minimize the risk of being flagged by spam filters. I closely monitored inbox placement, engagement rates, and domain reputation to ensure optimal inboxing performance as we scaled.

Transactional Email Ecosystem

I built out a full suite of transactional emails to support the user journey and reinforce booking confidence. Each message was designed to be timely, helpful, and on-brand.

Lifecycle Email Program

To nurture long-term engagement, I developed an automated lifecycle email flow that guided users through key moments in their relationship with Wanderu.

Weekly Newsletters & Personalization

I launched a weekly newsletter program featuring deals and destination inspiration tailored to the user’s location, travel history, search behavior, and likely preferences. Each newsletter was themed around timely travel opportunities – such as long weekends, seasonal events, or hidden gems – ensuring relevance and urgency.

Occasional Regional Campaigns

To support event-driven travel and regional demand spikes, I created geo-targeted blasts promoting relevant events or experiences to nearby users. These helped drive short-term conversions while reinforcing Wanderu’s local utility.

Product & Platform Updates

I also built out a cadence of Wanderu update emails to share exciting news with users, including new feature rollouts, newly added carrier partners, limited-time promos, and exclusive discounts—keeping our user base informed and engaged.

A/B Testing Program & Continuous Optimization

To ensure every email sent was informed by data and optimized for performance, I established a structured A/B testing program across all email type – from transactional to lifecycle to promotional campaigns.

This involved defining clear hypotheses, setting measurable goals, and testing a variety of elements to uncover what resonated most with Wanderu’s audience. Tests were conducted iteratively to fine-tune performance and inform future campaign strategy.

Email Capture Strategy & List Growth

To build a larger, more engaged audience, I implemented a cross-platform email collection strategy that made it easy for users to opt in at multiple high-intent touchpoints.

These efforts helped us not only grow the size of our list but also improve the quality of our subscribers, leading to higher engagement, stronger deliverability, and better long-term performance across all campaigns.

The Results

In less than a year, the email marketing program I launched grew into one of Wanderu’s most impactful channels, and it’s only continued to deliver results since.

Email became the #2 marketing channel for Wanderu within its first year – and has maintained that position for over five years.
Email has experienced an average of 120% YoY growth in direct net revenue yield since 2020.
Increased likelihood to book by 20% among users who receive lifecycle and promotional emails, as confirmed through holdout testing.

With no prior infrastructure or roadmap to follow, I built Wanderu’s email program from scratch, transforming it from an underutilized tool into a high-performing, data-driven growth engine. Today, it remains a critical revenue channel and a cornerstone of the company’s long-term retention and engagement strategy.