Lifecycle Marketing Manager

Company Description Novel Effect makes reading unforgettable with interactive music and sounds that respond to your read-aloud, turning every book into a can’t miss experience kids crave and educators rely on.

Role Summary This is a remote, full-time position with an annual salary range of $70,000-$90,000. You’ll join the product team, report to the Chief Product Officer, and work closely with Sales and Marketing to help more customers make Novel Effect an essential part of their reading communities. Benefits include health insurance, generous time off, and working together with a stellar team striving to bring some good to the world and help kids love reading.

Role Description Novel Effect seeks a knowledgeable Lifecycle Marketing Manager who understands elementary education and knows how to turn that understanding into beautiful, relevant communications that inspire action.

You’ll own our user and customer communication strategy, primarily through email. From a free user’s first read to a district-wide rollout, you’ll build campaigns and customer journeys that help customers discover value, establish consistent reading habits, and expand their use of Novel Effect.

You’ll use email engagement, journey performance, and analytics insights to understand and improve results, with success ultimately measured by customer actions, product usage, and growth. Your long-term goal is to grow customer relationships toward district-wide Community Plans, bringing Novel Effect to educators, students, and families across entire districts.

This role sits on the Product team, reports to the Chief Product Officer and works closely with Sales & Marketing to connect product engagement with customer growth.

CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION STRATEGY AND EXECUTION

• Build and execute a coordinated communication strategy across the customer lifecycle, with email as the primary channel
• Test and QA emails templates across various devices, browsers, and email clients to ensure seamless formatting
• Own the communications calendar, balancing onboarding, ongoing engagement, product updates, seasonal content, and growth campaigns
• Write, design, build, and launch polished emails with clear calls to action that drive measurable customer behavior tailored to educators, parents, and school or district administrators
• Create seasonally relevant content and experiences that connect Novel Effect to classroom needs, school calendars, and literacy priorities

CUSTOMER JOURNEYS, SEGMENTATION, AND AUTOMATION

• Design and implement onboarding sequences that help new users experience a successful first read and build a lasting reading routine
• Build automated journeys for key lifecycle moments, including activation, subscription, renewal, re-engagement, and expansion
• Develop segments and cohorts based on customer role, plan usage, engagement, and readiness to take the next step
• Coordinate campaigns and automated messages so customers receive timely, relevant communications at an appropriate frequency

ENGAGEMENT, CONVERSION, AND EXPANSION

• Develop campaigns that increase reading frequency and help customers make Novel Effect part of their regular routine
• Improve conversion from free users to paid subscribers by communicating value and addressing barriers to purchase
• Partner with Sales & Marketing to help individual subscribers become champions for school and district adoption
• Create communications that support expansion toward district-wide Community Plans, including access for students and families
• Identify moments when customer engagement signals an opportunity for a sales conversation and coordinate relevant handoffs

CUSTOMER INSIGHT AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

• Become Novel Effect’s internal expert on the full customer lifecycle: what they need, what holds them back, and which communications help them move forward
• Track and analyze key funnel metrics including email open rates, product usage data, campaign performance, and customer feedback to identify opportunities and refine journeys
• Test messaging, design, timing, audiences, and calls to action to improve engagement and conversion
• Monitor churn signals to identify low-engagement users segments and deploy engagement or win-back campaigns before users lapse
• Share insights with Product and Sales & Marketing to inform product experiences, positioning, and customer support

WHAT YOU BRING

• Experience in elementary education and a deep understanding of the challenges educators, librarians, schools, and districts face in improving student literacy outcomes
• Hands on experience creating and executing email marketing, lifecycle marketing, or customer engagement programs
• The ability to create visually compelling, well-written emails that inspire action and convert
• Strong skills in journey mapping, automated sequences, segmentation, and cohort-based communications
• Exceptional organization and attention to detail, including managing calendars, campaign dependencies, and quality assurance
• Comfort using data to understand behavior, test ideas, and measure results
• The ability to translate product features into practical benefits for educators and decision-makers
• A collaborative working style and the ability to move work independently from strategy to execution

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE Experience with education technology, subscription products, marketing automation platforms, and product analytics is especially valuable