Latest / Community Marketing with Fexingo: Discord, Slack Groups, and Brand Communities / How a Book Club Turned Into a Brand Community Engine
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used at work or even just thought about differently, there's a simple way to keep them coming — and keep them ad-free. Luna: Yeah, we've never run a single ad on this show, and that's intentional. It means the only reason we do it is because we love talking about this stuff. Lucas: Exactly. And if that matters to you, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's just a way to say this is valuable without us having to pitch you something every ten minutes. Luna: Right. And now — let's talk about a brand that turned a simple book club into a marketing engine without spending a dime on ads. Lucas: So today I want to look at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles. It's this iconic independent bookstore downtown, known for its Instagrammable tunnels made of books. Luna: I've seen those photos — the walls are literally arched with books, it's gorgeous. Lucas: Right. But what caught my attention wasn't the decor. It was how they built a community around a weekly book club on Discord that now has over 8,000 active members. Luna: Eight thousand — that's huge for a local bookstore. How did they get started? Lucas: It started during the pandemic, when the store was closed to foot traffic. They already had a small email list of loyal customers, maybe 500 people. The owner, Josh, sent out an email asking if anyone wanted to start a virtual book club. He expected maybe fifty replies. Luna: And got more? Lucas: He got over 300. So they set up a free Discord server, picked a first book — it was 'The House in the Cerulean Sea' by T.J. Klune — and scheduled a Zoom chat. That first meeting had 80 people show up. Luna: Eighty people on a Zoom call talking about a book — that's already a community. Lucas: Exactly. And here's where the marketing part kicks in. They didn't treat the book club as a separate thing. They tied it directly to the store. The book was available for purchase on their website with a discount code only shared in the Discord. And they'd ship signed copies if available. Luna: So every book club pick became a guaranteed sale. Smart. Lucas: But it went deeper. The Discord channel became a place where people talked about books all week, not just during the meeting. They set up genre-specific channels — sci-fi, romance, mystery, non-fiction. Members started recommending books to each other, and the store made it easy to buy with direct links. Luna: So the community itself became a sales engine. People trust recommendations from peers more than from a brand. Lucas: Exactly. And the store fed that trust. They didn't push hard. They just made it frictionless. One click from a Discord message to the checkout page. Within six months, the store saw a 40% increase in online sales, and the book club was the primary driver. Luna: Forty percent — that's massive. And they didn't run any ads? Lucas: None. All organic. But the really interesting part is how they scaled the community without losing the intimacy. They recruited volunteer moderators from the most active members. Luna: So they turned their biggest fans into staff, essentially. Lucas: Yeah, but not paid staff. These are people who genuinely love the store and want to help. They get early access to signed copies and a free book every month, but no salary. And they're happy to do it because they feel ownership. Luna: That's the holy grail of community marketing — when your customers become your marketers. Lucas: Right. And The Last Bookstore did something else that I think is brilliant. They started featuring member-generated content on their Instagram. People would post photos of themselves reading the book club pick, tag the store, and the store would repost them with a shoutout. Luna: User-generated content with a personal touch. That's way more authentic than a polished ad. Lucas: And it created a feedback loop. People wanted to be featured, so they posted more. Each post reached their own followers, many of whom weren't aware of the book club. The store's Instagram grew from 15,000 to 45,000 followers in about a year, almost entirely from this UGC. Luna: So the community itself became a distribution channel. Lucas: Exactly. And they made it feel exclusive without being elitist. For example, they had a 'Member of the Month' spotlight, where they'd interview a regular and share their reading list. That person would then share the post, bringing their network in. Luna: It's almost like a referral program, but built on social capital instead of discounts. Lucas: Completely. And the economics work. A typical independent bookstore spends maybe 3 to 5 percent of revenue on advertising. The Last Bookstore spends less than half a percent on the book club — just the cost of the free monthly book for moderators and the time to manage Discord. Luna: That's a huge ROI. But I wonder — does this work for any business, or is it specific to bookstores because books naturally lend themselves to discussion? Lucas: Great question. I think the book club model is a specific instance of a broader principle: find the natural conversation people already want to have around your product, and give it a home. Luna: So a fitness brand could have a weekly workout challenge group, or a kitchenware brand could have a recipe share community. Lucas: Exactly. The key is that the conversation has to be about something people genuinely care about, not just about the brand. The Last Bookstore's community talks about books, not about the bookstore — but the store is always there as the enabler. Luna: So the brand takes a back seat to the shared interest. Lucas: Right. And that's counterintuitive for a lot of marketers. They want to talk about themselves. But the community wants to talk about what they love, and the brand just facilitates that. Luna: One thing I noticed — they chose Discord over a Facebook group or a dedicated app. Why do you think that worked? Lucas: Discord is designed for ongoing conversation, not algorithmic feeds. In a Facebook group, posts get buried. On Discord, the chat is real-time, and you can have multiple topic channels. Plus, it feels more intimate and less ad-heavy. Luna: And it's free. So low barrier to start. Lucas: Exactly. They didn't need to build a custom app. They just used an existing platform that fit their needs. And they made it exclusive — you had to be a customer to get the invite link, which added a sense of belonging. Luna: That exclusivity probably increased engagement. People want to be part of something that feels special. Lucas: Absolutely. And it creates a feedback loop where members invite friends who then become customers. The store told me that the average book club member spends about 60 percent more per year than a non-member. Luna: Sixty percent — that's the real metric. Not just engagement, but lifetime value. Lucas: Right. And they track it. They have a loyalty program that ties back to the Discord username, so they can see purchase behavior. It's not just a feel-good exercise; it's data-driven. Luna: So what's the one takeaway for a marketer listening who wants to try something similar? Lucas: I'd say start with a small group, not a big launch. Pick ten of your most engaged customers, invite them to a private chat, and ask what they'd like to talk about. Let them shape the conversation. The Last Bookstore started with an email to 500 people and got 300 replies — but they didn't try to force a structure. Luna: Let the community co-create it. That makes sense. Lucas: Exactly. And once you have a few passionate members, they'll bring others. The key is to be patient and not expect overnight results. Their book club took about three months to really gain momentum. Luna: It's a long game, but the payoff is a self-sustaining marketing engine that doesn't depend on ad spend. Lucas: Yeah. And in a world where ad costs keep rising and algorithms keep changing, a genuine community is one of the few durable assets a brand can build.