We all like that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with being spoiled and cared for on our birthday. Now you can make your subscribers feel that way at least once a year with automated birthday emails.
Automated birthday emails allow you to feed two birds with one scone. On the one hand, you’re showing your subscribers some love and on the other, promoting your brand and fortifying your relationship with them.
Our Favorite Automated Birthday Emails
We’ve done a few birthday emails for our clients here at CodeCrew and they're one of our favorite workflows to create. Here, we have two goals. To make the subscriber feel valued and put a smile on their face. And to make them feel like they’re part of a caring virtual community.
Birthdays are so important. That's why you want to add value to the subscriber’s life and make them feel special on that day. Here are some of our favorite automated birthday emails that we’ve created over the years.
Birthday Series Email- Neurogan
As you can see, this series of birthday emails has a personal feel to it. Referring to the subscriber by their first name makes them feel special and of course, the offer is a nice cherry on top that definitely made an impression. The design is perfectly suited to the general feel and identity of the brand while adding a touch of birthday magic with the cute cupcake.
Customer Anniversary Email Series- Neurogan
We’ve also found that it’s just as important to celebrate customer anniversaries as marking this milestone reminds the customer of their loyalty to your brand.
Birthday marketing - the dos and don’ts
Do’s
Get the timing right
Consider your audience and how they might consume your offer to determine how far in advance you should send the email/s. You can send them on the actual day, in their birthday month, or before their birthday.
This is especially important if you run a business such as a restaurant for example. Let’s say you send the customer a birthday email with a link to book a table on their birthday. In that case, you’d want to set up your automated birthday email workflow to trigger at least 7 days before the customer’s birthday so they have enough time to plan ahead and perhaps invite close friends to join them as well.
The great thing about automated birthday emails is that they can be set up in advance. This makes it easier to ensure that you get the timing just right.
Design is king
Pay attention to design when creating your automated birthday emails. This particular email should have a celebratory and cheerful mood that will put a smile on your customer’s face.
It should feel more like a gift than a promotional email, ensuring that your subscribers will be pleasantly surprised to receive it.
The offer
Show the subscriber how much you love them by sending them an exclusive offer on their special day. Discounts work really well and can be tailored to specific products that the customer has either shown interest in in the past or something that they regularly purchase. You may also offer a free gift in keeping with the birthday theme.
Don’ts
Don’t lead with the offer
The offer should be secondary to the birthday wish. Basically, get the pleasantries out of the way first and then, introduce the offer as a way to help them celebrate their special day.
Don’t rush it
Plan ahead to make sure you get the dates and personalization effects just right. If needs be, make a spreadsheet of your email list complete with their birthdays chronologically organized to make sure that you never miss a beat. That way, you can plan your automated birthday emails well ahead of time for each month and tailor the offer accordingly.
An email workflow that makes subscribers feel special
How do you create an email workflow that lets your subscribers know how much you care?
Personalization is everything. As you saw in our example above, referring to a subscriber by their first name is a great way to show them just how special they are to you. Personalized emails also have more personality and have an individual feel to them.
Get inspired. Go online and check out posts with inspiring birthday emails (like this one) to help you get the creative wheels rolling.
Lastly, analyze the results by checking your automation report to see how effective your birthday emails are.
Automated birthday emails offer a wonderful opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your customers. So make sure your automated birthday emails are as beautiful, effective and touching as can be, by working with these creative email marketing experts.
