Why And How to Send Your Clients A Happy Birthday Message

There is no need to break down what consists of a Birthday Message; it is a message you receive on your Birthday. Quite simple.

Surprisingly birthday emails perform very well when attached to email marketing. They typically get about 400% higher transaction rates than most promotional emails. Birthday emails are also very high in Revenue compared to most other promotional emails. They have click rates that are much higher than promotional emails, and that can be for a plethora of different reasons.

Two significant factors that can be taken into account are:

Birthdays are a perfect time to reach out to a customer organically. Sending a birthday email to a subscriber builds a relationship with them because you recognize it, and the subscriber will also be grateful.
Birthdays are recurring; nothing about them can change, literally nothing. This makes it the most accessible Email to automate, as it will never falter. This is a great way always to take advantage of conversion options.

What is the reason behind sending a birthday email?

As mentioned above, Birthday emails generate a large group of Revenue due to these emails. It is a more significant revenue target than most promotional emails. Sending a birthday email also differentiates your company from competitors, as some companies don't show birthday love. Many companies must collect birthday data to take advantage of that opportunity. Sending a birthday email will give an edge in getting the customer's attention.

Additionally, many emails are sent out for birthdays, but the Email itself could be better made, So it looks pretty tacky. Sending a quality birthday email can go a long way with your competitors, as people will appreciate the detail behind the time spent. A birthday email is a reliable and low-effort way to increase your Revenue and build brand appreciation from the customer side.

There are many benefits to sending a birthday email to the customer and the business. There's a large variety of reasons why a birthday email can make a difference in both party's favor, such as:

Staying at the Forefront of your customer's mind
Showing loyalty to customers that have been existing and or loyal subscribers
Having an increase in sales
Having an increase in retention
Improving customer and brand engagement
Creating a community in which the customer feels comfortable

How to Create Birthday campaigns that lead to conversion

The most crucial part of this campaign, which should come without reference, is to collect the customer's birthday date upon signing up. Often companies don't send out birthday meals at all because they need to gather that type of data when asking for the information to join as a member or subscriber. Therefore, determining when to ask about the date of one's Birthday is the first and most crucial part of this message.

Collecting Customer Birthdays

This stuff is, as I mentioned, straightforward, but there are a couple of ways to go about in which you collect the data of the subscriber or the customer's Birthday.

The first option would be to have them fill out an email subscription form when they first sign up. This is a great way to incentivize people to sign up and organically collect the subscribers' birthdays.
The second option would be to have account registration forms. This is a great way to select a birthday because most individuals are accustomed to including their Birthday on almost every form they fill out in the first place. Asking for the day of birth will not interfere with the customer's experience upon registration. Often the conversation about your Birthday is so regular in the introduction process now that they probably will only remember you asking.
The third option is to offer an email service provider preference Center. Often this is the individual's profile, and they go into their settings to critique the information. If they look at their data and notice a birthday slot open, more often than not, they will optionally go ahead and fill that out.

Use Discounts and Offers

This is the most popular type of birthday option. It's the customer's Birthday, so we could give them something to celebrate. Having a discount code or a special offer specifically for them because it is their Birthday is a great way to deliver on a promise they might not have ever expected.

Create a discount code for this individual on their Birthday that is specific to them and is a code that can only be used one time. We want the code to be private and for multiple other people to be able to benefit from something due to it being a single person's Birthday. Even if you were to make the code easy to guess, that is not harmful as the code can only be used for a single usage.
There are two large numbers that you can use when offering a discount. Those would be percentages or dollars off; Both have great flexibility and what conversion it brings. If you are to provide a more significant number, it will bring you a considerable conversion rate. This means that before sending out a birthday email, the calculations need to be done on the maximum discount you can extend without having it hurt you on the backside. For example, 10% off will be a better discount than $5. But if you give $10 off, it will perform better than 5% out, even if that 5% comes out to more than $10. The big hint is that more significant numbers seem like a bigger discount.
Another excellent option for a birthday gift is free shipping. It works pretty well depending upon the person; due to only being a birthday email, there's no way in which you can increase the individual's purchase frequency. A great way to alter this is to increase the value of the birthday cell to boost your Revenue from these birthday email campaigns. Free shipping is a great way to entice them, specifically if you provide something like "FREE shipping on all orders over $75". Often the best combination is to offer a discount code and free shipping on top of the discount code, but if that's not practical and not in the cards for your company, then go ahead and choose one or the other.

Personalize the Subject Line

Personalization is a common practice within the email marketing world. So it should stay the same when the topic of the email changes, which means that due to it being somebody's Birthday, the personalization in the birthday email should be more specific. Using the customer's name in the subject line to precisely identify and then have a discount code featured in the subject line to catch their attention are entertaining and creative ideas. When Choosing the direction you want to go with your subject line, it's good to keep a few things in mind. The first would be what the Email is about; if it is about the discount or free shipping, keep this in mind. Make sure it is catchy and intriguing To catch their attention truly. And finally, ensure you include the expiration date so they don't miss out that it increases the urgency to make a purchase. Finally, please make sure that the subject line is mobile device friendly. If you need clarification, a subject line displayed on a mobile device can hold approximately 41 characters.

Here are some examples:

It's your Birthday! (here is a little gift from us)
Make a wish
Happy Birthday [ Customer Name ], enjoy dinner with us!
Another year around the sun; Happy Birthday

Automate the Birthday Email

As mentioned before, birthday emails are the easiest thing to automate. They only come once a year and are on the same day every year. Automating this birthday email campaign within any email marketing platform is simple.

Send a Birthday Sequence

A birthday email, in some circumstances, needs to be a sequence of two or three emails. Often people will only use their discount on the day of their Birthday. Therefore, it's your job to remind them so they don't forget about their birthday gift.

The first step would be to send the birthday email on their actual Birthday. This is the apparent reason for sending a birthday email, and this is the Email that contains the discount, even if you'd given them a glimpse in a pre-birthday email. Be sure to remind the customer when the birthday discount expires, it will create a sense of urgency, and hopefully, you will speed up the process in which they go shopping on your site.
The second step is a post-birth email, which grabs customers' attention when they have either forgotten about it or got too busy. Austin time customers get distracted and forget to spend their birthday discount, but the post-birthday Email can significantly increase conversions. Ideally, the post-birthday Email should arrive approximately two to three days after the customer's Birthday. If you are looking at the hours, that would be between 24 to 48 hours before the discount code expires. This will give the customer plenty of time to redeem their discount code, close enough to the discount code deadline, to create a sense of urgency.

Make sure to cancel any follow-up emails sent to a participant who has already spent their birthday discount.

Sample Template

There are a few templates that you can follow to get the creative idea behind what birthday campaign you would like to send. For example, check out this one below:

Subject Line: Happy Birthday, [Customer Name]

Happy Birthday to you! We'd love to treat you for your special day. Celebrate with a [ ___% off] the next time you order.*

*Offer expires on [Expiration Date].

Ways in Which to Send a Birthday Email

Formatting can help because it gives a more creative way to send a message. Birthday eCards are very popular as most people now receive them with a gift card. If you think about birthday cards, often they are quick, comical, and easy to read. This is precisely how you want your birthday email to feel and be similar to. The best approach is to use large text and highly contrasting colors with a concise message. Let's check out a couple of ways to send a birthday email.

Send a wish: This is a very simplistic method; there is no call to action button. It is not about the sales. It is simply a brand or a company wishing the individual a happy Birthday in such a simplistic form.
Offering a discount: offering a special sale specifically for their Birthday makes the recipient feel valued and appreciated.
Give a present: who doesn't love cats? This approach works by offering something free of charge from your products or Services depending upon what your business can afford.
Give a coupon and free shipping: I know we mentioned this above, but a coupon is a great way to entice the recipient to spend money, and offering free shipping could be enticing.
Include GIFs: This may seem cheesy, but it is a great way to diversify your Email, as it may be seen as a powerful tool for storytelling and grabbing the recipient's attention. A fun automated GIF can automatically brighten someone's mood and contribute to the rest of their day.

Happy Birthday to you!

Now it is no understatement that many components go into sending a happy birthday email. The attention to detail and the timeline in which the emails must be shipped are very time specific. That said, once again, birthday emails are the easiest to automate as they are recurring every year and do not change dates. There are a lot of tips and tricks mentioned above that you can incorporate into your birthday email campaigns if you wish to do so, and they will lead you to success as they have been proven to work. This being said, if you're looking for a platform where you can incorporate your personal touch and send an email by automation, Mailsoftly is a place for you.