The document provides a 7 step process for building a successful birthday email program. The steps are: 1) establish goals; 2) determine delivery schedule; 3) collect necessary data; 4) decide whether to offer incentives; 5) determine if single or multiple emails; 6) design effective subject lines and copy; 7) test and optimize elements. Additional tips include getting creative with types of birthdays and testing non-traditional birthday ideas. Proper testing and data collection are emphasized.
16. Goals
Branding and • Birthday wish
customer • Touch = incremental
engagement revenue
Driving online • Direct revenue benefit
or offline visits • Incentives – margin
and revenue impact
17. Other Considerations
Use of • Capturing age year
birthdate enables additional
data targeting
• Subscriber, or?
Who is the
• Spouse/partner,
target? child, pets, etc.
19. Initial Birthday Email Delivery Options
On the birthday itself
In the birthday week
Within a few weeks of the birthday
At the start of the birthday month
Well in advance of birthday
42. Sample Subject Lines
• “Happy birthday!” Be creative, but be clear
Use humor as appropriate to
• “Happy Birthday (Subscriber Name)”
your brand
• “(Subscriber Name) Happy Birthday” Make CTA/incentive key focus
Get beyond “Happy Birthday”
• “Happy Birthday from (Name of Company)!”
• “A birthday wish from (Name of Company)”
• “Free (Product/Item) at (Name of Company) for Your Birthday!”
• “To mark your special day”
• “Happy Birthday! Enjoy 25 Free Reward Points!”
• “Birthday Gift from (Name of Company)”
• “Happy Birthday, (Name of Subscriber) – Take 15% Off”
43. Unique copy for each month
Famous birthdays
35 days
60. Selected Takeaways
Start collecting birth date
Consider an incentive / CTA
Use personality in copy
Use a series of emails
Think outside the birthday
The No. 1 reason marketers don’t offerbirthday email programs: They don’t collectbirth date information (48 percent).
Get data from their social profile and use progressive forms to get the rest over time.
Frankie, Johnny & Luigi – Fishbowl client
52% Open Rate (Nearly 150% higher than broadcast average) 13.8% Click through rate (125% higher than broadcast average) 10% higher conversion rate and slightly higher average order value.