How To Send Birthday Emails That Actually Make Customers Happy

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Updated: October 8th, 2022

What Is A Happy Birthday Email?

A Happy Birthday email is an automated message sent to customers or subscribers on the date mentioned as their birthday. The email messages are triggered to the subscribers or customers on their birthday or before the event.

Sending a happy birthday email to your customers is a great way to let them know you care and can encourage them to remain loyal to your brand.

Typically, birthday emails include a special deal, offer, or a free gift. Often, happy birthday deals can be redeemed online or in-store, and validity is extended to few days after the celebration date.

Happy Birthday Email Key Takeaways

Sending personalized happy birthday emails provide an excellent customer experience.
Happy birthday emails offer a chance to reconnect with inactive subscribers who will feel special that you remembered them.
Including a clear call to action to your happy birthday emails could generate serious click-through rates and conversions.
To generate conversions, consider including a special discount code. -Including a mystery birthday offer, can increase the email open rate and encourage the customer to transact.

Understanding How Birthday Emails Work

According to Experian, birthday emails can result in a 481% higher transaction rate and have up to 179% higher unique click rate compared to regular promotional campaigns.

Sending a happy birthday email is one of the most personalized campaigns. For this automated campaign to work, you will need to know the birth dates of your email subscribers.

You can add the birthdates manually, or sync the dates from your customer registration form. Alternatively, you may request your customers/subscribers to add the birthdates when updating their user information or registering for the first time.

When the birthday automation is set up, the emailing tool automatically checks daily whether a recipient birth date matches that exact day and month. If there is a match, the birthday email is sent to the recipient. Ideally, the date trigger occurs annually.

Reasons to send happy birthday emails include:

They perform better than other promotional email types
Strengthen your relationship with the recipient
Are a highly relevant and personalized campaign
Apply to all customers, not just a specific customer segment
Have a greater potential to result in conversions compared to other forms of automated emails

Real-World Examples Of Businesses Sending Happy Birthday Emails

1. Wine.com

Wine.com understands the importance of sending happy birthday emails to their customers. Wine.com adds personalization by mentioning the customer’s name and including the name as a header. To encourage conversions, they include a happy birthday surprise in the form of a shopping code. Besides, the email is simple, short, and to the point.

Sending such emails makes the customers feel special and encourages customer's loyalty.

2. Omaha Steaks

Omaha Steaks Wanted to nurture brand loyalty among their customers, and a happy birthday email was a great approach for them. They collected customer birthdates and set up an automated happy birthday campaign. The marketing team ensured customized emails and included a clear call to action.

The happy birthday emails included the customer's name and a voucher specifically sent to the customers.

Getting Started

Collect customer birthdates through:
- Email subscribe forms
- On-site capture forms
- Account registration forms
Email service provider preference center
Birthday collection campaign
Use discounts and offers to encourage conversions and brand loyalty
Format your email like a birthday card or an e-card
Include a personalized subject line and email body
Send a birthday sequence
- Pre-birthday email
- Actual birthday email
- Post birthday email
Use the right email marketing software

Setting up happy birthday email campaigns is straightforward if you choose the right email marketing software.

Klaviyo

Klaviyo’s the ultimate ecommerce marketing platform trusted by 50,000+ brands, like Chubbies, Living Proof, and Hint. Deliver higher-value, personalized marketing experiences across email, mobile, and web.

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Up to 1,000 subscribers: $30 per month
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Up to 5,000 subscribers: $100 per month
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Up to 20,000 subscribers: $375 per month
Pricing: Freemium
Twitter: @klaviyo
Website: klaviyo.com

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Mailerlite

Affordable Email Marketing Software for Small Business.

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Twitter: @MailerLite
Website: https://www.mailerlite.com/

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MailChimp

A marketing automation platform and an email marketing service.

The free plan, up to 2000 subscribers - what you get

Send up to 12,000 emails per month
Up to 2,000 subscribers
Email support included for 30 days

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Up to 5,000 subscribers $50 per month
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meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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