Every occasion is a chance to remind customers that your brand exists, and a birthday is about the best one there is. Acknowledge somebody’s birthday and you stop being just another company they deal with. You get closer to being a thoughtful friend who never forgets. Here are a few tips for making birthday emails work:
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Offer a small gift. Birthdays are about giving, so don’t send wishes on their own, since those tend to get lost among all the other ones. Surprise the customer with something that’s specific to your company. They’ll appreciate it, and it can move sales too.
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Choose the right gift. Gifts come in a lot of forms: coupons, discounts, free shipping. Test a few options and see which ones land best with your customers and your brand. You don’t have to settle on one format either. You can send a different gift on other occasions, like the anniversary of somebody becoming your customer.
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Keep it brief. Long emails often go unread. Be concise, pass on your wishes, thank them for choosing your brand, and point them at the gift.
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Personalize it. This one may seem obvious, but personalization matters a lot in a birthday email. It’s a special day for your customer and the email should feel like it. Take it further than the subject line, into the preheader, the body and even the CTA button.
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Design matters. Design always matters, but a birthday email should feel festive. Make it colorful, with confetti, balloons or cake. Aim for something that reads like a virtual birthday card.
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Include a clear call to action. Even with a gift on the table, customers often need a nudge to use it. Mentioning the gift isn’t quite enough on its own, so use a button that stands out, with something like “Claim your coupon now”, “Shop with your discount” or “Redeem your birthday gift”.
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Send a reminder. Birthdays get busy and your gift can slip somebody’s mind. If they haven’t used it, a reminder with a time limit on it is a gentle way to prompt a purchase.
Follow these and you’ll improve customer satisfaction, and probably your sales and your reputation along with it. Birthday emails are a good way to stay in touch with customers without sounding promotional. They show that you care, and done well they can make a real difference.
If you like the idea of birthday emails but don’t know where to start, Tabler Emails has a range of templates that are easy to customize. Take a look at our responsive HTML emails.
