Email Marketing

Birthday Email Marketing: How to Create an Effective Campaign

25 July, 2017 |

9/10 clients who are remembered on their birthdays are more loyal to the brand. Impressed? So let's get down to learning how to use this strategy correctly.

Some market research concludes that email marketing is more efficient than social media in attracting new clients. When it comes to create birthday email marketing campaigns the numbers are even higher: A 235% higher opening rate than regular promotional emails and 300% more clicks. After all, who doesn’t like being remembered on their birthday?

A study carried out by Fulcrum Research indicates that 9/10 clients who are remembered on their birthdays are more loyal to the brand. Impressed?  So let’s get down to learning how to use this strategy correctly.

Use email marketing to create affinity with people.

On special occasions, like birthdays, we secretly hope that those close to us will remember the day we were born, even though we don’t admit it. And isn’t it even better when we receive a greeting from somebody we didn’t expect? One simple modification of your website form could help you to surprise your clients. Include the date of birth field on your form to obtain this valuable information.

But offer something that is relevant to the client, something that represents true value to them. This will undoubtedly lead to some kind of reaction, perhaps their affinity, or an immediate conversation.

Birthday Email Marketing: What can you offer your client?

When planning your birthday email marketing campaign, first think about the client, about what they would like to receive, about what would be of interest to them.

Offering an exclusive discount voucher is a good idea, one that can be used for a limited time in your online or physical stores. This is a great differential, especially if it’s a generous discount. Use a countdown clock for the discount validity period, until the end of the client’s birthday to increase the chances of conversion even further.

Check this example:

Bithday Email Marketing

Remember to send a reminder when the discount validity period is about to end. This can be easily done with marketing automation.

You could also offer free shipping. The cost of shipping can, for many people, make the purchase unviable, and this exemption could mean that the client can make the most of it and buy whatever they want in one go, triggering a big sale.

If your product is digital, offering a free trial period is a good tactic, or even a temporary subscription upgrade. Your client can then experience some of the other benefits of your service.

You can go even further, be creative. Why not send a gift or voucher? This kind of action is very likely to win over the client, go viral on social media and increase your sales.

More tips:

  • Establish the mailing dates. Some companies send birthday emails days before, which then get lost amongst the others on the birthday itself
  • Personalise the email marketing subject line with the client’s name
  • Even though it seems obvious, it’s worth reminding them: use the words “congratulations” or “birthday” in the email subject line, attract the client’s attention and increase your opening rate
  • Most birthday emails are short and objective. Focus on more emotional content, with a festive and celebratory appeal
  • Adopt a more informal style, as it brings a closer proximity and shows that you care about your client

How to Create a Birthday Email Marketing Campaign


Before you start it’s important to mention that if you need to communicate on a certain date beyond bithdays, for example: events, meeting appointments, etc., then keep reading because this method can also be replicated on these kinds of dates.

So, to implement just follow this step by step guide.

There are a range of birthday email possibilities and you should find the one that is the most appropriate for your business. Find out what clients look for on your website and why purchases may not be finalised. This could be a good place to start in deciding which benefit to offer.

Have you already sent birthday email marketing campaigns? Have you got an example? Share it with us in the comments below!

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