Birthday greeting in an email newsletter
To congratulate subscribers on their birthday, the marketer has to compose the greeting, design the template, and send the email to the customer. And there are more customers than there are days in a year, and most likely every day is someone's birthday. Does this mean that all these actions have to be done every day?
Of course not. We're all about marketing automation here. The plan is as follows:
Choose customers who are celebrating their birthdays using a dynamic segment;
Create an email template with variables;
Set up and launch a regular newsletter.
Do all of this once and forget about it, at least until you decide to update the text or design of the birthday email. So let's get started.
Step 1. Build a dynamic segment
Go to the “Segments” section. Create a new dynamic segment.
A dynamic segment selects profiles that meet certain conditions. Profiles are checked for compliance with the conditions at the moment the campaign is launched.
Fill in the general settings:
Click on "Add database". Choose a database. You can segment the audience by adding several databases and specifying selection criteria for each of them.
Set selection by the date of birth. The selection condition is the day and month are the same as current. Thus, each time the newsletter is sent out, the segment will include profiles whose date of birth coincides with the current day and month. Save the segment.
Step 2. Design the email template.
Open the “Templates” section and create a new template for the email channel.
Personalize the message by adding dynamic variables, for example, the subscriber's name. To do this, open the variables list (</>) and select From profile → First name. This variable will automatically change the name in the email depending on the recipient of the message.
To give a client a gift promo code, make sure you have already generated promo codes and then insert one of them into the email: Insert variable (</>) → Promo codes.
After you have designed the email, open the preview window and check that it is displayed correctly both in the desktop and mobile versions.
If everything is correct, save the email template.
Step 3. Set up a regular campaign.
Go to the "Campaigns" section and select "Regular". Create a new campaign, configure the main settings, and activate the campaign using the toggle switch in the upper right corner. Select the email channel.
Select the recipients of the email:
Select resource: messages will only be received by those who are subscribed to the specified resource.
Audience source: segment – Select segment: Birthday.
On the Templates tab, add the template that you have designed for this newsletter.
Next, set up the schedule. Birthday greetings to customers should be sent every day at a chosen moment. It can be any time, for example, 10:00.
As you may recall, the dynamic segment will automatically choose the audience at the time the campaign is launched. Since the campaign is launched every day, its recipients will only be subscribers whose birthday is this day.
Click "Finish". Double-check the email campaign settings. If everything is correct, save the campaign.
Don't forget to send test emails to yourself or your colleagues to make sure that the email looks the way it was intended.
Conclusion
It's always nice to receive birthday greetings on your special day. By sending out a birthday email campaign, you can increase customer loyalty. However, that's not the only benefit. With the right approach, a birthday email can also drive sales. Here are a few tips to make your campaign more effective:
Personalize it. We've already added variables for the first name and promo code in the email, but don't stop there. Break down the "Birthday" segment into sub-segments. For example, segment your audience based on fields and select a different design for each group. Another option is to segment by interests and send a selection of products. For example, if you know the customer's favorite literary genre, add a selection of books in that genre to the email.
Send a series of emails. One email can get lost among hundreds of birthday greetings. Remind the customer of the promo code the next day or later. You can set up an email automation scenario to do this.