{"id":3592,"date":"2019-07-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/emails-litmus-loves-birthday-emails-worth-celebrating\/"},"modified":"2023-12-08T19:40:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T00:40:11","slug":"emails-litmus-loves-birthday-emails-worth-celebrating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/emails-litmus-loves-birthday-emails-worth-celebrating","title":{"rendered":"Emails Litmus Loves: Birthday Emails Worth Celebrating"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSurprise and delight your subscribers!\u201d It\u2019s a phrase email marketers read and hear often. A popular option for brands to do just that is a birthday email\u2014an automated email sent on the subscribers\u2019 birthday. But what makes an effective birthday email?<\/span><\/p>\n

I celebrated my birthday this month\u2014and my inbox was chock-full of emails from brands helping me celebrate. But there were a few that stood out. Here are the five birthday emails<\/a> I loved the most and what tactics you can steal from them to really surprise and delight your subscribers on their birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Experiment with the right timing<\/span><\/h2>\n

Most brands send their birthday wishes on the subscriber\u2019s actual birthday. Make your campaign stand out by sending them a coupon or offer <\/span>before<\/span><\/em> the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pizza Express sent me this email 17 days before my birthday:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With such an early lead time you\u2019re guaranteed to actually surprise your subscriber! However, sending too early may alienate or confuse them\u2014which makes this the perfect opportunity to run an experiment, collect some data, and learn what the best time would be to send an early birthday message to your subscribers. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. Give Something Away for Free<\/span><\/h2>\n

Who doesn\u2019t like getting something for free on their birthday? Alamo Drafthouse offers a free movie ticket to their subscribers the day before their birthday:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it\u2019s valid for 30 days, giving subscribers plenty of time to redeem the offer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Create a Series<\/span><\/h2>\n

Email marketers are probably more familiar with onboarding emails as a series, but how about creating a series of birthday emails? That\u2019s exactly what Lumberjaxes did. Their birthday email series consists of three emails sent one month before, the day before, and the day after the birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 month before:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One day before:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The day after my birthday:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I loved this approach because if I wanted to go axe throwing on my birthday, I\u2019d need plenty of advanced notice for myself and anyone who I\u2019d be inviting. The additional emails in the series are a type of reminder email\u2014however, positioned around my birthday they felt less like they were bugging me to take action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Celebrate the Subscriber (not your brand)<\/span><\/h2>\n

Chubbies\u2019 birthday email can only be described as 100% on-brand using incredibly fun animated GIFs and copy that is designed to make you smile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chubbies also include a coupon for $5 off your next purchase. But what made this an effective birthday email is that the email <\/span>felt<\/span><\/em> more like a celebration of the birthday rather than the brand trying to get you to spend money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Southwest brings a friendly face to their birthday emails to wish you a happy birthday:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The email feels warm and genuine, and sometimes that\u2019s all you need on your birthday. Be careful about trying to tie-in a message like this with a call-to-action that asks the customer to make a purchase\u2014this may cheapen your genuine well wishes. Make the email about them, not your brand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t know when your subscriber\u2019s birthday is? Ask them<\/span><\/h2>\n

Of course, the first step in successfully delighting your subscribers on their birthday is knowing when your subscribers\u2019 birthday is. But how can you convince subscribers to give you that information?<\/span><\/p>\n

Rewarding or incentivizing subscribers to share their birthday with your brand is one tactic.<\/span><\/p>\n

BuddyBrew hints at a special offer for the subscriber if they submit their birthday information:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Colgate uses the same tactic, too:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
See the code and how it renders across clients in Litmus Builder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These emails could easily sit within an existing customer onboarding or nurture flow to ensure you get the subscriber\u2019s information as early as possible their lifecycle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternatively, asking for this information could be something you embed in your email\u2019s footer like Chubbies do:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Including this message consistently across all your emails can ensure your subscribers will see it at <\/span>some<\/span><\/em> point. What makes this messaging effective, even if it is a little hidden in the footer, is the language they\u2019re using\u2014it\u2019s on-brand, eye-catching, and funny.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, great birthday emails:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Have a goal and the content supports the goal<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Considers the goal when it comes to timing the send<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Surprise and delight subscribers with a valuable and genuine offer<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Are the perfect excuse to remind your subscribers of your brand<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Received a great birthday email? Share it in the comments below and tell us why you like it\u2014we\u2019d love to see it!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cSurprise and delight your subscribers!\u201d It\u2019s a phrase email marketers read and hear often. A popular option for brands to do just that is a birthday email\u2014an automated email sent on the subscribers\u2019 birthday. But what makes an effective birthday email?<\/p>\n

    I celebrated my birthday this month\u2014and my inbox was chock-full of emails from brands helping me celebrate. But there were a few that stood out. Here are the five birthday emails I loved the most and what tactics you can steal from them to really surprise and delight your subscribers on their birthday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"blog_category":[78],"class_list":["post-3592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nEmails Litmus Loves: Birthday Emails Worth Celebrating - Litmus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cSurprise and delight your subscribers!\u201d It\u2019s a phrase email marketers read and hear often. A popular option for brands to do just that is a birthday email\u2014an automated email sent on the subscribers\u2019 birthday. But what makes an effective birthday email? I celebrated my birthday this month\u2014and my inbox was chock-full of emails from brands helping me celebrate. But there were a few that stood out. Here are the five birthday emails I loved the most and what tactics you can steal from them to really surprise and delight your subscribers on their birthday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/emails-litmus-loves-birthday-emails-worth-celebrating\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emails Litmus Loves: Birthday Emails Worth Celebrating\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cSurprise and delight your subscribers!\u201d It\u2019s a phrase email marketers read and hear often. A popular option for brands to do just that is a birthday email\u2014an automated email sent on the subscribers\u2019 birthday. But what makes an effective birthday email? I celebrated my birthday this month\u2014and my inbox was chock-full of emails from brands helping me celebrate. But there were a few that stood out. 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