The document provides a 7 step process for building a successful birthday email program. The steps are: 1) establish goals; 2) determine delivery schedule; 3) collect necessary data; 4) decide whether to offer incentives; 5) determine if single or multiple emails; 6) design effective subject lines and copy; 7) test and optimize elements. Additional tips include getting creative with types of birthdays and testing non-traditional birthday ideas. Proper testing and data collection are emphasized.

1. Saying Happy Birthday –
How to Build a Top Tier Birthday Email
Program that Delights and Drives Revenue

2. About the Speaker / Silverpop
• Loren McDonald
• VP, Industry Relations
• Twitter: @LorenMcDonald
• Google+: +LorenMcDonald

3. Why Birthday
Emails?
Agenda 7 Steps for
Q&A
Success
Additional
Ideas

4. Why Birthday Emails?

5. 1. Everyone has a birthday!

6. 2. They get results!

7. Birthday Campaign Indexed Results…

9. 3. They are a piece of cake!

10. So why are 7 of 10 marketers spectators?

11. 48%
“We don’t collect the data”

12. Are you missing the birthday party?

13. OK, let’s dive in…

14. Goals?
Testing / Delivery
Optimization Schedule?
7 Steps to
Birthday Email
Design Success Data
# of Emails? Incentives?

15. Step 1: Establish Your Birthday
Program Goal(s)

16. Goals
Branding and • Birthday wish
customer • Touch = incremental
engagement revenue
Driving online • Direct revenue benefit
or offline visits • Incentives – margin
and revenue impact

17. Other Considerations
Use of • Capturing age year
birthdate enables additional
data targeting
• Subscriber, or?
Who is the
• Spouse/partner,
target? child, pets, etc.

18. Step 2: Determine a Delivery
Schedule

19. Initial Birthday Email Delivery Options
On the birthday itself
In the birthday week
Within a few weeks of the birthday
At the start of the birthday month
Well in advance of birthday

20. Survey: 75% send on birthday or
up to a week before

21. Step 3: Collect the Data

22. Which Data to Collect?
Month
Month
Day
Month
Day
Year
Survey: 2/3 collect day/month/year

23. Birth Data: Required or Not?

24. Be Transparent

25. Social Login…
Can help capture birth date…

26. Social Profile Data by Network
Email       
Name          
Location       
Birth Date      
Gender    
Friends/Contacts       
Profile Photo       
Interests   
Source Janrain

27. Collect Birth Date Everywhere
Preference center
Welcome emails
Call center, in-store cards
Standalone emails / Surveys
Social media

28. Step 4: Offer: Greeting Only or
Incentive?

29. No
incentive
Navigation
A different
kind of
“touch”

30. No
incentive
OK, Let’s
have a
look…

32. Standard Retail Incentive

34. Results
• 52% Open Rate
• 13.8% CTR
• 10% higher
conversion rate than
their broadcast emails

35. Step 5: Single or Multiple Emails?

36. Survey: 77% send one email;
23% 2 or more

37. Birthday and Belated Birthday Email

38. Birthday Follow On Emails
Share
Convert
Request
Birthday Open/Click Incentive
No Action Reminder

39. Received March 1 for March 16 birthday

40. How about 2-3 more emails?
e.g., March 16, 30 & April 20
Received March 1 for March 16 birthday

41. Step 6: Design Your Email

42. Sample Subject Lines
• “Happy birthday!”  Be creative, but be clear
 Use humor as appropriate to
• “Happy Birthday (Subscriber Name)”
your brand
• “(Subscriber Name) Happy Birthday”  Make CTA/incentive key focus
 Get beyond “Happy Birthday”
• “Happy Birthday from (Name of Company)!”
• “A birthday wish from (Name of Company)”
• “Free (Product/Item) at (Name of Company) for Your Birthday!”
• “To mark your special day”
• “Happy Birthday! Enjoy 25 Free Reward Points!”
• “Birthday Gift from (Name of Company)”
• “Happy Birthday, (Name of Subscriber) – Take 15% Off”

43.  Unique copy for each month
 Famous birthdays
 35 days

44. Creative
Unique
Original
Fun

45.  Where do
your eyes
focus?
 Navigation?
 Links?
 CTA
button?

49. Think
context!

51. Step 7: Testing and Optimization

52. Things to Test
Forms: Required, Language, Location
Incentives
Subject Lines
Copy
Design / Imagery

53. Things to Optimize / Add
Forms
Design for mobile devises
Calls to Action
Multiple Emails
Measure Compare to Other Emails

54. Additional Thoughts / Ideas

55. Happy 1/2 Birthday First Name! We have a
SURPRISE just for you!

56. Birthday – Tell Your Friends…

57. Birthday – Tell Your Friends…

58. Get Creative
“Anniversaries”
Spouses
Children
Pets
Founders

59. B2B???
Birthday emails
aren’t limited to
B2C marketers

60. Selected Takeaways
Start collecting birth date
Consider an incentive / CTA
Use personality in copy
Use a series of emails
Think outside the birthday

61. Birthday Blueprint Whitepaper Available

62. Q & A / Contact
Loren McDonald
Twitter: @LorenMcDonald
lmcdonald@silverpop.com
Google+: Loren McDonald
Thank you!
On Twitter: @Silverpop
www.slideshare.net/silverpop
www.silverpop.com