Do you ever do anything to show your customers how much you appreciate them? Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, so it can be worthwhile, every now and again, to do something that shows them just how important they are to you.In order to show their appreciation to their customers, many companies send emails wishing them a happy birthday.
There’s a reason why this is such a commonly used tactic. According to Experian, birthday emails have 481% higher transaction rates, 342% higher revenue per email, and 179% higher unique click rates than promotional emails. So, not only do your customers feel valued and appreciated, you could also get a significant sales boost.
If you don’t already send birthday emails to your customers, what are you waiting for? Here are some of the things that other companies have done that you can use to inspire your own birthday emails:
Offer a Gift
There are no hard and fast rules that state what a birthday email should contain. You could just send your customers a message simply saying ‘Happy Birthday’ on their special day. However, this is not likely to be very effective. In order to get that elusive click through, most companies choose to send their customers a small gift on their birthday. This could be a free product, a percentage discount or extra reward points.
Barburrito offer their customers a free dish in their restaurants on their birthday:
Make It Personal
Such an email is, in itself, personal: you are sending it on your customer’s actual date of birth. However, personalisation of birthday emails can go much further than that. One of the simplest things you can do is include you customer’s name within the email. That way, the customer will know that the email is meant for them, and be more likely to click through.
Kipling included my name in both the subject line and body of their birthday email, along with a 15% discount as a gift:
Ikea went one step further when it came to personalising their birthday email. Along with my name, they also included the year I was born, and an image of an Ikea catalogue from that year. They also included a birthday gift of a £5 discount:
This made their effort a little more interesting than the average email; something which their customers are much more likely to take notice of.
Celebrate Your Birthday
Birthday emails don’t have to be limited to your customer’s special day. Why not send an email celebrating your company’s birthday? When combined with a uniquediscount or special offer, emails like this are highly likely to make your customers take notice.
In order to celebrate their 7th anniversary, Oxygen Boutique offered all their customers a 30% discount:
To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Gourmet Burger Kitchen had a special menu, and gave away free cheeseburgers in their restaurants. They used a marketing email to let their customers know everything that was going on:
Birthday emails are simple to set up and put together, yet they can yield considerable results. Implementing an email strategy within your business will give you the chance to connect with your customers on a more personal level, along with the generation of considerable revenue for your company.