Workflow Trigger - Birthday Reminder

What is the Birthday Reminder Workflow trigger?

Please Note:

The default Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger activates at 8AM based on your account's time zone. It searches all your contacts for their dates of birth and fires off for those whose birthday is on that date at 8AM. You do not need to add people to this workflow manually. To customize the timing of your birthday messages, utilize Time Delay Wait Steps within the workflow, allowing you to send communications at the desired hour.

The Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger is an essential tool to improve customer engagement by automating and personalizing birthday-related communications. By initiating a workflow when a contact's birthday is approaching or takes place, you can deliver personalized birthday wishes, promotional offers, or special discounts to your contacts, resulting in strengthened relationships and increased brand loyalty.

To fully leverage the Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger, you can combine it with other workflow components, such as filters, actions, and Time Delay Wait Steps. This allows you to create highly customized birthday reminder campaigns that cater to specific audience segments and are tailored to your marketing strategy.

For instance, you can set up filters to trigger the workflow a certain number of days before or after the contact's birthday or restrict the trigger to specific months or days. Furthermore, you can incorporate various actions, such as email or SMS, to deliver your personalized birthday message or offer. The Time Delay Wait Steps enable you to control the timing of any follow-up messages or actions effectively.

What are some excellent usage cases for this?

• Birthday Discount Offer: Send an email offering a 20% discount on the contact's next purchase, valid for their birthday week, to encourage them to treat themselves and boost sales.
• Free Birthday Dessert: If you run a restaurant, send an email or SMS offering a complimentary dessert to customers celebrating their birthday, encouraging them to dine at your establishment on their special day.
• Personalized Birthday Wishes: Send a personalized email or SMS message with a heartfelt birthday wish from your brand, fostering a positive brand image and strengthening the relationship with your customers.
• Birthday Loyalty Points: Reward your loyal customers with bonus loyalty points on their birthday, incentivizing them to continue shopping with your brand throughout the year.
• Exclusive Birthday Event: Invite customers with birthdays in a specific month to an exclusive in-store or online event featuring special promotions, giveaways, or entertainment.
• Birthday Gift Recommendation: Send a tailored email showcasing a curated selection of products or services that would make perfect birthday gifts for the contact or their loved ones based on their previous browsing or purchase history.
• Birthday Month Raffle: Enter all customers with birthdays in a specific month into a raffle to win a valuable prize or gift card, driving excitement and engagement with your brand.
• Birthday Upgrade: Offer a free upgrade (e.g., a larger hotel room, a premium subscription plan, or an extra service) to customers who make a purchase or booking during their birthday month.
• Birthday Reminder for Friends and Family: Send an email to customers reminding them of their friends or family members' upcoming birthdays (based on the information they provided), along with gift suggestions or special offers, encouraging them to shop with your brand for their loved ones' birthdays.
• Age-Based Birthday Campaigns: Segment your audience by age and send tailored birthday messages, promotions, or experiences targeting specific age groups (e.g., a free drink for customers turning 21 or a special discount for seniors celebrating their 65th birthday).

Benefits of this workflow trigger:

The Birthday Reminder Workflow offers numerous benefits, including:

• Personalization: By sending tailored birthday messages, promotions, or offers, you create a more personalized customer experience, fostering stronger relationships and brand loyalty.
• Increased customer engagement: Automating birthday communications keeps your brand top-of-mind, encouraging customers to interact with your business on their special day or throughout their birthday month.
• Boosted sales and revenue: Special birthday offers or discounts can incentivize customers to purchase or visit your establishment, driving sales and revenue growth.
• Enhanced brand image: Demonstrating that your brand cares about customers' special occasions can improve your brand's reputation and create positive associations in customers' minds.
• Better audience segmentation: By capturing birthday information and segmenting your audience based on age or birth month, you can create more targeted marketing campaigns and improve the overall effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
• Customizable timing: Using Time Delay Wait Steps within the workflow allows you to control the timing of your birthday messages, ensuring they're sent at the most appropriate and effective hour.
• Scalability: Automating birthday communications through this workflow enables you to reach more customers without additional manual effort, making it easier to scale your marketing efforts.
• Improved customer retention: Acknowledging customers' birthdays and offering exclusive incentives can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, resulting in higher retention rates.
• Unique selling proposition: Offering special birthday promotions or experiences can differentiate your brand from competitors and attract customers seeking unique, personalized experiences.
• Data-driven insights: Tracking the performance of your Birthday Reminder Workflow can provide valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and responsiveness to specific offers, helping you optimize future marketing campaigns.

How to set up the Birthday Reminder Workflow?

Setting up a Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger involves the following steps:

Step 1: Create a new workflow or edit an existing one

In your account, either start a new workflow or select an existing one to edit.

Step 2: Add the Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger

Click "Add new Workflow Trigger." 

From the list of available triggers, select "Birthday Reminder."

Step 3: Customize the trigger

Adjust the default settings according to your preferences. For example, you can change the number of days before or after the contact's birthday to activate the trigger. Add filters targeting specific months, days, or custom fields.

Step 4: Save the trigger

Click "Save" to save the changes to the trigger.

Step 5: Add actions to the workflow

Now that the Workflow trigger is set, add actions to the workflow that will be executed when the trigger activates. Everyday actions include sending an email or SMS message. Add a Time Delay Wait Step before the action to send a message at a specific time. This allows you to control when the message is sent after the Workflow trigger is activated.

Step 6: Customize the actions

Edit the content and design of your email or SMS messages to include personalized birthday wishes or offers.

Step 7: Test the workflow

Set a contact's birthdate to the next day or set it to any date and use a days-before filter to make the workflow fire off the next day. It automatically gets fired off by searching your contacts list for birthdates on that date at 8 AM every day. You do not need to add contacts to this workflow yourself.

Step 8: Save and publish the workflow

Once you're satisfied with the setup, save the workflow and toggle the switch to "Publish" to enable the workflow.

Step 9: Monitor and optimize

Track the performance of your Birthday Reminder Workflow over time to gather insights and make any necessary adjustments to improve its effectiveness.

Following these steps, you can set up a Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger and create personalized birthday campaigns for your customers.

FAQs

How often should I send a birthday email to my customers?

Answer: The frequency of birthday emails can vary depending on your industry and customer preferences. However, sending a single email or SMS message on the customer's actual birthday or a few days before is generally recommended, rather than bombarding them with multiple messages throughout the month.

Can I use the Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger for non-birthday events like anniversaries or milestones?

Answer: The Birthday Reminder Workflow Trigger is specifically designed for birthdays, but you can use similar triggers or filters to create workflows for other events like anniversaries or milestones. For example, you can use the Custom Date Reminder for a customer's signup date or first purchase to trigger a workflow that sends a special offer or message.

What are some best practices for creating a successful birthday campaign?

Answer: Some best practices for creating a successful birthday campaign include personalizing your message, offering a valuable incentive, keeping the design simple and engaging, and making it easy for customers to redeem the offer.

How do I know if my birthday campaign is effective?

Answer: To measure the effectiveness of your birthday campaign, you can track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and redemption rates. You can also gather customer feedback through surveys or social media to see how they respond to your messages.

How can I ensure that my birthday messages are GDPR-compliant?

Answer: To ensure that your birthday messages are GDPR-compliant, you should obtain explicit consent from your customers to collect and use their data, including their birthdates. You should also give customers the option to unsubscribe from your messages anytime.