Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How One Brand Uses Birthday Emails to Boost Repeat Purchases
Transcript
- Lucas: So we get a lot of questions from listeners about whether birthday emails actually move the needle. And the short answer is yes — but only if you do them right. Luna: Yeah, I think everyone's gotten that lazy 'Happy Birthday, here's 10 percent off' email that just feels like spam. But some brands are making it work really well. Lucas: Exactly. And I want to talk about one specific brand today — a mid-size beauty company called Glow & Co. They revamped their birthday email program earlier this year and saw their repeat purchase rate jump by 22 percent. Their average order value on those emails went up 18 percent. Luna: Twenty-two percent? That's huge for just one email. What did they change? Lucas: So the old version was basically what you described — a generic 'Happy Birthday, here's 10 percent off' sent on the day. It had a 20 percent open rate and a 3 percent click-through rate, which is pretty average for promotional email. The new version — they called it 'Your Birthday Glow-Up' — was completely personalized. Luna: How did they personalize it? I mean, they don't know your skin type from just a birth date, right? Lucas: Right, they layered in purchase history. So if you'd bought a lot of moisturizers, the email recommended a new moisturizer. If you were a lipstick person, they showed you a curated lip set. They also used a tiered reward system based on customer lifetime value. Luna: Tiered — meaning different offers for different segments? Lucas: Yes. Customers who had spent over $200 in the past year got a free full-size product. Customers who'd spent between $50 and $200 got 20 percent off. And customers under $50 got 15 percent off plus free shipping. The idea is to make your best customers feel special, not just give everyone the same discount. Luna: That makes sense. And the numbers you mentioned — 45 percent open rate, 12 percent click-through — those are way above industry averages. Lucas: Right. And the average order value on those birthday emails was $54, compared to their typical email AOV of $38. So it's not just more people clicking — they're spending more when they do. Luna: What about the timing? Did they just send it on the birthday itself? Lucas: They actually sent it five days before the birthday, with a countdown timer that said 'Your birthday glow-up expires in 5 days.' The psychology there is that people feel a sense of urgency, plus they get the reward before their actual birthday, so they can use the product on the day. That small change — from 'on the day' to 'before the day' — lifted conversion by about 8 percent. Luna: Interesting. And I imagine data hygiene was a big part of this. If you don't have accurate birth dates, you're either sending to the wrong people or missing people entirely. Lucas: That's the part most brands overlook. Glow & Co. had birth dates for only about 30 percent of their email list. So they launched an SMS campaign that said something like 'We want to send you a birthday surprise — reply with your birth month and day.' They got a 15 percent response rate and added birth dates for another 20,000 customers. Luna: That's smart. Because then those customers are opted in for a future email that's actually relevant, not just a random blast. Lucas: Exactly. And the SMS campaign itself served as a warm-up. When those customers later got the birthday email, they were more likely to open it because they'd already engaged with the brand about their birthday. Luna: So the whole thing — SMS capture, personalized email, tiered reward, early send with countdown — it's really a coordinated system, not just a single email. Lucas: Right. And the cost is minimal. Most email platforms can handle personalization and countdown timers. The SMS capture might cost a few hundred dollars. For a 22 percent lift in repeat purchases? That's an incredible return. Luna: It really makes you wonder why more brands don't do this. I mean, I still get birthday emails that just say 'Happy Birthday' with no personalization. Lucas: I think a lot of brands set it up once and forget it. They don't test, they don't iterate. Glow & Co. actually A/B tested their old version against the new version for a month before rolling it out. They ran the test with a 10 percent sample of their list. Luna: So the 22 percent lift is based on the test, not just a guess. Lucas: Correct. And the test also showed that the tiered reward outperformed a flat 15 percent off by about 7 percent in terms of repeat purchase rate. So the segmentation actually matters. Luna: That's the kind of detail that makes a difference. I think a lot of listeners could implement something like this pretty easily, especially if they already have purchase history data. Lucas: Absolutely. And speaking of things that are useful — if today's episode sparked an idea you might actually use, that's exactly why we do this. The show stays ad-free because of listener support. So if you found value in this, you can throw a few dollars toward the coffee fund at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep going without any sponsor interruptions. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to say 'this was worth my time.' And we really appreciate it. Lucas: Alright, back to birthday emails. One thing I wanted to mention — the subject line. Glow & Co. tested three subject lines: 'Happy Birthday from Glow & Co.' which was the control, 'Your Birthday Glow-Up is Here' and 'We Saved You a Birthday Surprise.' The winner, by a 10 percent higher open rate, was the second one — 'Your Birthday Glow-Up is Here.' Luna: So the word 'glow-up' resonated. It's playful, it's current, and it implies transformation. Lucas: Exactly. And they used emojis in the preview text — a gift box emoji and a party popper. That might sound small, but it boosted open rates another 3 percent. Luna: I think for smaller brands, this is the kind of low-hanging fruit that can really move the needle without a huge budget. Lucas: Right. You don't need a fancy loyalty platform. You need a decent email tool, a clean list, and a willingness to test. Glow & Co. used Klaviyo, but you could do this in Mailchimp or even a more basic tool with segmentation. Luna: And I love that they didn't just send it and forget it. They tracked repeat purchases within 90 days of the email, not just immediate conversions. Lucas: Yes, that's key. The birthday email didn't just drive a one-time sale. It brought people back into the brand ecosystem. Customers who received the new birthday email had a 15 percent higher 90-day retention rate than those who got the old one. Luna: So it's really a retention play disguised as a birthday wish. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the smartest way to think about it. You're not just giving a discount — you're strengthening the relationship. The birthday is a natural touchpoint that feels personal, not commercial. Luna: Alright, so if someone wants to try this, what's the first step? Lucas: First step: audit your data. Find out what percentage of your list has a birth date. If it's low, run an SMS or email campaign to collect it. Offer a small incentive if you need to — like 'Get a birthday surprise when you share your birth month.' Luna: Then segment by customer lifetime value and create at least two tiers of offers. Lucas: Right. And use a countdown timer. Even if it's a simple 'This offer expires in 72 hours.' That urgency works. Then test your subject line and send timing. Glow & Co. found that sending five days before the birthday outperformed sending on the day itself. Luna: And don't forget to track repeat purchases within 90 days, not just the initial conversion. Lucas: Exactly. That's the real metric that tells you if the email actually improved retention. The whole point is to turn that one-time birthday interaction into a recurring relationship. Luna: I think this is one of those episodes where I'm going to go back and tweak my own birthday email flows after this conversation. Lucas: That's the best compliment we can get. And if you do — let us know. We'd love to hear what worked.