Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How a Skincare Brand Uses Birthday Emails to Retain Customers
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna — quick question. When's your birthday? Luna: Uh, it's in March. Why, are you planning something? Lucas: Ha, not quite. But I'm wondering — how many birthday emails do you get from brands around then? And how many do you actually open? Luna: Honestly? I get maybe a dozen, and I open... two? Three? The rest go straight to archive. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the puzzle. Birthday emails are one of the most common retention tactics out there, yet most brands treat them like a formality. But there's a DTC skincare brand that turned theirs into a genuine repeat-purchase machine. I read a case study on them recently, and the numbers were pretty eye-opening. Luna: Okay, I'm intrigued. What are we talking — like, a 10 percent lift in open rates? Lucas: More than that. They saw a 45 percent open rate and a 20 percent click-through rate on their birthday email. And among people who clicked, the repeat purchase rate within 30 days was over 30 percent. Their average order value for those birthday redemptions was about 15 percent higher than their typical order. For a standard email blast, those numbers are absurd. Luna: Wait, so what were they doing differently? Because my birthday emails are usually just a code and a generic 'happy birthday.' Lucas: Right, and that's exactly the trap. This brand — they're a mid-size skincare company, not a huge player — they decided to treat the birthday email as a moment of personal connection, not a transaction. So instead of just a flat 15 percent off, they did a few things. First, they segmented their list by customer value. High-value customers — people who'd spent over a certain amount in the past year — got a 25 percent off code, while occasional buyers got 15 percent. That tiering alone lifted redemption rates because it made the reward feel earned. Luna: So it's almost like a status thing. I can see that — a bigger discount feels like a reward for loyalty, not just a generic offer. Lucas: Exactly. But here's the kicker. They didn't stop at the discount. They also included a personalized product recommendation based on the customer's purchase history. So if you'd bought their vitamin C serum twice in the past year, the email would say something like, 'Your skin's been loving this — here's a travel size to keep the glow going.' And they had a short, friendly subject line that didn't scream 'SALE' — something like 'A little something for your day.' Luna: That's smart. It feels like they're actually thinking about me, not just trying to get a sale. But what about the timing? I feel like most birthday emails land on the day, which is fine, but... Lucas: Oh, that's another piece. They sent the email three days before the birthday, not on the day itself. Their data showed that people are more likely to engage with a gift when they have time to plan a purchase, rather than on the day when they're distracted by actual birthday stuff. They also set the code to expire a week after the birthday — so there's a soft urgency, but not the aggressive '24 hours only' thing that feels spammy. Luna: So it's a nudge, not a push. I like that. But I'm curious — what happened to the people who didn't redeem? Did they follow up? Lucas: Good question. They had a single follow-up email four days after the birthday, but only for people who hadn't opened the first one. It was a gentle reminder, with a different subject line — something like 'Don't forget your gift.' And they found that follow-up brought in an extra 8 percent of redemptions. But they were careful not to send more than that, because they didn't want to feel naggy. Luna: That seems like a good balance. I've definitely been on lists where a birthday email turns into three follow-ups in a week, and I'm like, 'I get it, you want my money.' Lucas: Right. And here's the thing — the brand didn't just measure redemptions. They tracked the long-term effect on repeat purchases. Six months after the birthday email, customers who redeemed were 25 percent more likely to make another purchase than those who didn't. That's a big deal, because it means the email wasn't just a one-off discount — it actually strengthened the relationship. Luna: That's the retention play. It's not about the immediate sale, it's about creating a touchpoint that makes someone feel valued. So what's the biggest mistake brands make with birthday emails? I feel like there's a common one. Lucas: The biggest mistake is treating it as a checkbox. They set up a generic automation, use a default template, and the email looks like every other promo. It ends up in the promotions tab, gets ignored, and they think 'birthday emails don't work.' But when you personalize — even with something as simple as a product recommendation and a warmer tone — the data shows it works. Another mistake is not collecting the birthday data in the first place. A lot of brands only ask for it at checkout, but they could be capturing it during signup with a small incentive, like a 10 percent off code just for sharing the birth date. Luna: Interesting. So the data collection is almost as important as the send. And I guess that's why some brands offer a birthday club or something — they make it a value exchange from the start. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what this skincare brand did — they had a 'birthday club' signup that gave a small reward on signup, then the birthday email on the actual date. It was a two-step process that built anticipation. They also made sure the email was mobile-friendly — sounds obvious, but a lot of birthday emails are still clunky on a phone, and most people open them on a phone. Luna: So, if I'm a smaller brand listening — I don't have a huge email list or a fancy CRM — what's the one thing I should take from this? Lucas: I'd say: start with the data you already have. Even if you only have a hundred customers, you probably know their birthdays from past orders. Send them a personalized email — not a template — with a recommendation based on what they bought. You don't need expensive software; you can do it in a spreadsheet. The key is to make the email feel human. And test one thing at a time: try a different subject line, a different offer, or a different send time. You'll learn what works for your audience. Luna: That's practical. And I love that it doesn't require a huge budget. It's more about attention than money. Speaking of attention — we've been talking about how a thoughtful touch can deepen a customer relationship. It's the same reason we're able to keep making this show without a paywall — because listeners who find value in it choose to support us. If these retention conversations have sparked an idea you've actually used, and you'd like to help keep us ad-free, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that goes a long way. Lucas: Yeah, and we really do appreciate that — it's what lets us keep digging into these case studies for you. But back to birthday emails — one thing I didn't mention is that this brand also used the birthday email to invite customers to leave a review. They said, 'While you're here, we'd love to know what you think.' That added social proof and gave them more content for future emails. Luna: Oh, that's a clever double duty. You're getting the sale and the review in one go. So, what would you say is the ultimate takeaway for someone who's thinking about revamping their own birthday email? Lucas: I'd say: don't let the birthday email be an afterthought. Treat it as a relationship milestone. Use the data you have to personalize the offer, make it feel like a gift rather than a promo, and give it a bit of breathing room — a week to redeem, not a day. And measure not just the redemption, but the repeat purchase behavior after. That's where the real retention value shows up. Luna: I know what I'm doing next March. I'm going to actually check my inbox — maybe even open a few of those birthday emails and see which ones get it right. Lucas: Ha, that's the spirit. And if you find a good one, send it our way — we might make an episode out of it.