Retailers are constantly looking for simple, automated lifecycle messages that not only contribute to their bottom line, but also re-engage subscribers. The usual suspects – birthday and re-engagement messages – are common.
The anniversary message, though, is often underused, especially since the kinds of anniversaries celebrated are as varied as the products and customers you have.
Here are three very simple date-based automated messages that can drive revenue and successfully re-engage your email subscribers.
Purchase Anniversary
Send a message one year from a customer’s first order date explaining the significance of the anniversary, thanking them, and inviting them to come back and shop (with or without an incentive). These customers remain active email subscribers, so this can also be a great opportunity to ask them to update their preferences with you. After all, a lot can change in one year.
To keep the goodwill going, consider sending this message in subsequent years with increasing benefits as a means of rewarding them for their subscription loyalty.
The email from men’s clothing provider Paul Fredrick specifically highlights the first year anniversary.
Wedding Anniversary
For a more traditional occasion, a wedding anniversary email is a great, yet seldom used, message for many retailers. If your company sells traditional anniversary gifts (e.g. leather, paper), or relationship-related gifts, such as lingerie, gift baskets, flowers or jewelry, you have a perfect opportunity to collect and use this data. If a customer does provide this information, they are showing you they trust your brand. Provide value to them in return.
Of course, don’t wait until the last minute as many of us do in real life. Be sure to send this message before the actual date, so the customer has time to shop, compare items and have the gift delivered. And be sure to tout your value-adds. Do you offer white glove service, gift wrapping or other valet-type upgrades? If so, advertise these as add-ons or include them as part of the incentive in the message.
But this message doesn’t have to be about driving conversions. Send a goodwill anniversary message on the actual day without a call to action to shop. Link directly to your site or to an unrelated social callout, or simply omit any call to action altogether. This day-of message should be about fostering a relationship between your brand and the subscriber.
Sign-Up Anniversary
While these first two are more personal in nature, you may not have the data available to execute them. Don’t worry. You can still send an anniversary message based on the date they joined your email program. Show them how much you appreciate that they are still subscribers.
If the subscriber has made a purchase in the past, take their purchase behavior into consideration when determining the incentive. Based on the number of purchases, lifetime spend or average order value (AOV), you can include an appropriate incentive to reward customer loyalty, attempt to increase their AOV by setting a minimum spend, or drive a first purchase by reinforcing your brand’s value.
One cautionary note: Default to the purchase anniversary message if the sign-up occurred near the purchase date. People are likely to remember their purchase rather than the date they signed up to receive your emails.
There you have it. Three incredibly simple automated messages that can help drive revenue and/or re-engage subscribers with your email program. Have fun, be creative and give your valued email subscribers a nice virtual hug.
Greg Zakowicz is Senior Commerce Marketing Analyst for Bronto Software