They Say It’s Your Birthday
As another 29th birthday approaches for me, I’m reminded of the power of marketing around this personal milestone. I absolutely love seeing what brands send me in the mail on my birthday. There’s something about a special promotion – just for me on my unique day – that entices me to take advantage of the offer.
It’s no surprise that one of the most effective B2C direct mail strategies a business can implement is a Birthday Club. Consumers expect their favorite retailers, restaurants and service providers to make some kind of effort to reward their loyalty, particularly on special days like their birthdays. For example, my parents owned a full-service carwash and, of all the perks we provided to our customers, the “free carwash on your birthday” by far had the most traction. This offer was the primary reason that a customer would sign up for our loyalty club and give us their highly-coveted contact information. It was a slam-dunk marketing tactic. Essentially, we paid just a few dollars to acquire a new customer along with their mailing information. Now we could send them brochures about our services, newsletters with car care tips and, of course, a postcard reminder before their birthday. And the results were terrific! The lifetime value of a loyalty club customer was more than double that of a non-member customer.
Here are a few tips to get the most out of your Birthday Club programs:
Don’t be stingy with your offer. It needs to be enticing enough to make people want it. Free stuff is best, but if your business model doesn’t support that, then go with a straight discount (% off or fixed amount).
Collect the information. Don’t just let anyone take advantage of a birthday offer. Make it exclusive to those who sign up and provide their contact information. That way you can leverage the data for continuation marketing campaigns.
Clean your list. The success of any loyalty program hinges on having an up-to-date list. You need to stay top-of-mind with your club members, and if you don’t regularly update your database, you lose the ability to contact those key customers. Most mailing houses offer address updates for anyone on your list who has registered a move with the USPS.
Tip: When you mail with Modern Postcard, you automatically get this service at no additional cost.
Birthday Clubs for acquisition? Yes, really! A little-known secret in the direct marketing industry is that you can rent a consumer mailing list of prospects by their birthday. There are some rules of engagement, though. If you’re thinking about testing this type of program, be sure you are partnering with a reputable and experienced marketing company. Modern Postcard has launched many successful birthday acquisition campaigns for its clients.
When you keep these tips in mind, all your birthday (marketing) wishes can come true!
By Jeanine Norlin, Marketing Program Manager, Modern Postcard
Call a Direct Marketing Specialist at 800.959.8365.
