What do you want for your Birthday?

I’m not sure I’d want this as my number 1 present – but a meal at Yo Sushi is never something I turn down!

A lot of marketers get nervous at the thought of marketing to customer based on personal data – but this email from Yo Sushi is a great example of how to do it well.

Subject Line: It’s Yo! Birthday

The email’s offer is for 30% off my next bill at Yo Sushi. That’s a big discount in any restaurant – so it’s certainly caught my attention. The way the email is built is also very effective – the pink banner with white text is set as text, it’s not an image. So it’s going to be readable before the images are downloaded and on all devices, without having a negative impact on the design of the email.

The big graphic artwork is also very compelling – and repeats the key message – it’s Yo Birthday. (of course not every company can pull their brand into it so neatly!)

Below that image is then a personalised message:

They’re mentioning me by name – and they’re giving me some really useful instructions on how to claim my discount. Importantly for their customer demographic – I don’t have to print it out!

Whilst not entirely connected to the birthday offer – the “Still hungry?” call to actions at the bottom of the email are another clever way they integrate their branding into the communications.

Yo Sushi is a restaurant – how can I use this in my eCommerce Business?

There’s nothing to stop you running this sort of offer for people buying things from your website rather than buying a meal.

You could use the “no-one ever gets you want you want, so treat yourself” angle, or the “why not forward this on to your partner – help them get the right gift this year!” angle – if they fit with your product and brand then this should work well for you.

Yo Sushi have the technology to create a bespoke code for every person on their database – you don’t need that level of technology to run this. You don’t need an auto-send feature in your email marketing platform either.

The simplest way to run these offers is to have a code that’s valid for everyone with a birthday in a certain month, and send one email out each month – so on the 1st November you launch a birthday offer email to everyone with a birthday in November! This has the added benefit that people are more likely to tell you their month of birth than their exact birthday.

Of course, the only essential thing you need to do is to capture people’s birthdays – without those you can’t do anything!

Do you currently run a birthday promotion? How does it work for you?