Birthday automation newsletter via Shopify: How to?

[fredheimK]

Hi,
I am about to launch my own webpage using Shopify, and have found great pleasure in working on the newly added Shopify Automation tool.

I have one newsletter yet to make, which I deeply want to make an automation for, which is the "Happy Birthday Discount"-newsletter.

Whenever I receive such newsletters from online store's I have previously shopped at, I am impressed and happy and more positive towards that/those store's.

Is this a feature that I can make using the Shopify Automation tool? If so, how?

In advance - thanks!


Kind regards,
Kristian

[Ming_Sendif · Accepted solution]

Hi Kristian, to send customers a newsletter on their birthday, you need to find a way to capture their date of birth, and I don't believe that Shopify's automation tool does that.

If you're on Klaviyo, you can use their Happy Birthday Email flow (attached). 

[Ming_Sendif · Accepted solution]

Hi Kristian, to send customers a newsletter on their birthday, you need to find a way to capture their date of birth, and I don't believe that Shopify's automation tool does that.

If you're on Klaviyo, you can use their Happy Birthday Email flow (attached). 

[fredheimK]

Thank you!
The most important part for me at this point, was to know whether it was possible or not in Shopify - as that would've been the easiest way to proceed.

I'll research Klaviyo and the other potentials for making these types of automated mails, and see what I end up with using. Thanks again!

[Olivia]

Thanks for getting back to me, @fredheimK!

That is absolutely fair, please do let us know which route you end up going and if it meets your needs. I trust that our future readers will find your advice very helpful.

Warm regards,

[Olivia · Accepted solution]

Hi, @fredheimK!

Thanks for sharing your question with our network.

As shared by, @Ming_Sendif, Klaviyo is a great solution to achieve this functionality and add a unique touch to your customer's experience.

I have to agree, it's a special way to build your customer relationships and loyalty. I personally get very excited when my birthday month rolls around and offers from my favorite shops start to pop in.

I did some extra research for you, and I found some other app solutions to help you accomplish this:

• Happy Birthday Discount
• Happy Birthday Marketing
• Birthday Discounts

Just to name a few - check out the full list on the Shopify App Store. I trust this helps, but let us know if any other questions come up.

Warm regards,

[fredheimK]

Thank you, Olivia. 

All help is appreciated : )

[fredheimK]

Here is an update from me, after researching all alternatives provided from the community:

Chosen app: Happy Birthday Marketing by NorthernApps
I checked out four different options, but chose to proceed with using "Happy Birthday Marketing" by NorthernApps. Although there are some features I would love to see added to this, the app was incredibly easy to install and put to use, so I chose to use it either way; It does the job it's supposed to do, effectively. 

I would highly recommend putting this app to use if you do not want to spend hours/days integrating a birthday feature, which, after all, is only a small part of the overall 'picture'. It also makes it easy to keep how many platforms you use at a minimum. Since Shopify now has made its own automation and marketing flows, I prefer to keep as much of my marketing 'inside' Shopify's world rather than use several systems. This makes it easy to keep control of the opening and conversion rates of the e-marketing, which brings me to the downside of NorthernApps' Happy Birthday Marketing App.

Downsides:
1. You cannot tailor the Happy Birthday e-mail with your own brands' color or font.
2. You cannot track opening and conversion rates in an optimal manner.

I spoke with the owner of NorthernApps about these issues, and he/she told me that they are working on creating these features but that they were not sure when it would be launched.

Conclusion:
Easy, effective, and smart - but with some potentials. Recommended.

How it looks:

--

--

About the other apps "out there":

All of the other Apps might do the job better in terms of tailoring and tracking in the future. These apps do however either cost money per month (from the start or after a certain while), and does not integrate as easily as NorthernApps' feature. 

I tried for a long time to find out how I could use i.e. Klaviyo for this, but after using some hours testing things out, I concluded that it would require too much work for too little a job. In addition, it seems like Klaviyo sort of "locks" you inside their world rather then let you work alongside Shopify's own E-marketing features. The most difficult part with Klaviyo, was not to create a Happy Birthday e-marketing flow, but to create a gathering of "birthday" date on the checkout page rather than in a pop-up that I easily could put to use.

So ...
If anyone finds out other solutions - do not hesitate to tell. That's all from me.

With love,
Kristian

[Ming_Sendif]

Love the summary! At the end of the day, you chose the easiest, most direct solution to solve the problem you had! It's great insight for those of us developing apps 🙂

[amosmos]

Thanks Kristian for all the info,

One question though - does the app handle unsubscribe functionality?

Meaning does it include an "unsubscribe" link in the end of the birthday email and if customers click on it does it remove them from the accepted marketing list in Shopify?

Thanks,

Amos