One of the things that social media statistics tell us about its effectiveness is that people love to be known. If you think about the culture that we live in today, you’ll see evidence of this all around. The popularity of reality TV shows is a perfect example of this, in that it’s turned almost everyone (and we throw that word “almost” in there to cover those who can’t stand reality TV) into wanna-be stars. In many ways, social media has an enhancing effect for those that do – where else could someone actually lay claim to having 1,500 “friends”? And so it goes that social media management should be used to play to this shared desire.
But what's the best way to do that? By recognizing regular, everyday people, that’s how. And no better way exists to do this than to single them out once a year on a very special date: their birthday. Don’t roll your eyes, it really works. And there are a ton of companies out there who have been taking advantage of this for years, although not always via social media channels.
The best place to begin is with your online marketing list enrollment form. Include the option for your customers to enter in their date of birth – and for those that do, consider scheduling automatic birthday messages that include a discounted “gift” coupon. Of course, there’s one thing to remember if you don’t want your “birthday” field ignored: don’t ask your subscribers to enter in their year of birth unless you really want to tick off half of your followers. It's just plain manners.