How To Use Milestone Emails

Why You Should Congratulate Customers on the Company Anniversary

To Check In

Marketers are always looking for an opportunity to connect with clients and it can be difficult to find something relevant. If you’re running out of ideas for emails, you can look into milestone emails, company anniversary emails in particular. Birthdays are a great reason to reach out for your customers and they can be pretty effective: research shows their Open Rate is almost three times higher than that of regular promotional emails. Add a coupon or special offer to the milestone email to boost sales and create a positive brand image.

To Look Back at the Past

We tend to reflect on the past year not only before the New Year but also on our birthday. Brands can do the same, especially if they’ve achieved something truly exciting. You can show how much you’ve grown, tell about your customers, and  present your company as a team of experienced professionals. Being able to stay on the market for a year is already impressive and it only gets better from here — don’t be shy to celebrate how far you’ve come.

To Give an Update 

A company anniversary email can be a great place to share what the brand has been up to lately, tell about upcoming events or current special offers. Give your customers a behind-the-scenes peek at the life in your company and share how you’re going to celebrate the anniversary. This type of content will help you build trust with your audience and create a strong emotional connection with them. 

Side note: speaking about the brand’s achievements won’t be appropriate in birthday emails for your customers.

To Tease a New Project or Product

Another thing to include in your company anniversary email is the future plans. Let the readers know what they can expect from your brand: from new products and upcoming special offers to the development plan. Present them as gifts for the customers — they will love it. 

To Give Gifts

No one is mad about receiving an email with an exclusive offer to celebrate the company anniversary. This will make the subscribers wait for the next year. Don’t worry, there will be some gifts for you as well: a ton of new orders and increased customer loyalty.

Milestone Email: How to Create a Corporate Anniversary Email

Festive Design

The email should bring joy to the readers. It can be done in a form of a postcard or even a long read. Ask your designers to add birthday-related elements like a cake or confetti. You can go a step further and integrate your products or prepare a photoshoot for your team. Your goal is to put everyone in a celebratory mood.

Stick to Your Brand Image and Tone of Voice (Or Don’t)

Although it is better for a brand to keep to their brand image and tone of voice in the emails, sometimes it can be a good idea to spice things up a little. A real estate company might want to preserve a serious and formal tone, while a fast food restaurant can come up with something more creative, like a menu for their birthday party.

Humanize Your Brand

Imagine this isn’t a company anniversary but a person’s birthday. Ask yourself how you’d want to spend this day, what you’d like to say to your friends. Questions like these will help you write the company anniversary email. Tell the readers why this year was special for your brand and what you achieved. You can also share how you’re going to celebrate the anniversary (if it suits your brand image). This will help you improve your brand image and create a deeper connection with your customers.

This is a Celebration for Your Customers Too

Your milestone email should translate the following message: on this day you celebrate not only the brand, but customers as well. Mere boasting about your success won’t get you anywhere. To increase customer loyalty, your email should make the readers feel like they’re at their friend’s birthday.

Things to Avoid in Company Milestone Emails 

Don't Ask for Congratulations

Sure, birthdays are about receiving gifts, but you shouldn’t remind your customers about them. Phrases like “You purchase is the best gift for us” will sound rude, even if you say them as a joke. Instead of asking for presents, give them yourself.

Don't Use the Same Annual Template

Using the same email design every year is just like sending the same postcard over and over again. It's easy, but there’s no room left for fun and creativity. Make your message sincere and relevant to appeal to the readers. Using the same template can be seen as disrespectful causing people to unsubscribe.

Don't Try to Steal the Show 

A company anniversary isn’t quite like a usual birthday where all the attention goes to the birthday person. Your brand shouldn’t be the center of attention — share your joy with your customers and make them a part of the celebration. Use phrases like "Thanks to your support...", "If it was not for you...", "You motivate us...". Doesn’t it feel great to thank everyone for making your day special?

Milestone Email Ideas

Here are some nice milestone emails from companies that decided to celebrate their company anniversary together with their customers. 

Casper

Mattresses, sheets, and more — this is what you can find at Casper. The brand offers a 10% discount to celebrate their 5 year anniversary. If the discount grows together with the brand, then we can’t wait for Casper to turn 50!

Cotton Bureau

A t-shirt brand Cotton Bureau also gives gifts to mark their third birthday, but these are not just some ordinary discounts — these are special offers activated every time they reach a new number of sales.

Care/of

A vitamin subscription company Care/of tells about their growth in numbers: the amount of vitamins produced, the number of apps launched, and the number of office dogs. The email is not only impressive but also very cute.

theSkimm

The media/news company theSkimm celebrates five years on the market and gets personal with the subscribers by sharing statistics. This isn’t your typical statistics — the brand recalls when a subscriber signed up and calculates how much time they spent together. Such personalized emails have a complex technical part to them, but it’s definitely worth it.

Fortnite

As for Fortnite (a video game), they tend to attract the reader’s attention with their artwork. Although there is little text in the email, they manage to create a festive mood and make you want to play the game.

Key Takeaways

Milestone emails are a great way to connect with your audience and increase revenue. Company anniversary is one of the occasions that are perfect for reaching out to your customers. Take a look back at the previous year, share your future plans, and thank people who support you — this is a wonderful way to celebrate your growth.