In this article, we will show you how to get set up an Automated Journey email to be sent on the patient's birthday. In this email, you might want to wish just them a happy birthday or send them a voucher or discount code.
🍰 How to send a birthday email
Step 1: Click 'Send email'
Step 2: Click 'Automation'
Step 3: Click 'Birthday'. We automatically upload a birthday email template for you to edit and send to your liking.
Step 4: You will now see the birthday email template. It will be set to be sent ON the patient's Date of Birth. However, if you click on the top box labelled 'On subscriber's Date of Birth date' you are able to change when it is sent. Once you click on that box, you will be given the option in a drop-down box in the 'When should this journey start?' to select 'Before'. If this is selected, you can then decide the time before the date of birth that the email will be sent. In this example, the email will be sent 2 days before the Date of Birth:
Step 5: Edit the email template by clicking on the bottom box that says 'Update content' when you hover over it.
Step name
Name this step in the journey. If you are just sending one email, you can leave it as 'Send email'. If you are planning on adding more emails to this journey, you might want to name this one 'Birthday email - 2 days before.'Subject
This is what the recipient will see in their inbox. You can change it to suit the content. You can also use the drop-down box to insert personalisation, and it will autofill that information from the patient's file.From
This will be the name and email that will show up in the inbox of the recipient.Send any replies to a different email address
If you check this box, you will have the option of inserting an alternate email address for replies to be sent to.Send to specific segments
When you check this box, you will see all of your segments. If this was to target specific segments, you can select them here. If you do not select any segments, this journey will send to your entire patient marketing list (provided they have a date of birth in their Cliniko file).
Content
Click 'Edit email content'
Here you can customise your email and the content within it. You can add images, links, videos and text. You can remove items already in the template by clicking on them and then the red bin image. To move the items, you click on them and then the arrows that point in all directions and drag them around the template.
To make the email more personable, you can add personalisation variables. Check out this article and have it on hand: Using personalisation in Automated Journeys and Campaigns
Note - The 'unsubscribe' button is automatically added to the bottom of the email.
Send a test email or Preview, then save
Once you are happy with your email, you can send yourself a test email to see how it looks in the inbox. You will then want to preview, then save by clicking the green button in the top right of the page. It will show you what it looks like on a desktop (left image) and a phone (right image). You can scroll to make sure you are happy with it and then click 'Save and return to journey'.
Turn on journey
If you are happy with all the information you have, you can 'Turn on journey' with the green button, and it will start sending when it is your patient's birthday!
🎉 You have set up your birthday automation!! Now you can sit back, and we will get those emails out for you