Happy Birthday from Offtopic
// April 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Marketing
I just received a happy birthday email from Offtopic.com — one of the largest forums on the internet. I hadn’t been to the website in months. Its very existence had slipped into the recesses of my mind. But today, they sent me a simple, automated email just wishing me a happy birthday.
Setting up an automated message like this to your users is simple to do and reminds your users about your community without it looking like a marketing message. I didn’t get warm, fuzzy feelings over an automated birthday greeting, but I did think, “Oh right, Offtopic! I wonder what’s happening on that site now?” Seconds later, I was back on a site I hadn’t been to in months.
Don’t underestimate the potential that simple communication with your community can have. Maybe Twitter can think of ways to use this strategy to help retain some of the users they bleed each month.
