I love my birthday. I admit it. I look forward to it every year. I like the cards I get from family and friends. I like the coupons I get from my local restaurant. I even like the birthday card I get from my dentist.

Studies show that I am not alone.

A new white paper from Experian Cheetahmail, The birthday and anniversary report: Benchmark data and analysis for email marketers, illustrates the impact that birthday and anniversary emails can have on your email program.

There are a number of key findings within the report, including the following:

• Total open rates for birthday and anniversary campaigns are 3 times higher than those of mass promotion mailings.
• Transaction rates are five times higher for birthday and anniversary emails than they are for bulk campaigns.
• Birthday mailings sent to all subscribers with known birthdays pull much higher transaction rates and revenue per email than those sent only to select or loyalty members.

I don’t know about you, but on my birthday, I want to be a bit extravagant and spend some money on myself, on decorating my home, or on a good time with some friends!

Here are a few examples of birthday/anniversary emails that have really caught my interest:

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One year ago, Jordan wrote an excellent piece on the flawless online ticketing process carried out for the Michael Jackson Memorial. Well, I suppose for every yin there must be a yang — and I can tell you firsthand that the online ticketing process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is certainly nothing to brag about.

You see, ordering tickets should be a straightforward process. You place your order, you receive confirmation of that order, and then you receive delivery confirmations or redemption instructions. But in the case of certain events such as the Jackson Memorial and the World Cup, there is one small difference in that ticketing lotteries are used to determine who receives tickets.

In theory, email is the perfect medium to execute a ticketing lottery. Once the drawing is complete, winning contestants can be reached instantly and privately with news of their purchase. Compared to past World Cups which have relied on postal mail and phone systems, email has provided a much more cost-effective and immediate medium for communicating with customers.

Unfortunately, FIFA really dropped the ball on their first attempt at online ticketing using email.

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