Why (And How) To Create A Milestone Email : A Guide

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Updated: April 26th, 2024

What Is A Milestone Email?

A milestone email is an appreciation-based email sent by a company to the existing customers. Brands design milestone emails to remind the customer of their valuable contribution towards achieving the milestone.

Writing and sending your company milestones gives you the opportunity to talk about your success and thank your subscribers for all they do.

These emails can be a place where you discuss your vision, goals, and plans for the future. This shows your customer just how involved you are and will keep your product/service exciting and relevant.

Milestone Email Key Takeaways

Business milestone emails offer a great brand marketing opportunity
When customers receive milestone emails they feel valued and appreciated
Customers take pride in knowing they helped a brand get off the ground
A milestone email is an essential step to building long-lasting relationships

Understanding How Milestone Emails Work

A milestone email is an automated message that is part of the customer lifecycle routine.

Brands send milestone emails to celebrate the customer for being an important contributor to the overall success.

Consider that each stage of the customer lifecycle attracts certain behavior from the brand.

For instance, when approaching a prospect, the business sends a promotional email.

Upon the first subscription, the business sends the welcome email.

To wake up dormant users, the brand sends out the re-engagement email.

Likewise, brands send milestone emails to loyal customers for being a great contributor to the company's success.

Brands design milestone emails to:

Remind the customer of the value they are getting from the brand
Increase the likelihood of customers continuing using the products or services
Generate brand buzz that often leads to more referrals

Consider every milestone to be a great opportunity to market your brand.

Ideally, milestones provide a chance to tell your brand's story to the customers.

Besides, sharing milestones on social media or via email is an opportunity to create buzz around your brand, and raise awareness of your products within the target community.

Real World Examples: Send A Milestone Message To Your Email List

Here are some of the examples of milestone emails we came across.

1. Vote.org Sends Milestone Email To Americans For Reaching Highest Voter Turnout Since 1900

Recently, I saw a very effective milestone email from vote.org

They used a combination of graphics, impressive stats, and bold colors which made the email really stand out.

Here's a snippet of what this looked like:

They did a few things really well:

Their colors reflected their brand (red, white, and blue) but it was not done in an obnoxious way.
The email was personalized.
They phrased the email as "here's what we accomplished together" which gives a sense of community and appreciation for their customers.
The stats are impressive and catch your eye right away - a 227% increase in website users is a big milestone.

2. A Book Apart Sends Discounted Offer To Customers As A Celebration Of Company Anniversary

A Book apart was celebrating the 4th anniversary and they decided to send an anniversary promotion discount to their customers.

The anniversary is not only a celebration, it is also a way of cementing a solid relationship with their customers.

By sending a personalized email with a promotion code to the customers, the brand shows that they value the customer's contribution.

Within the milestone email, they also include a list of other books, aiming at generating leads.

This message makes the customers feel special and increases the chances of brand loyalty and trust.

How To Create Great Milestone Emails For Your Customers

Define the milestones you intend to celebrate
Connect with the customers and celebrate customer-hood
Remind the customers that you value their existence
Increase the likelihood of them continuing to use your products or services through an incentive
Encourage them to share the message on social media to generate referrals and drive traffic
Keep track of their activity and determine lead generation opportunities

The milestone email is an important communication for your brand. You could send the automated anniversary email via different emailing tools including the following:

Vote.org Sends Milestone Email To Americans For Reaching Highest Voter Turnout Since 1900

Recently, I saw a very effective milestone email from vote.org

They used a combination of graphics, impressive stats, and bold colors which made the email really stand out.

Here's a snippet of what this looked like:

They did a few things really well:

Their colors reflected their brand (red, white, and blue) but it was not done in an obnoxious way.
The email was personalized.
They phrased the email as "here's what we accomplished together" which gives a sense of community and appreciation for their customers.
The stats are impressive and catch your eye right away - a 227% increase in website users is a big milestone.

A Book Apart Sends Discounted Offer To Customers As A Celebration Of Company Anniversary

A Book apart was celebrating the 4th anniversary and they decided to send an anniversary promotion discount to their customers.

The anniversary is not only a celebration, it is also a way of cementing a solid relationship with their customers.

By sending a personalized email with a promotion code to the customers, the brand shows that they value the customer's contribution.

Within the milestone email, they also include a list of other books, aiming at generating leads.

This message makes the customers feel special and increases the chances of brand loyalty and trust.

How To Create Great Milestone Email For Your Customers

Define the milestones you intend to celebrate
Connect with the customers and celebrate customer-hood
Remind the customers that you value their existence
Increase the likelihood of them continuing to use your products or services through an incentive
Encourage them to share the message on social media to generate referrals and drive traffic
Keep track of their activity and determine lead generation opportunities

The milestone email is an important communication for your brand. You could send the automated anniversary email via different emailing tools including the following:

MailChimp

A marketing automation platform and an email marketing service.

The free plan, up to 2000 subscribers - what you get

Send up to 12,000 emails per month
Up to 2,000 subscribers
Email support included for 30 days

"Essentials" plan Plans start at $10 per month

Up to 5,000 subscribers $50 per month
Up to 10,000 subscribers $75 per month
Up to 25,000 subscribers $150 per month

Standard plan Plans start at $15 per month

Up to 5,000 subscribers $75 per month
Up to 10,000 subscribers $99 per month
Up to 20,000 subscribers $189 per month
Pricing: Freemium
Twitter: @MailChimp
Website: mailchimp.com

Businesses using MailChimp:

868 successful businesses are using MailChimp ➜

Get MailChimp ➜

Klaviyo

Klaviyo’s the ultimate ecommerce marketing platform trusted by 50,000+ brands, like Chubbies, Living Proof, and Hint. Deliver higher-value, personalized marketing experiences across email, mobile, and web.

Up to 250 contacts: Free!
Up to 1,000 subscribers: $30 per month
Up to 2,500 subscribers: $60 per month
Up to 5,000 subscribers: $100 per month
Up to 10,000 subscribers: $150 per month
Up to 20,000 subscribers: $375 per month
Pricing: Freemium
Twitter: @klaviyo
Website: klaviyo.com

Businesses using Klaviyo:

408 successful businesses are using Klaviyo ➜

Get Klaviyo ➜

MailChimp

A marketing automation platform and an email marketing service.

The free plan, up to 2000 subscribers - what you get

Send up to 12,000 emails per month
Up to 2,000 subscribers
Email support included for 30 days

"Essentials" plan Plans start at $10 per month

Up to 5,000 subscribers $50 per month
Up to 10,000 subscribers $75 per month
Up to 25,000 subscribers $150 per month

Standard plan Plans start at $15 per month

Up to 5,000 subscribers $75 per month
Up to 10,000 subscribers $99 per month
Up to 20,000 subscribers $189 per month
Pricing: Freemium
Twitter: @MailChimp
Website: mailchimp.com

Businesses using MailChimp:

868 successful businesses are using MailChimp ➜

Get MailChimp ➜

Klaviyo

Up to 250 contacts: Free!
Up to 1,000 subscribers: $30 per month
Up to 2,500 subscribers: $60 per month
Up to 5,000 subscribers: $100 per month
Up to 10,000 subscribers: $150 per month
Up to 20,000 subscribers: $375 per month
Pricing: Freemium
Twitter: @klaviyo
Website: klaviyo.com

Businesses using Klaviyo:

408 successful businesses are using Klaviyo ➜

Get Klaviyo ➜

Recently, I saw a very effective milestone email from vote.org

They used a combination of graphics, impressive stats, and bold colors which made the email really stand out.

Here's a snippet of what this looked like:

They did a few things really well:

Their colors reflected their brand (red, white and blue) but it was not done in an obnoxious way.
The email was personalized.
They phrase the email as "here's what we accomplished together" which gives a sense of community and appreciation for their customers.
The stats are impressive and catch your eye right away - 227% increase in website users is a big milestone.

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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