Send your members an email on their birthday

Introduction

This guide explains how to automatically email your members to wish them a happy birthday. Glow has an integration with Zapier, a software that allows you to send data between different apps. In this case, you’ll be using a combination of Zapier, a survey tool (like Google Forms), and an email and calendar app (such as Gmail and Google Calendar).

Why send listeners a happy birthday email?

To surprise and delight them! Creating a strong sense of community and appreciation is a critical step of helping your membership program thrive. Plus, people love hearing from you on their birthday. 

Which apps does this work with?

This requires a couple of steps. We’ve tested with the following apps, but feel free to set it up slightly differently with your preferred set of tools:

• Google (Gmail, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Google Calendar)

If your desired tools aren’t listed above, it may still work. Search the Zapier directory or reach out to us at hello[at]glow.fm. If you get it working with a different set of apps, we’d love to hear about it - let us know!

How it works

General

There are four accounts you’ll need:

• A published Glow account: We also recommend creating a test member that you can use to test your set-up. If you've signed up for your own Glow page using your email, that will work. If you haven't, register on your Glow page in a private browser using your own email address. This will serve as a member that you can test with in Zapier.
• Google Forms, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, and Gmail: You’ll be using Google Forms to ask your listeners for their information, Google Sheets to record the information, Google Calendar to save birthdays, and Gmail to automatically send emails. 
• A Google Form: A simple Google form where you ask for first name, last name, and birthday (and whatever other information you’d like to collect). Make sure you create a spreadsheet as the “response destination” for when the form is filled out.
• Zapier: The tool that will power these integrations

Once you have these accounts set up, we’ll actually be creating multiple “Zaps” to collect information. We’ll be following the steps for collecting a listeners’ information, and then using that information to store their birthday in a calendar and send an email to them on their birthdays. 

Here’s what that looks like.

Part one: When you get a new member, send them a welcome email with a survey 

Part two: Send a welcome email to that listener, based on the first name they provided in their survey

Part three: Draft and send emails to your listeners on their birthdays

We’ve highlighted GSuite to walk you through the set up. If you use a different email, calendar, and survey tool that integrates with Zapier, you can set those up with similar processes.

Part one: Welcome new members with a welcome email and a survey

Step 1: Create a zap

To create a Zap, click “Make a Zap” in Zapier. 

Step 2: Connect Glow

First, choose “Glow” for your App and “Listener Added” for your Trigger Event

Next, Zapier will prompt you to sign into your Glow account. 

Click “Test and Review.” You should see sample listeners. Find your “test member:” the member you created using your own email. 

Then click “Done Editing”

Step 3: Connect Gmail

First, choose + to add an action. Choose “Gmail” for your App” and “Send Email” as your Action Event. 

Choose the account you want to send the email from and then “Draft email.”

Select “Listener email” as the person you want to send the email to, and fill out the rest of the email as you like. 

Draft the email with a welcome message and a link to your survey (sample survey here). Here’s an example:

Then, click “Test and Review.” If Zapier returns a green success message, you’re all set. Click “Done Editing.” Now, your listeners will have an easy way to give you their birthday. It’s time to record that information in a spreadsheet. 

Part two: Add birthdays to your calendar, based on listener survey responses

Step 1: Create a new zap

To create a Zap, click “Make a Zap” in Zapier. 

Step 2: Connect Google Spreadsheet

Choose “Google Forms” for your app and “New or Updated Spreadsheet Row” as your Trigger Event.

You’ll be prompted to sign into your Google Forms account. Be sure to choose the account where you created your listener onboarding survey. Then, choose the spreadsheet that you created to collect form responses.

Step 3: Connect to Google Calendar, and add new birthdays to your calendar

Choose “+” to add an action. Then, choose “Google Calendar” as the App and “Create Detailed Event” as the Action Event. Connect to the Google calendar where you want the birthdays saved.

Now, you’ll add new birthdays to your Google calendar every time a new row is created. Under “Customize Detailed Event” create an event summary that marks your calendar for the listener’s birthday. Be sure that:

• Summary is the listener’s first name
• Description is their email address

Under “Start Date & Time” and “End Date & Time”, select the answer to “When’s Your Birthday” from the spreadsheet. Mark “Yearly” for repeat frequency.

Under “Send Data”, test your app. If the green checkmark comes back, you’re all set!

Click “Continue” and “Done Editing.”

Part three: Draft and send emails to your listeners on their birthdays

Step 1: Create a new zap

To create a Zap, click “Make a Zap” in Zapier. 

Step 2: Connect Google Calendar

Choose “Google Calendar” for your app. You’ll be prompted to sign into your Google account. Choose “Event Start” as the Trigger Event. 

If you created a calendar solely for listener birthdays, just choose the calendar where the birthdays are stored. Otherwise, use “Birthday” as a search term (or whatever term you used to make birthdays easily searchable in your calendar).

Test your connection and click “Done Editing.”

Step 3: Connect Gmail

Select “+”. Choose “Gmail” as the App and “Send Email” as the Action Event. You’ll be prompted to sign into the Gmail account you want to send email from. It should look like the below. 

Now, draft your birthday email, and personalize it using your listener’s first name. It’ll look like this:

Test, and click “Done Editing.”

Phew, that took a few steps! Congrats, your birthday emails are ready to go.

You’ll be prompted to sign into your Google Forms account. Be sure to choose the account where you created your listener onboarding survey. Then, choose the spreadsheet that you created to collect form responses.