Birthday WhatsApp message templates for ecommerce

A birthday message on WhatsApp can do two jobs: wish a customer happy birthday with a small gift, or celebrate your brand’s own birthday with your best customers. On TextYess the second one works better. The median brand’s anniversary campaign is followed by orders within 48 hours from 1.71% of delivered messages, against 0.65% for campaigns overall.

What works, from the messages brands send on TextYess

• Your brand’s birthday beats the customer’s. Brand-anniversary campaigns convert at a median of 1.71% per delivered message, well above the 0.65% of the average campaign. Customer-birthday automations are less common on TextYess and convert less.

• Tell it as a story, from a person. A clothing brand whose founder recalls the day she registered the company gets orders from 4.50% of delivered messages. A cashmere brand thanking its long-time VIP customers gets 4.52%. Across campaigns, a named person as the sender converts 1.25 times the same brand’s other sends.

• Send the anniversary to your best customers. Campaigns to repeat and top customers convert about 3 times the same brand’s other sends (Q4 2025 data). The best anniversary messages say “VIP” or “our most loyal customers” and mean it.

• For the customer’s birthday, put the code in the message. The best one we see, from a fashion brand, gives each customer a unique 10% code and gets orders from 0.70% of delivered messages. In campaigns, a copy-code button converts 1.5 times as well, for the same brand in the same month.

Templates

1. Birthday code from the whole team

For the customer’s birthday. Modelled on the best customer-birthday message we see: warm wishes, the gift in one line, the code in bold.

• Header: none

• Buttons: URL “Use my gift”, Copy code

• Example values: {{first_name}} = Emma, {{brand}} = Linen & Co, {{discount}} = 10, {{discount_code}} = BDAY10EMMA

2. Gift reminder, with an offer of help

A second message a few days later, before the code runs out. It speaks as a person and invites a reply, which is what turns a reminder into a conversation.

• Header: none

• Buttons: URL “Start shopping”, Copy code

• Example values: {{first_name}} = Emma, {{brand}} = Linen & Co, {{discount_code}} = BDAY10EMMA, {{discount}} = 10, {{deadline}} = Sunday at midnight

3. The founder tells the brand’s story

For your brand’s anniversary, sent to repeat customers. Modelled on a founder’s message that gets orders from 4.50% of delivered messages.

• Header: none, or a photo of the founder

• Buttons: URL “Open my birthday gift”, Copy code

• Example values: {{first_name}} = Emma, {{brand}} = Linen & Co, {{discount}} = 20, {{discount_code}} = BIRTHDAY20. It’s a one-off campaign, so write your own number of years and the founder’s name as fixed text.

4. Thank-you to VIPs, discount applied automatically

Also for the anniversary. Modelled on a cashmere brand’s message to its VIP customers (4.52% per delivered message). No code to type: the discount is already in the basket.

• Header: image (optional, images don’t lift results on their own)

• Buttons: URL “Shop with my discount”

• Example values: {{first_name}} = Emma, {{brand}} = Linen & Co, {{discount}} = 20

When to send it

Send the customer’s birthday message on the morning of the birthday, and the reminder a few days later, before the code expires. Send the anniversary as a short campaign, one or two days, to customers who have ordered more than once. With TextYess the anniversary goes out as a campaign to the segment you choose, such as repeat customers, and the customer’s birthday can run as an automated flow.

Meta category

Birthday messages are marketing, with or without a code: they are not tied to an order and their aim is to bring the customer back. Nothing in these templates can make them utility. See Meta’s template categorisation.

Avoid rejection

• Don’t start or end the body with a variable. “{{first_name}}, happy birthday!” or a sign-off that ends on {{brand}} gets rejected, so close with fixed words.

• Keep the % sign in the fixed text (“{{discount}}% off”) and use plain variable names: Meta rejects special characters such as %, # or $ inside the braces.

• One copy-code button per template, and Meta’s example code is limited to 20 characters. Letters and numbers only.

• Keep the variable count low. Template 3 writes the years and the founder’s name as fixed text, so it has four variables in about 70 words. Give a sample value for each, or Meta can reject it.

• Button labels are limited to 25 characters. Details: Meta’s template review.

FAQ

Related templates

Loyalty points, VIP early access and Welcome after opt-in.

See all 20 WhatsApp message templates for ecommerce.