How to implement surprise-and-delight campaigns
Last updated: July 9, 2025
Overview
Surprise-and-delight campaigns target your most loyal and engaged customers with unexpected rewards to reinforce loyalty and increase long-term value.
Read on to learn how to design and execute a targeted surprise-and-delight campaign.
Campaign strategy and content
Surprise-and-delight campaigns are most effective when they are reserved for your highest value segments and deliver meaningful, relevant rewards. Target top customers based on lifetime value (LTV), frequency of purchase, or other objective criteria.
Consider using this strategy as part of an annual VIP retention initiative or in response to a noticeable increase in churn among high-value customers.
When planning your campaign:
Consider timing: Schedule the campaign to coincide with key milestones (e.g., account anniversary) or deliver it in response to unexpected churn trends within your VIP segments.
Restrict eligibility: Use consistent, objective criteria such as the top 10% by LTV, recent purchase activity, or repeat purchase frequency.
Use truly special content: The surprise should provide real value to the customer that is genuinely valuable enough to forge a stronger connection with your brand. Options include exclusive coupons, free product samples, or small branded gifts.
Limit frequency: Maintain the element of surprise by running surprise-and-delight campaigns infrequently. Surprise-and-delight campaigns can backfire when contacts start to expect them, leading to less revenue collected.
Measure impact: Track engagement, redemption, and changes in churn or repeat purchase rates to assess impact. Document outcomes and refine your criteria or offers for future surprise-and-delight campaigns.
How to build a surprise-and-delight campaign
Step One: Identify recipients
You'll use a segment of your most loyal customers as the audience for your surprise-and-delight campaign:
Create a new segment using filters such as:
LTV is greater than or equal to [Top 10% LTV threshold]
Number of purchases is greater than or equal to [threshold]
Most recent purchase within [timeframe] (use this option if you're seeking feedback from recent customers)
Save the segment with a clear name (for example, “Surprise-and-delight MONTH-YEAR”).
Step Two: Select the reward
Choose items that provide real value but are cost-effective to distribute (e.g., samples, small gifts, exclusive coupons).
For digital rewards, prepare unique coupon codes. Refer to Getting Started with Coupons.
For physical products, confirm inventory and shipping logistics before launching. You might need to set your gift up as a product that costs $0.00 in your store. Mark that product as unlisted so that other website visitors can't grab the reward.
Step Three: Prepare the campaign
For Email:
Navigate to Campaigns > New Campaign.
Select the segment created in Step One.
Use a direct subject line (for example, “Thank you for being a top customer! Enjoy a gift from us,” and consider personalizing the subject line for more engagement).
In the email builder, clearly state the reward and redemption instructions.
If distributing coupons, insert a unique code tag. See How to Add Coupons to Email and SMS for more details.
For SMS:
Navigate to Campaigns > New SMS Campaign.
Select the segment created in Step One.
Craft a concise message including reward details and any necessary redemption link or code.
Step Four: Launch and monitor
Schedule the campaign for immediate delivery or a specific date tied to your annual cycle. Monitor these key metrics in your campaign report: