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Special Occasion flows (also called date-based flows) run on a schedule tied to a date stored on each contact—such as a birthday, anniversary, or another milestone you track. Use them to send timely offers, reminders, or personal messages when that date arrives.
Contacts must have a value for the date field you choose in the Flow trigger. Contacts without that date will not enter the Flow. Collect dates through sign-up forms or integrations that sync birthday or custom date fields (for example Rivo or Yotpo).

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Create a new Special Occasion Flow

To get started:
  • Navigate to Flows and click Create Flow in the upper right corner.
  • Select Special Occasion from the template list.

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Customize trigger and audience settings

Select the Trigger block at the top of your Flow. The settings on the right control which date drives the Flow, when messages send relative to that date, and who may enter.

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1. Occasion date and send timing

Under Date, the Flow starts on or relative to a Date property you select. Open Select a Date and choose which field to use—for example Birthday, Contact’s Sign Up Date, Pet’s Birthday, or Wedding Anniversary. Only contacts with a value for that field can enter this Flow. Trigger settings for a date-based flow: Date section with Select a Date dropdown open showing Birthday, Contact's Sign Up Date, Pet's Birthday, and Wedding Anniversary Use Start Date to choose whether the Flow starts On the Date or Before or after the Date. If you choose before or after, enter a number and use the dropdown to set the offset (for example days before the Date or days after the Date), then click Apply. Start Date popover: On the Date, or Before or after the Date with a number and unit such as days before the Date Use time delays between email and SMS blocks if you want multiple touches spread out before or after the occasion.

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2. Flow Filters

Add Flow Filters (for example + Add Filter) to limit which contacts can enter—for example by list membership, tags, or other attributes. Filters apply on top of the date-field requirement.

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3. Exit Criteria

Optionally remove contacts from the Flow when they meet an exit condition (for example if they place an order while in the Flow), depending on your template and settings.

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4. Entry Frequency

Control how often a contact may re-enter after they have already gone through this Flow—for example No re-entry once per year versus Delayed re-entry after a cooling-off period. Choose what matches how often you want the same person to receive this series.

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Personalize messages

  • Date Liquid tags: Use the date.* merge tags (date.month, date.day, date.year, date.age, date.property_name) in Flow email and SMS content. See the Special Occasion table in Product Merge Tags in Flows.
  • Product content: In Flow emails, you can use product merge tags and Product blocks where supported so recommendations or creative match the Flow context.
  • Tags: Use a Tag Contact action to label contacts as they move through the Flow (for example after they receive a birthday offer).
For step-by-step help adding emails, SMS, delays, splits, and other blocks, see Create a Flow.

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Publish your Flow

When you are ready, click Publish in the upper right. The Flow will run for eligible contacts according to your trigger, timing, and filters. You can review performance at any time from Reporting in the Flow builder.