How to Craft a Killer Welcome Email Series
On average, 74% of people who subscribe to a new email list expect a welcome email. They gave you permission to enter their inbox, why not show them a little love and appreciation with a warm digital welcome?
A well-crafted welcome email is a simple way to improve your marketing results by helping your brand to achieve three things:
On average, 74% of people who subscribe to a new email list expect a welcome email. They gave you permission to enter their inbox, why not show them a little love and appreciation with a warm digital welcome?
A well-crafted welcome email is a simple way to improve your marketing results by helping your brand to achieve three things:
A highly likely open
If a subscriber is expecting a welcome email, they’re most likely going to open it. In fact, welcome emails average 4x the open rate and 5x the click-through rate compared to other marketing emails. Design accordingly.
Crafting a thoughtfully designed message can have a significant impact on your bottom line.
Get on their mailbox provider’s good side
When an instant email deployment triggers upon a subscriber’s opt-in, their opening it tells their mailbox provider know they want to see emails from your domain. This is helpful in keeping you out of the spam folder.
PS – You know what else helps you stay out of the spam folder? Double opt-ins. Typo spam traps are real, and they hurt.
Set the tone for your new relationship
Your new subscriber just agreed to take their relationship with your brand to the next level. This is your chance to start nurturing their readership.
Remind them who you are. Stranger danger in the inbox is real, and they opted in to hear from you, so use a clear sender name let them know it’s your brand who’s emailing.
Tell them how often you’ll be emailing them, and the content they can expect. Whether they signed up for specific notifications or the whole enchilada distribution list, set clear expectations so everyone’s on the same page.
You can also use this opportunity to reinforce trust in your brand. Include positive user reviews your brand has received, or notable press. Anything that confirms your brand is legitimate and customer-pleasing goes a long way to retain readers.
The Welcome Series
Ideally, your welcome email will actually be a three to five-part series.
You’ve got a lot to communicate, and that’s best achieved in bite-size chunks. It prevents the reader from feeling instantly overwhelmed at the sheer magnitude of information in front of them.
The good news is, you have all the tools you need to craft the perfect series.
The First Email: Hello and Welcome
Your first message that’s immediately delivered to a new subscriber should be nothing more than a hearty “welcome to our family” and a quick note of what’s in it for them if they stay on the list. You may even give a brief glimpse into subsequent emails they’ll receive, like Casper did below.
Casper gave a one-sentence roundup of who they are, why the reader should trust them and their product, and the benefit to the reader of being a Casper customer:
Any new subscriber just wants to know their sign-up worked and that you value their willingness to allow your brand in their inbox.
New subscribers are exciting, and you want them to stay subscribed, so be careful not to inundate them with every piece of content you want them to see. They will over time, just be patient.
For instance, Hipcamp’s email below touts 285,000 unique campsites. You know their asset library has to be stacked, and yet they had the self-restraint to only choose one impactful image and one video. That’s not all we loved about their email though:
- They achieved a clean, crisp design with imagery that makes the reader want to go exploring. Off the bat, they are one step closer to motivating a click.
- The list layout with brand-relevant emojis and short headlines make the content easy to digest. Even if the snippets of copy are skimmed, if read at all, the subscriber still has an idea of what Hipcamp is all about.
- They offer a little something for everyone in this email. Whether you’re looking to explore more camping destinations yourself, have a desire to host campers, or simply want to do more photography (and earn money through it), they make it clear you’ve come to the right place.
The Second Email: Our Story
This is your chance to share a little more about your brand. Give a little background on the brand’s story, your reason for being, anything that would help reinforce a connection with your subscribers.
If your brand has a collection of products, services, or locations, this would also be a great place to highlight those. You want readers to have the most motivating information readily available so they can easily decide to take action.
The Third Email: What Customers are Saying
Marketing is great, but it will never ever beat the authenticity of word of mouth.
Showcasing and linking to first hand reviews of users and customers that had a great experience with your product, service, or location is a great humblebrag. Plus, it gives a little nod to the quality of service the rest of your customers know you for.
This is also a great chance to highlight top-sellers as well, letting readers know what you offer is, in fact, valuable and sought.
Be Diligent About Your Automation
Since welcome emails run on automations, it’s a good idea to check in on them frequently. Make sure the messaging is still consistent with your brand. Double check that any value your brand promises in exchange for an email signup (like a promo code) is present.
If your open and click rates aren’t where you’d like them to be, then this is your chance to rethink your strategy and make adjustments.
Always Provide Value
The fact is, just because someone subscribes to receive emails from you doesn’t mean they now care about your brand as much as you do.
They’re only interested.
With every content block and sentence you add to a welcome email, step back and ask yourself why the reader would care about this. Does it save them money? Time? Does it add value to their day in any way?
Suiteness was very intentional around this with their welcome email. They immediately convey they’re there to help with vacation affordability and planning logistics—who wouldn’t stay signed up? Furthermore, they use a fun, simple layout to give high-level information on how to use their services and additional value-adds, like convenient payment options:
Entertainment is valuable. Promotions are valuable. Easy-to-digest product or process walkthroughs are valuable. Tips, tricks and hacks are valuable.
Your CEO’s reflections on forest bathing? Less so.
People will only stay on an email list they are gaining consistent value from.
Roll Out Your Email Welcome Mat
The extra time spent creating and optimizing your welcome emails can make a huge difference in your bottom line. As the saying goes, first impressions do not get a second chance.
Focus on writing great copy, design with intention, employ useful tactics to make your email stand out, include customer reviews or top sellers, and provide nothing but value to your subscribers. These tactics will go a long way to make your brand memorable and increase your conversion potential down the road.
And, always remember to test. every. email.