Your welcome email – or a series of welcome emails—can help your brand make a solid first impression with new subscribers. A “good” first impression in the email world involves introducing new subscribers to your brand’s mission, values, products, services, and overall message. Ultimately, the goal of your welcome series is to nurture the newest members of your list into engaged subscribers and eventually, loyal customers.
What are the benefits of welcome email?
Welcome email have amazing engagement rates
An email welcome series is a sequence of automated emails sent to new subscribers immediately after they sign up for your mailing list. Unlike a single welcome email, a series allows you to engage with your audience over time, nurturing the relationship and gradually introducing them to your brand’s offerings and value proposition.
Depending on how you obtain the email (subscribing to a newsletter, signing up for a deal, joining a webinar, etc.), you may want to draft a variety of welcome series. But as soon as you set them all up, they will continue to run!
Note: when someone is in your welcome series, they should not yet receive newsletters, promotion emails, etc. Depending on your email marketing platform, you might have the ability to automatically suppress these users.
WELCOME EMAILS DON’T JUST WORK. THEY USUALLY OUTPERFORM REGULAR CAMPAIGNS AND OTHER AUTOMATED FLOWS
Why? Because subscribers engage with them more than any other type of marketing email.
- Welcome series emails are read 42% more than regular emails.
- People open welcome emails 5x more often than standard email campaigns.
- 74% of subscribers expect you to send a welcome email immediately upon signing up.
What to Include in Your Welcome Email Series:
- Personalization: The initial welcome email is the cornerstone of your series. Keep it concise, friendly, and personalized. Address your new subscribers by name and leverage the data you collect during the sign-up process to personalize the series. Segment your audience based on their interests or preferences, and tailor the content accordingly.
- Set Expectations: Let your subscribers know the frequency of your emails and the type of content they will receive. This helps manage expectations and reduces the likelihood of unsubscribes due to email overload.
- Share Your Best Content: Use these emails to showcase your best content, such as blog posts, articles, or videos that demonstrate your expertise and provide value to the subscribers. Highlighting valuable content builds trust and credibility with your new audience.
- Introduce Your Brand: Dedicate an email or two to give subscribers an in-depth look at your brand’s story, values, and mission. Show them how your products or services can solve their pain points and enrich their lives.
- Call-to-Action (CTA): Each email in the series should have a clear and compelling CTA. Whether it’s to visit your website, follow you on social media, or claim a special offer, CTAs drive engagement and guide subscribers towards conversion.
- A/B Testing: Continuously test different elements of your welcome series (subject lines, content, and CTAs) to optimize engagement and conversions. This testing will help provide valuable insights into what resonates best with your audience.
Examples of Welcome Email Series:
The goal of the welcome series is to take your clients on a journey. Your welcome series will be unique to your business, but here are some examples depending on how your customers will interact with your company.
E-commerce:
- Email 1: A warm welcome and a discount offer for first-time shoppers to encourage immediate purchases.
- Email 2: Showcase popular products or product categories, along with customer reviews and testimonials.
- Email 3: Introduce a loyalty program or rewards system to incentivize repeat purchases.
- Email 4: Share personalized product recommendations based on the subscriber’s browsing history or preferences.
- Email 5: Highlight your commitment to customer satisfaction and invite subscribers to leave feedback or reviews.
Online Course:
- Email 1: A friendly welcome, providing login details and instructions on how to get started with the course.
- Email 2: Share a course overview, including the curriculum, key objectives, and what students can expect to learn.
- Email 3: Send a bonus resource or teaser content to engage and motivate learners to begin the course.
- Email 4: Provide social proof, such as success stories from previous students or testimonials.
- Email 5: Offer ongoing support, access to community forums, or exclusive content to encourage course completion.
Newsletter Subscription:
- Email 1: Thank the subscriber for joining and explain what kind of content they will receive from the newsletter.
- Email 2: Showcase the most popular and evergreen posts to give subscribers a taste of the content you’ll be linking to.
- Email 3: Invite subscribers to follow your website on social media or join a community group to stay connected.
- Email 4: Share exclusive content or a downloadable resource that complements recent blog posts.
- Email 5: Ask for feedback and suggestions to tailor future content to the interests of the subscribers.
In summary, a well-designed email welcome series is a strategic tool for onboarding and engaging new subscribers. It helps build trust, nurture leads, and ultimately drive conversions, all of which contribute to the long-term success of your email marketing efforts.
- First Impressions Matter: They set the tone for your relationship with a new subscriber. A well-crafted welcome series leaves a positive impression and establishes trust.
- Engagement and Familiarity: It introduces subscribers to your brand, helping them understand what you offer and how it benefits them. This initial engagement builds familiarity.
- Personalization and Relevance: A welcome series can be tailored to specific subscriber segments, ensuring that the content is relevant to their interests and needs.
- Nurturing Leads: It provides an opportunity to nurture leads by gradually providing them with more information and value, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
- Onboarding and Education: It educates subscribers about your products, services, or content, guiding them on how to get the most out of their interaction with your brand.
- Behavioral Triggers: You can set up triggers based on subscriber behavior, such as clicks or downloads, to deliver targeted content that aligns with their interests.
- Building Trust and Credibility: A welcome series that delivers valuable content helps establish trust and credibility with your audience, positioning your brand as a reliable source of information or products.
- Reducing Churn and Unsubscribes: By keeping subscribers engaged and providing value from the start, you reduce the likelihood of them unsubscribing or becoming inactive.
- Increasing Conversions: It guides subscribers towards a specific action, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a webinar, or downloading an ebook, increasing the chances of conversion.
- Gathering Insights and Data: Through tracking and analyzing the welcome series, you can gain valuable insights into subscriber behavior and preferences, which can inform future marketing strategies.
- Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value: It can lead to repeat purchases and foster long-term loyalty, maximizing the lifetime value of your customers.
- Optimizing Marketing Spend: By targeting efforts on subscribers who are most likely to convert or engage, you allocate marketing resources more efficiently.
- Adapting to Changing Needs: The welcome series can be adjusted over time in response to changing market conditions, customer preferences, and business goals.
