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When building any digital marketing strategy, it can be challenging for businesses to know where to begin. The same holds true for those looking to dip their toes in the email marketing waters or improve their current email workflow. In this case, welcome emails are a great place to start.
Welcome emails are your chance to make a good first impression and set the tone for your subscribers. These messages extend far beyond email newsletter signups, as well – there are so many actions that your audience can take that will benefit from a welcome message. Whether someone wants to download an ebook, access to special discounts, or take some other action, a welcome email helps you engage with those users.
No matter what you want to send your new subscribers, what’s important is that your welcome emails are as quality as your company. Let’s break down why it’s time to send out welcome emails, what they should include, and how to maximize their effectiveness.
It’s no surprise that welcome emails can help a business – it wouldn’t make much sense to do extra work without some benefits, after all. People who haven’t put together new subscriber welcome emails may not understand just how many beneficial boxes that these messages tick off for their audience. For example, sending out welcome emails to new subscribers can yield the following rewards.
A new customer welcome email isn’t just a perk – for many consumers, it’s a must. 74% of subscribers expect to receive welcome emails, but less than half of brands fail to send out these initial emails. Make sure to quickly send out welcome emails to introduce your brand, set expectations, offer content, or deliver the content the user requested. This message will let them know they’re now a part of your email family (and to set yourself apart from businesses that are less welcoming).
Do you know one of the big benefits of sending an email that people eagerly anticipate? People are more likely to open those emails. According to GetResponse’s 2022 email marketing benchmarks, welcome emails have an average open rate of 68.59%, more than triple the rate of other types of marketing emails. In addition, subscribers who receive these initial emails show 33% more engagement with that brand. Talk about a warm welcome.
An interested audience is a valuable one. New subscribers tend to be very interested in your brand – they did subscribe, after all. Welcome emails help businesses capitalize on that interest before it has a chance to wane. As a result, Sendlane reports that welcome emails can generate upward of 320% more revenue than regular promo emails. Sometimes it pays to say hello!
Memory is a fickle thing. While your subscriber may remember that they signed up for something now, they might not recall that interaction in the future and either unsubscribe or report your message as spam. Sending welcome emails gives your subscribers evidence that they did indeed interact with your brand, whereas they’re much more likely to forget if they don’t hear from you in weeks.
At this point, you may be thinking that welcome emails sound great, but that you’re not quite sure what to include in a welcome email. That’s completely understandable – it’s not obvious how to write a welcome email after all. Here are some useful tips about what you should include or consider when building your welcome email.
Whether it’s with a simple and straightforward “thank you for subscribing,” or a special offer, such as a discount code, free shipping, or another coupon of some sort, it’s best practice to show gratitude. There’s no need to belabor the point – copy that’s short and sweet should do the trick. The key is to make sure that every subscriber is appropriately thanked for whatever action they took to land you in your email list.
Your reader was interested enough in your company to subscribe, which makes a welcome email the perfect time to share more about who you are. Take a moment to clearly and succinctly introduce your company to generate more interest. This could be conveyed strictly through text but is also a chance to get creative and incorporate a beautiful image or graphic that showcases your brand and what you’re all about.
This is your chance to briefly outline what your new subscriber can expect by being on your mailing list. Let them know what type of content they’ll receive, how often they can expect to hear from you, and what types of emails that you’ll plan to send in the future. Don’t be afraid to be honest and upfront – letting your new subscriber know that they’ll receive a welcome email series before seeing an ongoing newsletter will only better prepare them for future messages and build trust.
The welcome email also serves as a great opportunity to share content. Try offering three to five relevant blog posts, videos, or whitepapers that may be helpful for new subscribers. Of course, the key word here is “relevant.” Stick with content that already resonates with your current subscribers to help subscribers learn more about your company and how it can provide value to them.
Another welcome email best practice is to include information on how a subscriber can best reach you. This is especially important if the sender mail is from a noreply@ or a generic sales@ email address. Include a section at the bottom of each email that reiterates your brand story and gives subscribers hyperlinked contact info for customer service and other sources they may want to reach.
It can be a struggle to have your emails land in people’s primary inboxes. With a welcome email, you can ask people for help to make sure your messages don’t get lost in spam or promotions tabs. Since the users are already interested in what you have to say, consider adding a short line requesting that new subscribers either whitelist or move your email into their primary email so that they’ll always see your emails in the future.
Lastly, do not hesitate to include a section at the bottom of your email with links to your organization’s social media channels. This best practice is one more opportunity to generate a higher click-through rate and engage with your subscriber on additional platforms.
Just because welcome emails average 33% more engagement and 320% more revenue generation doesn’t mean that they’re all that successful. As with any marketing endeavor, there are ways to maximize just how well your emails perform.
A welcome email shouldn’t be a massive memoir. Welcome emails are meant to, well, welcome people and give them the information they need for a successful experience. Try to keep your message clean and simple with an easy-to-read call to action – you’ll always have more opportunities to share information later. Speaking of more opportunities…
Nobody ever said that you’re limited to a single welcome email. A solid welcome series can be three to five emails long, allowing you to tailor your new subscriber’s experience over their first month or so. These added emails can also help you streamline your messages – one can focus on other relevant content while another can focus on various offers for your products or services. Once they’ve gone through the full welcoming journey, you can add them to you master marketing list.
Gone are the days of manually sending every email. Every trigger that can create a new subscriber should connect to an email automation so that your welcome email is sent as soon as possible to an engaged individual. Most email platforms will let you trigger a welcome email series immediately after someone subscribes. This process will not only save you time, but also get your content in front of subscribers', leads', or potential prospects' face as soon as they submit one of your forms.
Certain subscribers may be interested in some forms of content than others. Consider including a “subscriber preferences” link in your welcome emails to let each person pick and choose what information they want to receive. This will help you cultivate a more engaged audience that is less likely to unsubscribe because they occasionally see something that doesn’t call out to them.
You could also include features like a free trial or other calls to action that can help you identify whether certain subscribers are further down the funnel than others. Either way, these measures can help you segment your audience and create new automations based on certain products, services areas, industries, etc.
Now that you know how to get the most out of your welcome emails, it’s time for some inspiration. Here are three more great examples of welcome emails from our friends at Really Good Emails.
Of course, there are times when businesses need some assistance building up their mailing lists, crafting the perfect email campaigns, or increasing engagement with their subscribers? Aztek’s team of email marketing specialists can help! Contact us today to see how we can help generate high-quality leads and increase engagement through our email marketing services.
