Get Secrets That Other Email Agencies Won't Reveal
When it comes to welcome emails, your customers have seen it all.
Having handed over their precious personal information through a sign-up form or purchase, any number of experiences awaited them—running the gamut from absolutely annoying to surprisingly delightful.
Today’s consumers are more sophisticated than ever and won’t put up with obnoxious marketing—they have plenty of options and will take their attention elsewhere if you abuse it.
Getting them to sign up is only the first step. From there, everything we do is relationship building.
Professionals know that you must deliver value and do it consistently, starting with the welcome email.
Get this first step right, and you have the opportunity to stand out in a crowded and noisy marketplace, possibly winning a customer’s love for years to come.
This guide will help you level up your welcome email game. You’ll see plenty of examples from real businesses (across many industries) that can serve as welcome email templates to guide your creative process.
At the end we’ll explore a bonus strategy for ensuring you get that vital first contact right.
Let’s get started.
Welcome emails serve to introduce people into your world or transition them deeper down your funnel. Typically automated, this message is triggered by a subscriber or customer filling out a form, making a purchase, or signing up in some way to receive value from your business.
It typically includes a warm and welcoming message along with introductions to you and your team, your company’s values, instructions on what to do next, and any other information needed to move forward.
It’s important to know that you may need a number of different welcome emails depending on where your leads are coming from.
For example, if prospects enter your world from a Facebook ad campaign that emphasizes a specific benefit of your product, then you want that welcome message congruent with what came before it.
Otherwise, if you’re trying to use the same welcome message for that ad campaign and your blog sign up form, the messaging can be misaligned. This leaves your reader feeling confused, eroding the trust you’re trying to build.
Welcome emails deserve much more care and attention than most businesses give them.
Let’s take a look at just how important welcome emails are to your business.
For most businesses, the welcome email is a massive untapped opportunity for brand building, cultivating customer relationships, and improving sales and conversions.
Yet only 57.7% of brands greet new subscribers with welcome emails. And 73% of brands that did send an email did not send any messages within the first 48 hours (Source: Experian Marketing Services).
The timing of sending your emails matters. And it’s not just for welcome emails. As a rule of thumb, you should set up automated emails that get delivered to the recipients such as newsletter subscribers within minutes of them subscribing. Same goes for a customer who’s just signed up with your brand. It shows that you’re proactive and care about engaging with them. Additionally, it boosts the open rates and provides a positive signal that enhances the deliverability rates as well.
An email unsubscribe rate is the percentage of users who opt out of an email list post a campaign. When the number rises, it indicates whether or not your email campaign is working. It sounds an alarming bell for marketers but on the other side of the coin, there’s an advantage.
Unsubscribe rates are more commonplace for welcome emails. But guess what? It actually improves the email deliverability.
The reasons for people unsubscribing from the emails is – they may not be the customers who’d want to do business with you. For instance, a freelance marketer may subscribe to your emails just to assess the kind of content or promos on the offer and may unsubscribe later.
Now pause for a second. These are the folks who will never engage with your emails. Once they leave, the email deliverability rates will automatically increase, which is great news actually!
Likewise, there may be people who were in your email list. But they switched roles or companies and will no longer need the emails. In this case as well, the unsubscribes don’t hurt.
Anyone can write welcome emails. But to write an email that delights customers or new subscribers takes effort. You need to retain their interest after the ‘first contact’ and so, we’ve compiled these tips that’ll help you write stellar welcome emails.
How do you ensure that your brand is fully leveraging the opportunities that come from sending great welcome emails?
We’ll use the following examples to highlight nine welcome email best practices to help you make a great first impression. We’ve rounded up dozens of examples from multiple industries to give you plenty of options to fit your brand and message.
It doesn’t matter how epic your onboarding welcome email is if no one opens it.
And even though most customers expect a welcome email, you should still do everything you can to encourage more opens.
That’s why we start by writing our best subject line—one that stands out in a busy inbox and grabs their attention.
According to Invespro, “47% of email recipients open email based on the subject line alone.”
Test These Subject Line Strategies for Better Open Rates :
Your Subject Line Should Not Be :
Is your brand serious, tough, funny, feminine, playful? Ultimately, your subject lines should match your brand’s voice.
Being consistent builds trust, and that starts with your subject line.
Let’s look at some examples to get you started. For your convenience, we’ve provided an additional list of 15 subject line templates at the end of this guide.
Noteworthy
Birch Lane offers 10% off your first order right in the subject line. It’s hard for anyone to pass up a deal. They’ll at least want to have a look to ensure they’re not missing out on something good.
Why It Works
Wow, $50 is pretty generous! Also, the possibility of winning something has caught my attention.
This subject line activates both greed and curiosity.
Noteworthy
My name jumps out from the other generic subject lines in my inbox. The message feels more personal like we’re already friends.
Noteworthy
Overall, it has a fun, festive feeling to it. Like I just walked into a cool bar full of my friends.
Noteworthy
This message feels inspiring and hopeful. Exactly what you would want on the beginning of a health or weight loss journey.
This one may seem like a “no brainer,” but it’s important to get this right.
Just like in a regular conversation, it’s important that you have good manners and treat your new subscriber well. Put them at ease by showing them you are caring and considerate.
It’s generally a good idea to personalize email messages by using their first name if you gathered it with your sign up form.
Follow with a sincere “thank you” and “welcome.”
No one wants to feel like they’ve just been fed into a faceless corporate marketing machine, and the more your email can feel like it’s coming from a real person the better.
Much of this feeling has to do with the tone and style of your writing—think conversational style versus robotic “corporate speak.”
Put a face to your business
This is a great time to introduce yourself and your team. Especially if this subscriber is new to your world (versus an existing customer). This can be accomplished with face shots of your team or pictures of your workplace.
Remember, as always, match the language and tone of your welcome and introductions to the overall style of your brand.
Finally, it’s a good practice to acknowledge where they came from.
For example, imagine you’re walking down the sidewalk and see a huge sign with balloons in front of a store that says “Massive One-Day Only SALE!” You walk in and there are no signs anywhere and the person behind the counter greets you but doesn’t say a word about the sale.
You would probably be wondering, “Did I walk into the wrong store?”
Wouldn’t that leave you feeling a bit confused or anxious? That is exactly what you never want your potential customers to feel.
Noteworthy
They start off with “Dear [name],” and then thank you for joining before jumping right into their mission.
You’re immediately pulled into the story of this organization. Stunning images combined with emphatic, purposeful language emphasize their passion for changing lives.
Noteworthy
David does a great job of being personable while welcoming you into his world.
Noteworthy
Although he could be more welcoming, Peter does a great job of introducing himself and his newsletter.
Noteworthy
Telling someone you’re “happy they’re here” is always a nice way to start things off.
Including the word “family” helps them feel more welcome.
Noteworthy
This welcome email template from Tiny Fox Press takes it a step further by telling us, “You’re awesome!”
That feels good, right?
Most of the time it’s a bad idea to present your new subscriber with a daunting wall of text.
Your customers work hard, don’t make your emails look like hard work.
They’ll just move on to the next message and forget about you. Plus, they’ll make a mental note that every time they open your email, it’s going to be difficult.
That means your message should be clear, concise and to the point. Your welcome email doesn’t need to tell them everything about your company.
The better your copy, the longer it can be. But it should only be as long as it absolutely needs to be to get the job done.
Using short, explainer style videos can help break up the amount of reading they have to do so they don’t get overwhelmed.
Also, using bold, italics, and underlining can help highlight important information and make it easier for them to navigate your instructions.
Noteworthy
Short and to the point, this welcome email includes bullet lists and bold headlines to move your eyes along with ease.
Contact our ecommerce email agency if you need help in improving your email marketing
Noteworthy
This is about as short as it gets. There’s a two-minute explainer video to quickly get you up speed.
Noteworthy
They get right to it: Here is our downloadable guide.
Confusion leads to lower conversions and is bad for business.
Remember, if it feels confusing or like hard work, you risk making a poor first impression or even permanently losing your subscribers’ attention.
If there are next steps for them to take, lay it out clearly. Don’t leave them guessing.
Consider using GIFs, images, or explainer videos along with text to make it easy for them to understand at a glance. People don’t have time to decipher convoluted instructions or requests.
If what they need to do next is complicated, provide a link to a guide that goes in depth.
Let them know what to expect from you in the future.
Will you be emailing them weekly? Sending them different types of emails? Offering deals and coupons?
Again, we’re building trust, but also interest. They’ll be more likely to open future emails from you.
Any call to action should be clear, obvious, and can be repeated multiple times in longer emails.
Examples of CTA’s include:
Noteworthy
In this welcome email template there’s one very obvious thing to do: Click the button to save your seat for the GetResponse training.
Noteworthy
Telling subscribers to add International Student to their address book is a call to action that will ensure the deliverability of future emails.
Noteworthy
This email does a great job of highlighting what to expect from MailerLite over the next two weeks.
Noteworthy
Kongregate acknowledges their subscribers’ potential overwhelm and gives them recommendations to get started right away.
Noteworthy
LinkedIn issues an immediate CTA at the top of their email with a “Get started” button.
Noteworthy
Target provides a few different CTAs as well as instructions for visiting their brick and mortar locations.
Noteworthy
Along with very simple instructions for using their app, in this welcome email template Twitter directs you to “Get started.”
Design matters.
Functionally, it can make navigating and understanding your message easier or more difficult.
A cluttered email can make your reader feel anxious and overwhelmed, making them more likely to set your email aside for another time (never).
The colors, fonts, images, and layout you use are an extension of your branding. They create a continuity of experience from your advertising, website, and even your physical business location. Giving customers a congruent experience continues to build trust.
Images work with your copy to tell a story and create an experience. They can be used (along with video) to feature products.
The text in your email should be easy to read and include plenty of whitespace on the page.
If you can, use bullet points and numbered lists to make reading your email feel easy.
Your call to action button should be obvious and stand out from the everything else on the page.
Noteworthy
The beautiful image and clean design of this email allow you to imagine yourself on this vacation.
Noteworthy
Another simple, clean, and brilliant layout. The text and images work together telling you that this brand is about “sustainable fashion for the whole family.”
Noteworthy
The variety of colors and flavors awakens your senses and builds your desire to try some of this “curiously delicious ice cream.”
Noteworthy
Everything about this email feels sophisticated and luxurious. Clean copy and stunning images move you effortlessly down the page.
Noteworthy
The vibrant images of fresh foods get you excited to try a new way of eating.
Giving is a great way to begin any relationship.
It generates goodwill and triggers your customers’ reciprocity reflex—moving them to make that vital first purchase with your business.
If you offered an incentive for them to sign up, give it to them right away and make it easy.
Common gifts businesses give to their subscribers:
Another way to demonstrate your generosity is by providing links to blog posts and guides, FAQs, and other relevant and helpful resources (videos, blogs, etc.). Even if you didn’t create these resources, acting as a curator saves your reader time.
You can also encourage and reward social shares by offering additional discounts to those who spread the word.
Noteworthy
At the bottom, they encourage you to “Give a Gift, Get a Gift.” This is a great way to turn your customers into ambassadors for your brand.
Noteworthy
Anyone handing out $200 instantly becomes more likeable.
Noteworthy
The classic “spend $50 and save $5” encourages them to buy just a little more to hit that threshold and receive their savings.
Noteworthy
Saving $15 off your first week of food is one more reason to get started with the diet now.
Noteworthy
Although not offering cash or discounts in this email, Happy Campers are giving away a free guide of helpful tips and admission to their Facebook Group.
Noteworthy
50% off is a huge savings. This is the kind of discount people like to share with their friends
Noteworthy
It’s all about getting someone to take a risk and make that first purchase with your brand. Giving 20% off the first purchase makes it a little less risky.
With welcome emails enjoying higher open rates and engagement, what better opportunity to learn valuable information about your audience?
One way you can do this is to encourage your readers to reply by asking them a question and demonstrating that you invite communication and feedback from your customers.
Besides positioning yourself as a genuinely helpful and caring business, getting personal emails from your customers is marketing gold. They give you direct insights into your customers’ questions, desires, and frustrations.
If you don’t want to discourage replies, then don’t use the noreply@business.com format.
Also, make sure to provide contact info for them to reach you. This includes business location, services, email, website links, phone number, and social links.
Another way to encourage feedback is to embed a simple survey at the bottom of your email. All they have to do is click and submit.
Invite feedback from customers by inviting them to:
Noteworthy
The Party Goddess encourages prospects to email her for help with anything.
Noteworthy
The vice president of Zacks does a great job making us feel welcome to contact them by email or phone.
Noteworthy
The Cheesecake Factory invites you to complete a profile. This is an easy way to ask your readers to provide quite a bit of personal information.
Noteworthy
Searchbloom makes it clear that you can reach out to them with any questions by email.
Noteworthy
Instapaper gives readers two options of using either a support email or contacting them on Twitter.
Noteworthy
Ignite Visibility provides a phone number, email, and the possibility of requesting a free consultation.
The more connection points you can establish with your customer base the better.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with your subscribers on social media.
This helps grow your presence on those platforms and keeps your business top of mind when it comes time for customers to need your solutions.
Another benefit is if your emails happen to go to spam, there is still an opportunity for customers see your updates on their social feed.
Always include social links in the footer of your email.
Noteworthy
The HardwareHut does a great job displaying social buttons at the bottom of their email. They really pop.
Noteworthy
PCMag knows their audience is active on a number of social platforms. They make it easy to connect with them across the web.
Noteworthy
ThoughtCo. only provides links to three social platforms, but they are highly visible.
This may sound counterintuitive, but you want to make it very easy for people to unsubscribe from your email list.
This is part of being in a trusting relationship. You want readers there on their own free will—because they want to be there, not because they can’t figure out how to leave.
It’s up to you to keep them entertained, educated, and inspired. If you provide great value and treat people right, then you shouldn’t have any problem keeping most of your subscribers happy.
The others? Well, you have to let them go.
And if you don’t make it easy, they’ll tag you as spam, harming your email deliverability for the people out there who actually want to hear from you.
Also, you must do this to be compliant with various legal and regulatory codes like the GDPR.
Noteworthy
Revolve provides two opportunities to unsubscribe: About three quarters of the way down the page they ask: “Didn’t mean to subscribe? No worries! Unsubscribe here” and then at the footer (where unsubscribe links are typically located).
It actually makes you trust them more because they aren’t coming across as desperate to keep you there.
Noteworthy
FoodPrint provides the standard unsubscribe link in the footer of their email. It’s obvious enough if you need to find it.
Noteworthy
Land Rover’s unsubscribe link is just as obvious as their “contact us” link and their social links, making it easy for those who want to opt out of emails.
A surprising number of businesses still don’t send a welcome email. If you do, then you’re ahead of the curve.
But did you know that one welcome email is not enough?
That’s right. Not only do you need to make sure you send that initial email, but you need to send out a welcome email series.
This is what we at InboxArmy call the Care Campaign.
This is typically anywhere from 2 – 4 emails but should be adjusted for your specific audience and needs.
What determines the number and timing of those first emails depends on a variety of factors and is too much to get into here (send us a message—we’re happy to help you get clarity about your campaigns).
Why do you need to send a series?
Your customers are bombarded by emails. They are constantly signing up for new lists, and it’s easy for your message to get pushed down and lost. Give them more than one opportunity to see your message.
If they do receive your initial message and actually open and read it, they can get distracted or intend to come back to it later. This often doesn’t happen.
You’re not sending them the same email three times in a row. Each one is different (because if you’re lucky, they’ll read all three).
Here is an example from one of our clients:
As you can see, the 15% off discount is repeated in each email. Otherwise, they are all a little different.
A welcome email or a series of such emails helps make a solid first impression on the new subscribers. It is also crucial communication that introduces a brand’s values, products, services, mission, and overall messaging.
A welcome email is the first communication that goes out to target audiences, including website visitors, app subscribers, or customers. It is used to greet them, onboard them, introduce a product or service, or connect with them.
A recommended welcome email series should at least have two emails. This can be an initial welcome email followed by another invitation to connect further. A third mail can also go out to introduce or explain features of a product or service.
Welcome email campaigns are a series of emails that welcomes potential customers, web visitors, or subscribers who are brand new to the brand/business.
Transactional emails are triggered by an individual customer’s action. Welcome emails are the first communication that goes out to an individual after they subscribe or sign up with a brand. An alert email, comment notification, nudge about finishing payment, are some examples of transactional emails.
Welcome emails are clearly an area where most businesses could do better.
They are an underutilized opportunity for brand building, cultivating trust with your audience and potential customers, and generating more sales.
By following the best practices here and testing different features and copy, you can dial in your welcome email to be a powerful asset for your business.
Of course, if you’re ready to fully leverage welcome email as the powerful business building tool it is, then you’ll want to employ InboxArmy’s Care Campaign.
Check our managed email marketing services if you want to improve the performance of your email marketing program.
Good luck!
Get in touch to start a conversation.