5 Features of Successful Welcome Emails

Nov 29, 2022
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When your customer first signs up for your email marketing list and starts receiving messages from your brand, the last thing you want is for them to wonder whether they should unsubscribe.

Luckily, a good welcome email message can help you meet their expectations and get them interested and even excited about building a relationship with your company. A good welcome email sets the tone for the rest of your interactions with your customer, ensuring they get what they expected when they signed up, allowing you to greet them and welcome them on board, which is an excellent start to your future relationship with them.

What is a welcome email?

Have you ever given somebody your contact information hoping to hear back from them as soon as possible, only to end up waiting days, or perhaps even weeks, to hear back from them? If you have, then you know how frustrating it can be. And if you are building a business, the last thing you want for your potential customers is for them to feel that way.

As a rule of thumb, your customers should get a welcome/onboarding email as soon as they leave you their contact details.

Welcome emails are a crucial part of any successful email marketing strategy. Somebody signing up to your email list means they trust your business with their contact information, so reach out to these new email subscribers and welcome them as soon as possible instead of leaving them hanging.

A welcome email can be a single email (the most common choice of marketers) or it can be an entire email series that tells a compelling story, all set up in your email client. In this email series, companies can send introductory content such as onboarding materials or more info about the company.

The practical reasons for sending a welcome email

A welcome email is the first email new contacts get after signing up for your mailing list. They are usually automated, allowing subscribers to receive them immediately or within a few minutes of signing up from a dedicated email address.

There are many benefits of sending a welcome email when somebody subscribes to your email list, and over 70% of consumers say that they now expect to get one when they subscribe – information that no business owner or marketing manager can ignore.

Since new leads are more likely to be engaged with your brand and message within the first forty-eight hours of subscribing, the sooner you reach out with a welcome email, the better. Compared to typical marketing emails, welcome emails also tend to perform better and have higher engagement rates. Some key stats:

  • Welcome emails can have up to a massive over 90% open rate, which is amazing email performance compared to other email types.
  • Compared to other promotional emails, welcome emails generate an average of more than 300% more revenue per email.
  • On average, a welcome email gets four times more opens and five times better click-through rates compared to standard marketing emails.

So, even though this is a welcome email and the first in a series, don’t shy away from slapping on an attractive call to action button. Consider it as the start of an email sales funnel where you slowly nudge a prospect to become a customer.

6 key elements to include in your welcome email

So, now you know just how important it is to send an engaging and exciting welcome email to new subscribers of your mailing list. Now you can start building the relationship between them and your brand, but what should you include in your email series?

1 – Start with a captivating email subject line

With over three hundred billion emails sent daily, you can expect your subscribers to have crowded inboxes, which is why your subject line needs to stand out and grab their attention.

Subject lines in email marketing must do a lot of the hard work for you. With almost 50% of email recipients opening emails based on the subject line alone, it’s clear that they play a crucial part in getting your email noticed and looked at. Along with this, almost 70% of email recipients will use the subject line to judge whether an email is spam – and report it as such – which is why getting this part right is crucial.

There are a few tips to keep in mind when it comes to getting your subject line right:

  • Keep it short and sweet, aiming for a length of between six and ten words.
  • Avoid using the word ‘newsletter’, which can decrease your open rate.
  • If appropriate, include a number which can earn a 1.3% higher open rate.
  • Drive the highest open rates by using personalised messages; something as simple as using the recipient’s name in your subject line can make a big difference.
  • If it’s in line with your brand image, consider adding emojis – subject lines with emojis have an over 50% higher open rate.

Think about the basic principles of persuasion and get the reader hooked early on with an irresistible offer. You don’t have to be a persuasion expert to get the subject right.

2 – Make your subscribers feel welcome

The main aim of the welcome email is to do precisely what the name implies and make your new subscribers feel welcome. It is a chance to thank them for taking the time to sign up for your newsletter and let them know that you are looking forward to having them as a part of your brand’s community.

While this might sound like being polite and having some basic good manners, a little appreciation from your brand towards your new subscribers can go a long way in building a thriving relationship with them.

Over 50% of customers say that companies are not providing the customer experience they want. They do not believe companies have their best interests in mind, so it’s essential to use your welcome email to show that you do. The customer experience is crucial due to some key stats:

  • Almost 90% of customers say they will pay more for a better experience.
  • Over 60% of customers say that a brand making sure they know they are appreciated and cared about is the best way to turn them into advocates for the company.
  • Eighty percent of customers say that their experience with a brand is just as important as the quality of the products and services it sells.

Use the email series to build a genuine connection and show the human side of your business. If you’re sending from a real email address (and not a no-reply one), you can expect responses to your welcome email series. Make sure to respond and keep the conversation going.

3 – Introduce yourself properly

The welcome email is also an excellent time to introduce your brand and tell new subscribers who you are. You can use it to provide more information on whom they have just signed up to get updates and why they should continue opening your emails in the future. Learn how to write an effective outreach email.

Doing this can help your new subscribers get to know your business deeper, ultimately encouraging a better connection and relationship with them over time. This will allow you to build more trust with your readers from the beginning through social proof.

This also leads to a range of benefits, including customers that stay with the brand for longer, have a higher lifetime value, and recommend your brand more – if you meet their expectations.

If you run a small business, it’s the ideal time to tell a personal story about how the business came to be or how the business owner set up the company and product launch. For instance, you could share the heartfelt journey of establishing your local Fort Lauderdale flower shop, emphasizing the beauty and significance of native Florida flowers like the vibrant orange blossoms of the tropical Hibiscus or the fragrant allure of the Orange Blossom, which have become emblematic of your business’s deep roots in the community. Don’t think about building desire, just consider it as a chance to tie in how this new customer means so much to the brand you’re building.

4 – Reward the subscribers for signing up

The welcome email you send is an excellent opportunity to thank your subscriber for subscribing to your email list and reward them for doing so. If you shop online, you have probably seen this kind of thing in action – lots of eCommerce stores will offer a discount code to get money off your next order when you provide your email address to sign up to their email list, and it works. Creating a promo code or a coupon code takes just a few minutes and can make a massive difference in future sales numbers.

Lead magnets are also a common incentive for getting digital product names and addresses from trial users on mailing lists. This refers to a free and valuable resource provided to new subscribers in return for signing up for the email list. Discover tips for an effective email marketing campaign.

This approach also works for trial users in subscription products. Since they’re already solution aware, you can offer them something to get them even closer to becoming a paid user with great calls to action.

When you send a welcome email, it’s the perfect time to make sure that you are delivering on any promises you have made and providing your new subscriber with the discount or the lead magnet you offered them in return for signing up.

5 – Set expectations for the future email series

You can use your welcome email to provide further information that lets subscribers know what they can expect from you going forward. It’s an excellent opportunity to set expectations for the rest of the onboarding sequence and other emails. For example, how often they will hear from you and the content you’ll send them in your email funnels.

By providing this kind of information in your welcome email, you can make sure that subscribers stick around, as they know how often they will hear from you in the future. Learn about the importance of email open rate.

They are less likely to forget you if they don’t hear from you again for a week, for example, as you’ve already told them that you send individual emails biweekly. It helps to get subscribers excited for the future and anticipate your messages, as well as get a feel for your email style.

6 – Get to know your subscribers better

Sure, the main aim of the welcome email is as an opportunity for you to introduce your company and for subscribers to get to know your brand better. However, it can also be a great time to ask your customers more about themselves and do some research into them. You don’t need an email strategist to get up close and personal with your customers.

For example, you could include a survey as part of your welcome email to get answers to questions that would have been too much on the sign-up form. You can use the welcome email to find your customers’ pain points, why they signed up for your email list, and more. Discover how to check if an email address is valid.

A welcome email is often the first interaction between your brand and a new subscriber, and it can play a huge role in setting the tone for your future relationship with them. Learn about the different types of email accounts.

PS. also make sure to include an unsubscribe button. As odd as it may seem for an onboarding email, you need to have this button by law. Even in confirmation emails, customers need to have an option to leave.

7 – Think of the number of emails in your welcome email series

Some brands send one welcome email. Others send 4-6 emails or more. You can decide which one works best for you depending on the amount of information you need to convey.

For example, you may have a complex product that requires a more detailed onboarding sequence. In that case, your first onboarding email will be a mere introduction and the remainder will be guides on how to get started with the product and get the most out of it.

There is no rule of thumb for the ideal number of emails in your onboarding sequence. With your favorite email marketing automation software, you can track your email performance and see at which email the metrics start falling off. You don’t have to be an email expert to figure out how many emails is too much for your specific subscriber base.

When it comes to timing in your onboarding sequence, it’s best to space your individual emails apart. For example, one email per day or one email every other day. That way, the customers have time to read and process their onboarding emails and they won’t feel spammed by your sequences.

8 – Don’t take your welcome email list for granted

If someone is on your welcome email list, don’t let them hang around there forever. These could be people who just want to get confirmation emails for signing up and they will move on to some other list or just stop reading your emails altogether.

As time goes on, the welcome email list will get outdated as people leave their companies, change their addresses, stop using their email addresses and more. As a result, you’ll be sending out emails to non-existing or outdated emails and hurt your overall email metrics, especially your sender reputation.

To stay on top of your email performance, make sure to use Bouncer every few months to clean up and validate your email list.

That way, you’ll find out which individual emails should be deleted from your list.

With a clean list of emails, not only will you have better email marketing metrics, but you’ll also improve your customer engagement. With Bouncer, you’re one step closer to becoming an expert email strategist and building a highly engaging email sales funnel.

Welcome email examples and email templates you can try today

Here are some great email templates you can try on your own to get inspired for your email series. We’ll handle the email body copy for you, while you can experiment with the email designs.

#1

Subject: 🎉 Welcome aboard the Success Express! 🚂

Hey there [Name],

We’re thrilled to have you join our journey to success! Grab a window seat, and let’s start exploring new horizons together. Stay tuned for exclusive tips, strategies, and insights that’ll propel your business forward.

All aboard,

[Your Business Name]

#2

Subject: 🎁 Unwrapping Success: Your VIP Pass Awaits!

Hi [Name],

Welcome to the [Your Business Name] family! We’ve rolled out the red carpet just for you. As a VIP member, you’ll enjoy early access to our latest resources, expert advice, and much more. Are you ready to unwrap success?

Cheers,

[Your Business Name]

#3

Subject: 🚀 [Name], Prepare for Liftoff!

Greetings Earthling [Name],

You’ve successfully joined the ranks of [Your Business Name] space cadets. Together, we’ll embark on an interstellar journey to business success. Strap in and get ready for out-of-this-world tips, tricks, and insights.

Bon Voyage,

[Your Business Name]

#4

Subject: 🕵️‍♂️ Mission Accepted: Welcome to [Your Business Name]!

Agent [Name],

Congratulations on accepting your top-secret mission to join [Your Business Name]! Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to elevate your business skills with our expert guidance. Remember, this message will not self-destruct.

Your Partner in Espionage,

[Your Business Name]

#5

Subject: Welcome to the Winning Circle, [Name]!

Hi [Name],

You’ve just entered the exclusive [Your Business Name] winning circle! Together, we’ll celebrate your victories and help you conquer the business world. Keep an eye on your inbox for valuable insights, tips, and success stories.

To your triumph,

[Your Business Name]

#6

Subject: Fasten Your Seatbelt, [Name]: Your Success Journey Starts Now

Dear [Name],

Thank you for joining [Your Business Name]! We’re excited to be your copilot on this thrilling adventure towards business success. Stay tuned for the latest tips, strategies, and news that will fuel your progress.

Happy travels,

[Your Business Name]

#7

Subject: You’ve Struck Gold, [Name]: Welcome to [Your Business Name]

Hello [Name],

Congratulations on discovering the treasure trove of business wisdom that is [Your Business Name]! We’re excited to share nuggets of knowledge and valuable insights to help your business shine.

Golden regards,

[Your Business Name]

#8

Subject: [Name], Your Business Masterclass Awaits

Hi [Name],

Welcome to [Your Business Name]! Consider this your personal invitation to a masterclass in business success. We’ll be your mentors, sharing the latest news, trends, and strategies to elevate your skills and grow your business.

Let the learning begin,

[Your Business Name]

Wrapping up

Creating a welcome email is the very start of a successful email marketing strategy. And as you’ve seen above, starting out your email campaign with a successful welcome email can make a massive impact on your existing and prospective customers.

But before you start your email communication with a welcome email, you want to make sure that you’re sending to the right kind of audience. With Bouncer, you can clean up and validate your lists, which means that you’ll only send emails to real people and no fake, outdated email address.

Sign up today to get started!

Frequently asked questions:

Is a welcome email really needed in my email series?
It would be great to add a welcome email to each of your email sequences. It sets the right tone for the rest of the communication and these types of emails are like setting your foot through the door. And with modern email automations, creating one takes just a few minutes.

What is the main purpose of a welcome email?
There are quite a few reasons why you would want to use a welcome email. Its main purpose is to set the tone for the rest of the email communication. For example, you can show off a conversational tone and highlight how important customer engagement and customer loyalty are for your business.

What makes a great onboarding welcome email?
You first need a captivating subject line that shows off your style of communication. You then need to set the expectations: how many emails this person will get and when. You also need to use a friendly tone and appear human. Last but not least, a captivating CTA button to seal the deal.

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