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First impressions are everything. If your welcome email to a new subscriber turns them off from your brand, good luck getting them to purchase something from you.
If your welcome email succeeds, you’re on your way to building a lifelong relationship. Studies show that open rates for welcome emails are often over 30%, and conversion rates are often over 50%!
So how can you build a strong foundation and send the perfect welcome email?
We’ll show you. Here are 9 welcome email best practices, along with 5 great examples.
What’s the Goal of a Welcome Email?
Ok, before you start crafting your best-in-class welcome email, you have to define your goals. There is no one-size-fits-all goal of a welcome email, so here are a few examples:
- Subscription confirmation – Some brands, particularly those that have a lot of spam subscribers, choose to send a “double opt-in” message immediately after someone subscribes. This is usually a concise message, saying, “Please confirm your subscription by clicking here.”
- Welcome subscribers – For many brands, the goal of a welcome email is to say “thank you” and introduce a new subscriber to the brand. These emails often feature an “About Us” section that lets the new subscriber know more about the founders, the brand, the mission, etc.
- Make a sale – Don’t want to beat around the bush? That’s fine. You can use your welcome email to encourage a subscriber to make a purchase.
- Offer a promotion – It is common for brands to offer a discount or free shipping in exchange for signing up for the email list. If that’s the case, your welcome email should include a link or discount code.
Welcome Email Best Practices
After you define your goal, it’s time to start building. Here are some best practices to remember when developing your welcome journey.
Stand Out
First and foremost, your welcome email needs to stand out. If it doesn’t, it’s at risk of getting deleted immediately.
To stand out, start by crafting the perfect welcome series subject line. After that, make sure you choose a template that matches the look and feel of your brand. Finally, use high-quality images. Savvy audiences can spot stock imagery from a mile away.
Highlight Your Unique Selling Proposition
A unique selling proposition (USP) is a feature that makes your product or brand unique in the marketplace. In other words, why are you better than the competition? That could mean all your clothes are handmade by grandmothers in retirement communities, or you donate 50% of profits to a local charity.
Whatever your USP, your welcome email is the perfect place to showcase it.
Send It Immediately
People expect to receive an email confirmation immediately after signing up. So don’t wait a day or two. Instead, send it right away for the highest impact.
Follow Up With a Text Message
If the subscriber also signed up for your SMS list, don’t forget to send them a welcome message there as well. But remember, SMS messages should be short and sweet, while emails can be a little longer.
Have a Clear Call To Action
You’ll see this tip on just about every email marketing best practices list. Customers want to be directed to do something. So make your intention clear by having a call to action that is easy to find. On top of that, make it obvious what will happen when they click the button.
Let People Learn Where They Can Get More [Social]
Sometimes new subscribers are hungry for more content and information related to your products and brand. Ensure your social media channels are showcased in your welcome email template (typically in the footer).
Ask To Be Added to a Safer Senders List
Getting flagged as spam is no fun. Ask subscribers to remove any filters or add your email address to a safe senders list to ensure your messages land in their inbox.
Set Expectations
Like any relationship, setting expectations from the get-go can be helpful. For example, in your welcome email, you can let people know how often you send newsletters or what sort of messages they can expect to receive.
You should also tell customers what happens if they reply to a message.
Make it a Part of a Journey
Who says a welcome email should only be one message? Instead of setting up a welcome email, set up a welcome journey. Here’s a look at an example campaign:
- Thank you for signing up.
- About the brand.
- Our top products
- Top stories.
- First purchase promotion.
Welcome Email Examples
Now let’s look at some welcome email examples and discuss what they did great and where they could improve.
Welcome to Capiche! 🎉
This email from Capiche is excellent because of how well it sets expectations. It tells subscribers exactly what they’re getting. We also like how they signed off with actual team member names–this creates a very welcoming and personal environment.
Welcome to Loom! 🎥
What better way to introduce people to your product than to use your product in your welcome email? Loom is video recording software that makes it easy to capture and record videos on your computer. So it makes sense to include a Loom video in the inaugural email.
Welcome to the Bright Side
We like this email from Supergoop because of the community aspect. Welcoming subscribers to “the movement” is much more motivating than joining an email list. We also love when founders aren’t afraid to stand up and be the face of the brand.
Welcome to BYLT! Experience premium basics like never before.
This email from Bylt does a lot of things right. First off, it has a very clear above-the-fold call to action. And if that isn’t enough to convince you, they also include their story and best sellers. This email could probably be broken up into three or four emails, but we always recommend testing to make sure.
Welcome to Rapha
Rapha knows the importance of personalization, so they don’t beat around the bush in their welcome email and use the opportunity to learn more about the new subscriber. If someone clicks and fills out the survey, Rapha is now equipped with more data that can be used to create an even better experience for the customer. Bravo, Rapha!
