26 May
From the subject line to the conversational tone in the email body, the welcome email above keeps it friendly and simple. Your welcome email for new subscribers is the first impression they’ll get after joining your email list through a lead magnet or sign up form.
In fact, it sets the tone for your whole email relationship and can impact whether or not subscribers will open and click on future emails.
Plus, welcome emails get 86 percent higher open rates than other emails. So if you’re not sending a welcome email, you’re missing out on an amazing opportunity to connect with your audience.
What is a welcome email?
A welcome email is one of the first impressions your brand makes. A friendly welcome message for customers will encourage them to interact with your product or service, and if done well, will lead to increased customer retention.
When you send a welcome email to a new blog or newsletter subscriber, or to a new customer, you’re making a first impression on behalf of your brand. To help ensure you’re making the best first impression possible, we’ve rounded up some examples of standout welcome emails from brands big and small.
Why are welcome emails important?
One important thing to remember, open and click rates do not measure the success of your welcome email. Of course, you’ll want to tweak subject lines and body copy to optimize conversion.
But the real purpose of the welcome email is to move users through your onboarding process. The next step, depending on your product, blog or store could be to encourage readers to:
- complete their profile
- download content
- read a help doc or guide
- login to their account
- make a purchase
- complete a task/action
Whatever that step is, it must deliver value.
How to write welcome email subject lines
You have a lot riding on your welcome email, so take some extra time to get the subject line just right. You want your personality to shine through, but at the same time, you want to be clear that the email is a welcome message to kick off something special.
We wondered about the effect of including “welcome” in the subject line of a welcome email newsletter. To satisfy our curiosity, we analyzed our data all the way back to 2017 or about 12,000 emails in all.
Not surprisingly, email marketing campaigns that featured a “welcome” subject line enjoyed a median open rate 55% higher than those without. And their median CTR was almost 60% higher!
So, here’s a pro tip: put “welcome” in your subject line for a start.Next, we analyzed several successful subject lines and noticed a common structure.
A welcome email subject line that WOWs has two parts – the welcome greeting + something special.
The something special part of the subject line can be anything that invites the reader’s interest. Perhaps, an incentive, a personal message or something that creates curiosity or urgency.
Perfect welcome email for new subscribers
1. Thank your new subscriber
The first thing you should do in your welcome email is thank your new subscriber for joining your email list.
Thanks is one of the most effective words to use in your emails. Not only does it add a human quality to your email, but it also builds brand loyalty. When subscribers know you appreciate them, they are more likely to have positive feelings toward you and your brand.
Try thanking the new subscriber by using first name personalization. Including a subscriber’s first name may catch their attention and increase engagement.
2. Deliver the incentive you promised
Do you get site visitors to sign up to your email list by giving them an incentive when they subscribe? If you do, your welcome email should deliver the incentive you promised in your sign up form. If you don’t, you’ll most likely lose your subscribers’ trust and frustrate them.
Pro tip: If you don’t currently promote a lead magnet like an ebook, checklist or worksheet on your sign up form, you might want to try using one to grow your email list more quickly. Incentives give visitors immediate value and a good reason to subscribe.
3. Set expectations
Let your subscriber know what they can expect from you. Explain what kind of emails you’ll send them. Will you send a weekly newsletter? Or let them know every time you’re offering an exclusive deal? Will they be the first to know about new features or products you’re introducing?
This will define the relationship and prevent subscribers from being taken by surprise by your email content which can increase spam complaints and unsubscribes. It can also get them excited for what’s to come and what value you’ll provide them.
4. Tell them who you are
Explain to people what your business is all about and who you are? Introduce yourself, show off your personality and start building a connection. This can help you sell your product or service in later emails, because your subscribers will already be familiar with who you are and what you do.
Get personal with the new subscriber by telling a cool story or little-known fact about your business. Or, share your mission and how your product or service is changing the world. It’ll allow you to connect with the subscriber on a deeper level and set you apart from other similar businesses.
5. Ask subscribers to whitelist you
Whitelisting is when subscribers add you to their address book. The purpose of whitelisting is to improve your deliverability and make sure that your emails to subscribers don’t get filtered to spam.
In your welcome email, offer instructions on how your subscriber can whitelist you. Also, make sure to emphasize the benefit of doing this, your subscribers won’t miss an important email with a special deal or valuable information.
6. Provide contact information and links to social channels
Include contact information in your welcome email to make yourself accessible to subscribers if they want to reach out. Getting subscribers to reply to your emails or call you is a great way to further your relationship and learn more about them.
You could also deepen your connection with them by providing links to your social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and encouraging them to follow you. If they like receiving your emails, they’ll likely enjoy your social media updates too!.
Summarize some of the best welcome email practices
- Personalize your welcome email to deliver content your users will value. Track customer properties and event data to add dynamic content to your emails and push notifications.
- Create an automated workflow to easily visualize and design your welcome email and the following steps in your customer journey. This way you can monitor the performance of your campaign and quickly identify opportunities for improvement.
- Ensure your welcome email is displayed in the local language of your reader to increase engagement rates. The easiest way to do so is by using Vero’s multi-language campaigns.
- Play with language and keep it fresh when writing content for your emails. Introduce your personality and ensure it’s consistent with your brand tone-of-voice. Stick to the point and always refer to one thing at a time.
- Think strategically about the call to action in your welcome emails. Consider your overall objective. What action do you want people to take? If your email gets lengthy don’t hesitate to sprinkle additional CTAs at strategic locations.
- Use clear value propositions and wrap your welcome email content around them.
- Keep your message concise. Make sure to press the right buttons and inspire your user’s imagination.
- Optimize your emails for short attention spans. Use headings, subheadings, bullets, and other tactics to communicate quickly.
- Make your welcome email simple, clean and visual. Create an authentic and memorable brand identity.
- Use the 1-2-3 formula to make each step clear for the subscriber. Be helpful and make it easy to get started.
- Storytelling makes your brand more authentic and relatable, so don’t shy away from using some real facts.
- Introduce your team with real photos to make your brand more human friendly.
- An excellent subject for your welcome email helps you boost your open rates and reach even more people, so make it compelling.
Wrap up
A welcome email is the perfect medium for introducing folks to the characteristics that make your brand unique. Moreover, it is one of the most important emails you’ll ever send. It is the first step to truly connecting with your audience and sets the tone for your entire relationship.
Hence, when it comes to a welcome email newsletter, don’t just lay out the welcome mat. Roll out the red carpet! And follow the key takeaways from these email marketing best practices and ideas.