An effective welcome email is like a handshake. If you nail it, you make a great first impression and the relationship is off to a positive start. Miss the mark, and, well…. you might not get another shot.
First impressions are everything.
Your welcome email series is an opportunity to introduce yourself to potential buyers and let them know who you are, what you do, and why you do it.
In this guide, we show you how to improve your open, click, and conversion rates for your Welcome Series.
Improve your Open Rates
Subject lines
Think about the funnel of Opens > Clicks > Conversions.
You start with email opens. The more opens you get, the more clicks and conversions you’ll get. Subject lines drive opens. Here are some strategies to create eye-catching subject lines.
Subject Line Tip 1 : Emojis are your friends
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See how emojis cut through the noise and direct your eyes?
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Try using the same emoji with every subject line to give a visual signal.
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Get creative with emoji type and placement. Test something new!
💌 And all of these are Drip users! 💌
Subject Line Tip 2 : Spark curiosity
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Make them feel they’ll miss out on something by NOT opening it. Create some tension by starting a story in the subject line—and finishing it in the email body.
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“I just couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore...I had to do SOMETHING...”
Subject Line Tip 3 : Mention a problem
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If you have a problem and someone legitimately has a solution for it—you’re curious, right? Why not start with the problem you’re well-positioned to solve?
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“It’s impossible to find the perfect dog treat. Well...it WAS impossible.”
Preheaders
Preheaders are often overlooked. But this small set of characters creates a powerful opportunity to lead someone down the path of opening your email. You’ve got 30-80 characters to get creative.
Preheader Tip 1 : Share the main point of your email
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If you have the right people in your audience your content should spark their interest—so tell them what your content is.
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Subject: “We just couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore...we had to do SOMETHING”
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Preheader: “This is what gets our team up every morning.”
Preheader Tip 2 : Create some conflict
As humans we love stories—and good conflict is the core of every story. Lean on that. Don’t you want to see the resolution of this email???
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Subject: “My kids HATED that I did this. 😡 ”
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Preheader: “But I wasn’t going to budge. 😂 ”
Preheader Tip 3: Get weird
What if you...included ONLY emojis? Just one word? A ridiculous statement?
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Subject: “🧙 🎩 ABRACA...ah forget it. ✨🧙🏽♀️”
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Preheader: “MAGIC INSIDE.”
Improve your Clicks
An effective Welcome Series drives brand engagement and awareness.
But you’re also trying to drive first purchases from people who haven’t ordered. The best way to do that is to drive people from your email to your website.
Here are three things to keep in mind when trying to drive your welcome clickthrough rates.
Click Tip 1 : Give people a reason to go back to your website.
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If you put ALL of your brand-building content in your emails, people might not be compelled to go back to your website. Start a story in your Welcome emails and finish it on your website.
Click Tip 2 : Give people a clear way to go back to your website.
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Include a clear, obvious “call-to-action” (CTA) button/link in your email that leads to your website. This gets people browsing and engaging with your products.
Click Tip 3 : Give more ways to go back to your website.
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Have pictures in your email? Great! Link them back to your website. Have a logo in your email header? Link back to your website. If you have links—make sure they work!
Improve your Conversions
The goal of introducing yourself and kicking off the relationship to a great start isn’t just for fun... it’s to drive the first purchase! And sending a series of 2-4 emails after someone signs up to your list is one of the best ways to get it.
Here are five welcome emails that convert (and what we learned from them!).
Golde's Personal Note
Without a physical storefront, and the ability to meet customers face-to-face, sending a personal note from your founder(s) is a great way to put a real human face to your brand.
We love this welcome email from Golde, whose founders share their mission and their favorite products. It’s personal and effective.
Omsom's Brand-Building
If you ever doubted that you could give people a sense of your brand through email, this welcome email from Omsom is here to reassure you that it’s 100% doable.
From the design to the subject line + body copy, everything about this email evokes Omsoms brand. This welcome email introduces you to the brand, the founders, and their story in a loud and fiery way that works.
Sienna Studios's Discount
Another effective way to welcome people to your email list: with a promo code or discount. Sienna Studios started capturing people’s email addresses on their website before launch day, and they added a little extra incentive with a 15% code.
We also love the user-generated content (UGC) plug to be featured on their Instagram story. The more UGC you can get, the better.
Click and Grow's UGC
Speaking of user-generated content, fostering a sense of community by including customer reviews in your welcome email series is a fun and creative way to welcome people to your brand.
Click and Grow includes images of real customers with their product, a link to their Facebook Community, and 5-star reviews in this welcome email. Two great ways to include social proof in a welcome email series.
Made In's Expectation Setting
This welcome email from Made In does one important thing that all welcome email series should do: set expectations and tell people what they can expect from you.
Address questions such as:
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If there are any perks or benefits to subscribing to your list, what are they?
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How many emails per week can people expect to receive from you?
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What type of content do you send?
Setting expectations at the outset of the relationship builds trust and credibility.
Source: Really Good Emails