We all know the old adage: “First impressions are important.” Email marketing is no different and the welcome email is that impression.
I would argue that the most important email you will ever send to your new subscribers is the first one – the welcome email.
Many people are interested in email marketing and just don’t know where to start. Here is a good place: A Case for Email Marketing
In this post, I want to explore the different parts of the perfect welcome email. Let’s jump in!
Why should we use a welcome email?
This is a fair question, one might ask: “Didn’t they just sign up for my newsletter? What more is there to say?”
The answer is all about relationship. When you send your emails you are having a conversation; How you start that conversation really does matter.
The research is clear that the most important email you send is your welcome email. When it comes to open rate [what percentage of people actually open the email] it is statistically the highest (~60%) over all other emails.
Think about it, moments before, they signed up to receive your emails, at this moment they are clearly interested in receiving emails from you. Make the most of this unique situation!
The key here is to be personal, grateful, up-front, and helpful.
1. Start Simple – The Subject Line
To begin, you want a clear and concise Email Subject Line. This can be as simple as “Welcome to ___” or as fun and personal as “Yay! So glad you’re here!”.
With the email subject, you want your subscribers to understand where you are going with the email. With the welcome email, this is fairly simple.
Check out my new Email Content Cheatsheet, filled with email content ideas that actually work!
2. Make it Personal
Next, you want to do two things, brand your email with your logo, color, motto, or unique image. This will teach your subscribers to recognize your emails apart from others in their inbox. Again, keep it simple, too much decor can take away from and distract your message.
The second task is to personally address your new subscriber. Using their name makes the conversation more personal and solidifies a more positive lasting relationship. This can be automatically done in your particular Email Service Provider when writing your welcome email. Using the shortcode “{$name}” your subscriber’s name is automatically applied to that field.
3. Say “Thank You” and Introduce Yourself
Before you start writing the body of the welcome email, be sure to thank your new subscriber. In today’s world, it is a big deal for someone to give out their email address. Show your appreciation for their willingness to join your community! That’s huge!
Introduce yourself like you would in an in-person conversation. Answer basic questions like why you started your business. Focus on the customer – how does what you’ve built, help bring value to them. See my example below:
Remember, the goal is to build a relationship. Be open, honest, and thankful when crafting the overall voice of your message in your welcome email.
4. Manage Expectations
Moving on to the body text of your email you want to set the expectations of your subscribers. Answer the following questions clearly so that your community will understand what it means to be your subscriber:
- What will be the content of your emails? (Updates, Teaching, Promotions, etc.)
- How often will you be sending emails? (Every week, every new post, once a month, etc.)
- How will being on your email list bring value to the subscriber?
Setting subscriber expectation is vital to email marketing efforts. If you operate outside the established expectations of your audience, potential feelings of neglect or frustration can set in.
For example, if you inform your audience that you will be emailing them once a month, and you email them more often they can feel spammed and disrespected. If you were to send less often, your subscribers can fell forgotten or neglected.
Both would be catastrophic to your email list; you must clearly state the desired outcome of your email marketing efforts and stick to it. If something changes (change in email frequency), inform your audience immediately. Remember to always ‘respect the inbox’ and consistently ask yourself:
Would I want to be a subscriber on my own email list?
5. Get on their Contact List
How do we make sure that we stay in the inbox and not in Promotions or Spam? Get whitelisted by your subscriber.
What this means is to give clear instructions on how the subscriber can add you to their contact list as a ‘verified sender’ allowing all of your emails to be received properly. The key to this is to only send truly valuable content to your subscribers – ALWAYS.
6. Get connected on Social
Lastly, give your subscribers other opportunities to connect with you and your brand. Provide a list of your Social Media accounts (with links) so that they can easily follow or like your business.
Focus on how connecting with your brand in more places will be valuable for your subscribers. They know that a ‘like’ on your business page is good for YOU but, why is it good for them? Make sure you continually bring value to your various Social Media platforms if you list them in your welcome email. [Example: I have a BYSS Youtube Channel, but it doesn’t offer enough value to list it as a Resource for my subscribers in my welcome email]
Finally, give your subscribers open access to ask you questions, make comments on your content or share their own stories. This will create reciprocity within the relationship you build and give you insight on how your loyal readers view your content.
7. Prepare for Next Communication
As another bonus, you can open up a further conversation by offering a gift in the form of a postscript (P.S.). This can be in the form of a short eBook, discount, service, etc. The goal of this is to create anticipation behind the communication your subscribers have with you.
Just make sure you follow through with your promise and that your offer is truly valuable.
With these principles, you can create a welcome email that will start your email relationships on the right foot. By creating this solid foundation, you will find that future relationship and trust building will feel more genuine and natural.
Stay tuned for more content this month on Email Marketing!
Check out my new Email Content Cheatsheet, filled with email content ideas that actually work!
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