Welcome emails are the cornerstone of any email marketing campaign. They’re how a brand engages a new subscriber and set the tone for the relationship between the brand and the subscriber. An effective welcome email can increase click-through rates, brand trust, and even sales. In contrast, a bad welcome email is likely to alienate and unsubscribe readers. In this post, we’re going to take a look at what is best and worst about your welcome emails.
Best Practices:
1. Send the Welcome Email Immediately
Timeliness is of the essence. When someone signs up for your email list, they expect to hear from you soon. If you email them the welcome email, you immediately show them that you care about their time and love their attention. This fast turnaround can build trust and build rapport from the outset. Remember, you want your new subscriber to feel special and excited about being a member of your community.
2. Personalize the Welcome Email
Giving the subscriber their name is one of the most basic but effective methods to personalize your email. The personal welcome email shows that you treat them as individuals, not just numbers. This connection can lead to engagement and will encourage subscribers to engage with your brand in the future. Segmentation helps you to further personalize your messaging around their interests and preferences, giving them a more personalized experience.
3. Set Expectations
Clarity is key. Send a welcome email to let subscribers know what they should expect from your emails. This includes how often your emails will be sent and what they will receive. Expectations keep you from worrying about unsubscribed emails and the risk of unsubscribing is reduced. In establishing these ground rules, you are laying the foundation for a healthy and productive relationship.
4. Provide Value
It is important to provide your subscribers with something of value in your welcome email. This could be a coupon, a trial or access to premium material. Adding immediate value not only rewards interaction but builds the sense of reciprocity. If subscribers believe they’re getting something useful, they’re more likely to subscribe again and stick around and be a repeat customer, expecting something interesting in their next messages.
5. Keep It Simple
In the world of words, simplicity tends to win out. Your Welcome email should be simple and palatable. Don’t use gibberish or incomprehensible words that will get the subscriber confused. Rather, use straightforward, personable and relatable words that reflect your brand personality. An effective, clear, short-form email will keep the recipient interested and increase their chances of doing what you want.
6. Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
Every email should be directed in some way, and welcome email is no different. Make sure you have an explicit CTA to help subscribers move to next steps, be it visiting your website, browsing your product line, or buying something. You can use a CTA to bring people to your site and invite them to engage right away. Invoking urgency can also compel your subscribers to take immediate action and enhance the effectiveness of your welcome email.
Worst Practices:
A late welcome email:
Postponing the welcome email can alienate the subscriber and cause them to lose sight of the reason why they signed up in the first place. You should send the welcome email as soon as the subscriber opts in to make sure the experience is fresh in their mind. Experian’s research indicates that sending a welcome email within 24 hours of registration drove higher open and click-through rates than sent later.
Not personalizing the welcome email:
If the subject line of your email doesn’t contain your subscriber’s name, you can avoid personalization by writing unpersonalised salutations. Email Marketing Personalized email marketing, in fact, can improve open and click rates drastically. In one MarketingSherpa research study, personalized emails deliver a 29% higher open rate and 41% higher click-through rate than regular emails.
Setting unrealistic expectations:
When promises are too high and their fulfillment too low, they fall flat and become mistrustful. Don’t lie about what subscribers can expect from your emails. If you promise to send out a daily post or an exclusive, and then do not meet your promise, subscribers are going to lose faith in your brand. Promise too little and deliver too much instead of expecting too much and disappointing your subscribers.
Failing to provide value:
Not providing something helpful with the welcome email can leave the subscriber feeling unappreciated and unsubscribing. Value is the key to email marketing. Welcome email is a good way to showcase your brand to subscribers and give them an overview of what they can expect. You could gift them a coupon code, a free ebook, or first access to a new item or service. Offering value will give you the opportunity to connect with subscribers and make them continue using your brand.
Using complex language:
Jargon and complexities in language are prone to baffling the subscriber and rendering the email hard to understand. Keep in mind that your subscribers are likely to come from different backgrounds and might not know technical jargon or business speak. Stay simple and communicate things in clear and understandable terms. Don’t rely on lingo and acronyms that might bog down readers or leave them feeling secluded.
Failure to incorporate an obvious CTA:
Without informing the subscriber to move on, it can lead to missed opportunity and inactivity. The welcome email should also have a clear CTA that takes the subscriber through to the next stage. This might include getting them to like you on social media, or directing them to visit your website, or causing them to make a purchase. A good CTA can get more people to respond and even spur subscribers to take action.
Conclusion:
Welcome emails, in conclusion, are an integral component of any email marketing campaign. Through best practices outlined in this article, you can make an effective first impression and establish a strong connection with your subscribers. Conversely, failing to address the worst practice is an indication of disengagement and possibly even unsubscribing. Creating a thoughtful welcome email is an opportunity to offer value, create expectations, and foster engagement. Your subscribers will appreciate it.
