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You know that saying “the money is in the list”? It refers to the fact that dollar-for-dollar, email marketing is the single most profitable marketing channel, and it’s unlikely to be dethroned soon.
Provided that your email deliverability, subject lines and email content are at least decent, every single email broadcast that you send will be a moneymaker for you. As will every email automation (or sequence) that you design for your list.
But there is one type of email that beats them all in terms of open rates, engagement and by extension long-term profitability. This is the welcome email. It may turn out to be the single most important email you will craft in terms of your email marketing so it’s wise to have a good one.
To help you get started we prepared eight excellent welcome email templates. There’s at least a few of these that you can use in your business straight away. Also, I’ve included a brief explanation why each one works. So if you really get the “why” behind them, I believe you can adapt any of these eight to any kind of a business.
1) The grateful email with “free gift included”
Example Template |
Welcome <name> to [your brand or product]… We’re excited to have you here. As a thank you for joining, here’s a “25% off your first order” coupon. Just click on that button and it will be automatically added to your cart. Just find the products you want, add them to the cart and enjoy that massive discount.
[Discount Coupon Button] |
This is an elegant and very clever approach. It triggers and incentivizes people to take action instantly, and at the same time it makes them feel glad that they joined your list. Overall it makes for a great first impression.
The example above assumes you’re running an e-commerce store and the gift is a coupon. But the “gift” can be anything which has perceived value. You want to make sure it involves a desired customer action in terms of your business goals.
2) The “welcome to your first amazing value-packed email” approach
Example Template |
Hi <name>,Thanks for joining the [your brand or product] newsletter. We’re excited to help you build a super-profitable <their type of business>.
To get you started, here’s that PDF we promised, be sure to read it and put those action steps in practice quickly, and enjoy some amazing results: [Download Link] But that’s not all. If you want even more amazing <industry> secrets to push your business to the next level, be sure to check out our [blog link]. It’s chock full of amazing articles full of secrets that you usually have to pay for. Articles such as [popular article 1], [popular article 2] and [popular article 3] have saved many <industry> businesses and helped them see instant results. |
In this approach we want the customer to get a sense that you’re bombarding with a ton of value right off the bat, and things can only get even better from here.
In the example template above we do so by delivering a super valuable PDF (which we promised on signup). And then, taking the time to curate for them some super useful articles they can go and check out right away.
However, if you understand the overall principle, you can modify it to suit your needs. It doesn’t have to be about providing blog articles. You might link to your best videos, whitepapers or whatever is appropriate in your business.
3) The “3 quick steps” welcome email
Example Template |
Thanks for signing up to [your brand or product]. You’re now part of an amazing global community that is changing lives every day. Over the coming weeks you will be receiving many useful tips and advice to get the most out of [product or service].
Three easy ways to get started:
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The reason that this approach works is that it has a very clear and linear call-to-action in the form of a checklist. At a base psychological level it makes people want to follow the instructions because we’re trained to follow step-by-step instructions.
As with the other templates in this article, the steps above are just an example. If you get the principle, you can substitute in any kind of steps that make sense for your business.
4) The instant upsell welcome email
Example Template |
Hi [Name]. Welcome to our insider series where you will get the best [topic/industry] tips and tricks to get the [desired results] you know that you deserve. Stay tuned and get ready to get all of our best stuff (which we usually charge for) delivered straight to your inbox.
Oh, and if you think you deserve some more personal attention and a customized approach, consider our one-on-one [interest] service where one of our [trainers / agents] will guide you by the hand and personally ensure that you get the best possible results, as quickly as possible. |
This template is based on an extremely powerful up-selling technique. The general angle is that as a subscriber you will get a lot of super-valuable stuff for free. However, this will be dripped to you in installments and won’t be personalized and custom tailored for you. As is the case for all mass-delivered solutions.
The reason this works is because it is true. It doesn’t matter how much you want to give people amazing results or value. You will always be able to provide a better service when it’s personalized and individualized to them.
For example, you might be a health coach who has a genuine mission to help people lose weight. But you know that you’ll never ever be able to produce a book or series of videos that works as well as one-on-one service.
This method will apply more easily to some business models than others, but if you think about it some more, you can utilize it in most every business out there. It doesn’t have to be personal one-on-one coaching or consulting.
The “get more results faster” up-sell can be your paid plan, which is in contrast to the free plan that people are signing up for. The upsell can be about a higher level of service or product than the one they’re currently on.
5) The product-centric welcome email
Example Template |
Hi [Name]. Welcome to the [product or brand] insider list
We believe that [product or brand] is the best way to achieve [customer benefit] and we’ve made it our mission to revolutionize [topic/industry].
The [brand] team |
You will see most marketers say that you need to focus on the customer, and what’s in it for them. This might lead you to think that it’s always a bad idea to talk about you or your product.
That’s not the case however. In many industries (especially B2B contexts) the subscriber is in fact just trying to find the right product to help them achieve their goals.
This is something that will depend on the nature of your leads and potential customers, so you will have to decide if this is the right approach for your business.
6) The value-driven “our story” welcome email
Example Template |
Welcome to [your brand or product]!
We’re so happy that you’ve decided to become a part of our family. We’re always looking for people who are trying to [brand mission or goal] one day at a time. At [your brand or product] we’re on a mission to prove that you can [customer goals], while [unique company mission or values]. [Learn About our Story Button] Also be sure to follow us social media for the latest news, tips and insider exclusives. [Social Media Buttons] |
As with the previous example, this one departs from the standard notion that communication should be about the customer. That is, most marketing out there focuses on “you” the customer, and not “us” the brand trying to sell you stuff.
However, with some brands, it is appropriate to make the communication about “us, the brand”. This is especially true if your business has a unique mission-driven brand. For example, you strive to be the first in the world to provide enterprise-grade security to small businesses.
7) The “Welcome, and check these out” email
Example Template |
Welcome! Thank you for signing up for [your brand or product]!
Be sure to add us to your contact list, as there are some amazing value-packed emails full of great <industry> secrets coming your way. You won’t want to miss any of our emails. In the meantime you might want to check out some of our most popular [products / services / listings] :
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This template is pretty elegant and achieves a few crucial goals, while being elegant, short and courteous. It starts off asking people to white list you. Then it explains why they should look forward to all your next emails.
And then this is the unique part. It tells people in a very casual way that they might want to check out things you offer or have. Yet, because we present it as a list, it feels like a call-to-action and a lot of people will be likely to click on those links.
Let’s say you have a website that sells audio samples to video editors. The first sentence would let them know they’ll be receiving great video production tips in the next emails. And the 3 listings would be links to some of your most popular audio files.
8) The very personal welcome
Example Template |
Hi [subscribername], this is [name], the customer onboarding head at [company] and I want to take this chance to personally thank you for joining this [service / newsletter].
At [company] it is our mission to help you [customer goals]. In fact we pride ourselves on how many people we have helped get [customer benefits]. A large part of that is about listening to the community – which you’re now a part of. So if you need help getting around, have any feedback or any questions, don’t hesitate to reply to this email and I’ll get back to you promptly. Sincerely, [name] and the entire team at [company] |
This is a very popular approach and you’ll see it used by a lot of companies. The reason is that it works really well at getting people to engage and truly feel like they’re part of a community, rather than just a random email receiver.
But wait, welcome emails are next to useless if your email delivery isn’t working correctly. Is yours?
Let me ask you something. What’s your delivery rate? What are the warm up procedures your email-sender uses to ensure higher delivery? What about your email reputation?
If these terms sound foreign to you, I have some bad news. You probably suffer from horrible email delivery. That means a lot of your emails never even reach the subscriber inbox.
But wait (I hear you ask), isn’t that the job of the email provider? Well, it should be, unfortunately most providers (even the biggest names) don’t actually care about this for a very simple reason. It’s a lot more profitable to focus on fancy-sounding features and bells and whistles.
Unfortunately those fancy features don’t increase profits. Yet poor deliverability is costing you a lot of lost revenue and you probably don’t even know it.
The solution? Read our blog on email deliverability. Or, get yourself an email provider who actually cares about your profits. There’s a reason all of these huge email marketers keep moving their lists to Emercury. Once you become experienced with email you realize most of the profits lie in having good delivery.
There’s no need to waste years losing emails due to poor delivery before you realize the same though. You can get a forever-free Emercury account starting today and enjoy unparalleled benefits. Some say we have the most gracious free plan out there. So be sure to fetch a username before we pull this offer.
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Tags: autoresponder, email automation, welcome email, welcome message