When someone opts into your email list, they give you a remarkable opportunity. They’re telling you they are interested in what you offer.
Why wouldn’t you put your best foot forward with a welcome email series? Designing and implementing a welcome email series is a simple way to make a terrific first impression.
A single welcome email or a series of two to three welcome emails isn’t just a nice idea. These emails have hard statistics backing up their effectiveness.
Welcome Emails: Stellar Statistics
According to the Bluecore 2022 Retail Ecommerce Benchmark Report, welcome emails outperform all other types of emails in several categories.
Welcome emails have the highest open rates (46.72%) and the highest customer engagement. They also have the highest revenue per email at $3.61.
They perform well in terms of first purchase (23.36%) and have a conversion rate of 2.2%. The only place welcome emails underperform is with the unsubscribe rate (0.8%). This can often be attributed to people who sign up for an email list specifically for a promised deal and “ghost” afterward.
Mailmunch reports that welcome emails are 86% more effective than email newsletters. So if you’re not sending welcome emails, what are you waiting for? Here are some tips.
How Many Should You Send?
As a general guideline, two or three welcome emails in a series is a good starting point. If you only send one, you risk looking like you don’t care much about new customers. If you send 14 of them in a week, you risk annoying recipients into unsubscribing.
Your welcome emails should fit into your overall marketing email strategy. But even if other components of your strategy involve bigger email series, it’s best to keep your welcome email series brief.
A series of three welcome emails might include something like:
- Email 1: A warm greeting, fulfillment of anything you promised for signing up for your email list, a thank you, and a brief statement of what your company is about.
- Email 2: Here you can extend an invitation to connect on social media. Explain the benefits of following you on social media, such as flash sales and special offers.
- Email 3: Ask for a bit more information so you can tailor future emails to their needs. Include a brief survey and explain how you use (and don’t use) the information they provide.
Welcome Emails: What to Include
The following elements should be part of your welcome email strategy.
- Timeliness – because you don’t greet someone an hour after they come into your store, you do it immediately. The same is true for someone who opts into your email list.
- Compelling subject lines – because every marketing email needs these.
- Content recommendations or helpful resources – to give them more information to build your connection with them.
- Contact information – so they can get in touch with you if they need help or have questions.
- Next steps and a call to action – to guide them toward conversion or purchase
- Mobile-friendliness – because at least half of emails are read on mobile devices these days.
Avoid Welcome Email Mistakes
Avoid sending a non-personalized welcome email. “Welcome, Jessica!” is much friendlier than “Welcome, Customer!” Email marketing platforms make this easy to do, so there’s really no reason not to personalize your welcome emails.
Avoid sending emails at the wrong time. Ideally, you should send welcome emails during business hours.
When welcome emails arrive at off-hours, however, you should send your initial welcome email then. Again, most email marketing platforms can automate the process and optimize sending times for you.
Avoid lackluster calls to action. While “Learn More” goes with just about anything, it’s boring and generic. “Get my Discount Code” is far more enticing. Write calls to action that are relevant to what you want your recipient to do.
Finally, avoid anything that could be seen as spammy. Avoid trigger words that are likely to get your message caught in a spam filter. Don’t bombard your new email list enrollee with a constant stream of messages.
Follow General Best Practices
Every marketing email you send should look professional, branded, and clean, whether in a desktop environment or on a mobile device. Keep them clean, crisp, and upbeat.
All of your welcome email content should have a clear focus. Know what you want to accomplish and what you hope for your recipient to do with each email. It’s best to have one topic per email.
Keep email messages brief. Use your headline to say what you’re offering. Use the body text to say how your offer will help the recipient, and make clear what you want the recipient to do by including a clear call to action. Avoid links aside from the call to action button.
Benefits of Strong Welcome Emails
What can you expect from a well-planned and executed welcome email series? Studies like the one by Bluecore indicate you can expect great open rates and first purchase rates!
You can expect to save time compared to emailing prospects. The person who signs up for your email list has already indicated their interest.
You can learn enough about your new email list enrollee to tailor future emails to them and to know where they belong when segmenting your email list.
If your welcome email series segues into a long-term email relationship, you can expect better customer retention. After all, the customer came to you rather than the other way around.
Email Tools for Automation
Sending welcome emails does not have to be a chore. Email marketing platforms can automate the process for you.
Simply set up your welcome emails using your platform’s triggers and personalization steps. When you get a new sign-up, the platform will automatically start the ball rolling.
But don’t just “set it and forget it” like it’s a roast chicken. Regularly (a couple of times a week) check your email marketing platform for new email subscribers. Keep track of your other email metrics as well to ensure your marketing efforts are getting the job done.
Email Strategies Are Often Complex
Email marketing may be simple or complex, depending on your purchase cycle and the number of products and services you offer. Investing in an email automation system can pay off quickly, particularly if your email marketing is complex or if you have a big email list.
But while email marketing platforms can do a lot of the heavy lifting, you still have to monitor your email campaigns. And people still need to answer promptly when a potential buyer emails with a question.
Email Marketing Help Is Available
If you are more interested in focusing on tending your business than creating an automated email marketing system, why not schedule a call with our team? Exchange Media Group performs email marketing and other forms of digital marketing for their broad range of clients.
Email marketing is effective enough that you shouldn’t ignore it. It’s frequently the best digital marketing channel in terms of ROI. We would be delighted to discuss email marketing strategies with you and show you the kind of results you can expect for your growing business.
