The importance of an effective welcome email series

If you’re anything like me, you probably look at the some of the promotional emails hitting your inbox every day and struggle to remember who the businesses are, and why you originally signed up for their newsletter.

In a lot of cases, this is probably because the brand in question failed to make a strong enough impression on you when you were initially interested – when you first signed up to their list.

It’s why an effective welcome email series is so important.

Building a list is great…but building an engaged list is better.

Growing your email list is a valuable goal for any business. But many businesses don’t do enough to effectively ‘activate’ subscribers after they initially sign up to a mailing list.

It’s easy for businesses to fall into one of two traps:

1.?‘Ghosted’

• A customer signs up for an email newsletter.
• They get the email confirming their sign up.
• They don’t get any emails from the brand for 6 weeks.
• Then out of the blue it’s “Summer Sale – Discounts on All Ranges”
• But a lot has happened in 6 weeks. The customer only vaguely remembers the brand and hasn’t progressed in the journey to purchase.

This approach is the equivalent of a customer walking into a showroom and saying to a salesperson “I’m interested in what you do, and I want to hear more”…and the salesperson walking away.

2.?Too much, too soon

• A customer signs up for an email newsletter.
• They get the email confirming their sign up.
• The next day they get a promotional email for 40% off a particular range.
• Two days later they get a promotional email for ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ on another product.
• Two days later they get another promotional email, for ￡20 off another product.
• And every two days like clockwork, there’s another promotion.

There are circumstances where this approach might work – for example if a customer has specifically signed up for discounts and offers.

But for customers that are still in their consideration stage, hitting them with offers is too much too soon.

Using the showroom example, it’s the equivalent of a customer walking in, and before they have chance to look around and ask questions, the salesperson is telling them all about the special offers.

Make an impression when your audience is most engaged

When people sign up for your email list, it’s the equivalent of them saying – “Okay – I’m interested in what you do, and what you’ve got to say”.

Don’t ignore them. Don’t immediately sell to them (unless they’ve asked you to!)

The email welcome series is your chance to make a lasting impression on your audience and build a relationship.

The open rate and engagement rate of emails in your welcome series are far higher than standard email newsletters.?Campaign Monitor?suggests that the open rate of welcome emails can be as high as 50%.

So, it’s really important to make the content in those early emails count!

Don’t forget the forgetting curve…

By implementing an effective welcome email series, you can also improve your brand recall with customers – and increase the likelihood that they remember you.

I don’t want to get too sciencey – but there is a concept called the ‘forgetting curve‘ that was introduced by Hermann Ebbinghaus back in the 19th Century.

He found that our memories weaken over time…but that it’s easier to remember things that have meaning, and that ‘spaced learning’ (repeating and refreshing content over time) can help improve recall.

So, by putting together an effective welcome email series, that has meaning, and repeats and refreshes your message over time…you can really help reinforce your business or brand in the mind of consumers.

So, how many emails should there be in a welcome series?

This is a tough question, as there aren’t any hard and fast rules.

I did a bit of desk research ahead of writing this post, and there are email experts that swear that “3 emails are all you need” and other that suggest an email a day for the first 7 days.

The answer really depends on you, your brand, and what you feel is right for your target customers. But remember nothing is set in stone – your email series can always be adjusted and adapted based on feedback and the results of tests.

But to give you an idea below, I’ve put together an overview of one approach you might take when putting together a welcome email series.

Email #1 – The verification email (and quick thank you)

There probably should be a whole other post on the pros and cons of double opt in for emails (that’s one for another time!)

But assuming a business decides on double opt-in (where a customer needs to verify their sign up by clicking on a link in a verification email), the delivery of the verification email needs to be almost instantaneous after sign up.

If your verification email has a delay, your customer is most likely already off doing other things – it makes it a lot harder to get that verification.

Because there is a clear and important action that needs to be taken in a verification email – don’t confuse things by including too much information. But a nice ‘thank you’ for signing up, and an explanation why you need verification wouldn’t go amiss.

Email #2 – The lead magnet (if relevant) and expectation setting

After the customer is verified, the next email in your sequence might include a download link to your promised ‘lead magnet’ if this was promised as part of your sign-up process.

You can also use this email set expectations about what customers can expect from your emails over time.

Email #3 – Relatability

This email is your chance to demonstrate that your business has a human side.

• Why did your founder start the business?
• What were the problems they faced that they wanted to solve?
• How did they initially solve these problems?
• How has the business evolved?
• What are the core values, mission statements, things you stand for?
• How many people have you helped?

Email #4 – Validation and authority

This email is your opportunity to showcase anything that sets you apart in your space and delivers confidence in your products or service.

It’s important to still focus on the benefits to the customer, but things you might mention include:

• Awards
• Accreditations
• Expert Reviews
• Case Studies

Email #5 – Social proof / Testimonials

Nothing makes potential customers feel more comfortable than social proof – knowing what other customers have said about your product or service.

This email is your opportunity to draw attention to some of the things that your existing customers have said about your business, by including some of your testimonials.

You might also reiterate how many customers you’ve helped since you launched and include links to your further reviews.

Email #6 – Customer Email Preferences

Some might argue that this step should come earlier – but that’s a debate for another time!

By asking customers what kind of emails, they would like to receive, the products they are interested in, and the frequency they would like to receive emails – it helps you make sure you have an engaged subscriber list that receives emails they want to read.

Email #7 – Offer

This can be tailored based on customer feedback in email 6 (if a customer says they like ‘product x’, send an offer for product x) with a backup generic offer for anyone who hasn’t updated their preferences.

But after you’ve delivered value with your ‘lead magnet’, told your story and become relatable, demonstrated your expertise and authority, shared the positive comments of other customers, shown you care by asking about email preferences…you’ve hopefully progressed through that forgetting curve and are ready to share an offer.

There are hundreds of ways to create a welcome email series, and this is just one example.

How you approach it will very much depend on the nature of your business and the needs of your customers.

If you’d like to chat more about creating an email welcome series for your business, get in touch!