Why is your Welcome Email so important?

Posted on by Joolz Joseph of The Virtual Marketeer

Did you know a welcome email is one of the most powerful emails you will EVER send? It is one of the first impressions you make with potential customers and a great chance to say a friendly hello that encourages them to interact with your business.

And yet, so many businesses miss out this simple act of courtesy and revenue opportunity. According to the First Impressions Email Marketing Study conducted by Ciceron, only 39% of brands send a welcome email. 41% of brands don’t send a welcome email within the first 48 hours.

So that you can get it right, here are 5 tips for a great welcome email!

1.Be prompt. If you meet someone and they wait even a few minutes to say hi, you’d think of them as quite rude. Similarly, it is best to send your welcome email straight after sign-up after all, this is when your subscriber’s expressed an interest in your business. Wait even a few days and their enthusiasm may drop!

2. Use an obvious subject line. To make welcome emails easy to identify in crowded inboxes,  use the word ‘Welcome’ in the subject line but try to stand out with a good offer or excellent content too.

3. Make them feel special. Use your welcome email to make recipients feel special. Remind them about exclusive content or offers they can expect so they look forward to your next communication. It’s always good to throw in a freebie or special offer too and if you used an incentive, make sure you deliver that.

4. Manage expectations. This is a chance to get things off on the right foot, so let them know what they can expect from you and how often.

5. Drive them to other channels. Multi-channel engagement is key these days so let me know where to find you on social media or even include a live feed.

This is the start of a relationship so don’t be afraid to try and find our more about them either.  Here are 3 of my favourite welcome emails:

EVERNOTE.  Subject line: Welcome to Evernote

I love the opening statement which is flattering, concise and tells you exactly what you should do to enjoy the benefits they can offer.  They go on to explain in a clear manner the benefits of using the app.  Similar examples include Starbucks and TripIt

JETBLUE:  Full of lightheated humour like much of their advertising, Jet Blue start by saying ‘let’s get to know each other’ as they tell you a bit about them. They go to ask you to update your profile and brilliantly tie in their onboard services to ‘what we’d do on a date’.  The attention to detail even down to the final sentence ‘Feel like you might be in this for the long haul’ equate everything to a relationship and give you the feeling you could be embarking on something special!

INNOCENT: I often say to people, signpost new subscribers to key areas of your website, and your social channels. Well, Innocent have taken a literal approach with a quirky fun email that is brilliantly on brand.

If you’d like more from Joolz, on Email Marketing don’t forget to check out her Email Marketing Masterclass on 11th June at 8pm available for members at no charge.