A welcome email

A welcome email is one of the more important types of emails you'll send to subscribers. Welcome emails are what you receive when you submit your email address to an online store—you’ve likely seen them in your inbox after creating an account or joining a newsletter. We've put together essential advice on how to write a welcome email, including twelve stand out examples and six apps you can use to make your emails even more engaging. Table of Contents How to write a welcome email 12 excellent examples of welcome emails Structuring your first email 6 apps for sending better emails Lay out the welcome mat for customers How to write a welcome email Before we dive into the details of how to write a welcome email, let’s first define what a welcome email is and what value they provide to both subscribers and businesses. What is a welcome email? A welcome email, often part of a series of onboarding emails, is the very first email communication you have with a shopper or current customer. This communication could be a subscription confirmation or, in some cases, a post-purchase email. The welcome email you send sets the foundation for the rest of your communications with a new customer. Depending on the action—such as making a purchase, or joining your company newsletter—it’s the one message that everyone will see, which means the impression it leaves will compound over time. Writing welcome emails that work According to data from Omnisend, welcome emails have an average open rate of 45%, versus an average open rate of 18% for promotional emails. In addition, though a series of welcome emails may perform better than a single send, engagement drops off after the first email in the series. When writing a welcome email, or the first emails in a welcome series, there are several key objectives to keep in mind: Provide value upfront. You don’t want to inundate customers with promotional messages during your only window of opportunity to create a strong first impression And remember, you have to give before you can expect to receive. Discounts, tips and tricks, and other customer-focused broadcasts can provide value while still encouraging users to purchase down the line. Personalize your message. Today’s email marketing tools enable you to send more targeted messages than ever before. And it’s good practice: Yes Lifecycle Marketing found that emails with personalized subject lines have 50% higher open rates and 58% higher click-to-open rates. Send your welcome email within minutes. Let’s say you incentivize joining your newsletter with a promo code for 10% off the customer’s next purchase. If someone is ready to purchase now and they don’t receive that promo code, you risk losing out on the sale for good. Remind subscribers to remove you from filters Sometimes, email clients will default to sending marketing broadcasts to junk email folders. Encourager subscribers to whitelist your address so they don’t potentially miss out. Set transparent expectations. Let subscribers change preferences easily, inform them what and how frequently you’ll be emailing new content, and remind them of how they ended up on your list in the first place. Have a clear call-to-action (CTA). What do you want users to do with your welcome email? Do you want them to use the promo code for a purchase, or do you want them to head over to your About page to learn more? Whatever it is, make it easy to understand what the next step is, and avoid creating confusion with too many CTAs. Use high-quality, engaging imagery. Whether it’s product photography or custom illustration, the visuals in your welcome email should be striking. Remember mobile users. While creating a beautiful-looking welcome email is important, it also needs to be functional across devices. The 2017 Email Client Market Share by Litmus found that mobile accounts for the most (47%) email opens, compared to 36% on webmail and 17% on desktop. Pay attention to your subject line. You’ll see in some of the examples below that the standard “Your subscription has been confirmed” or “Welcome to our email list!” doesn’t always cut it. Not sure which subject line will work best? Try a few A/B tests to see which generates the highest open and click-through rates.