Many businesses reach out to us because they can’t seem to get their email marketing on track. While they do have a growing list of subscribers, every email they send seems to go down like a lead balloon.
This tends to be the case because they fail to get off on the right foot with their subscriber – remember, you don’t get a second chance at a first impression. If you happen to get off on the wrong foot, your prospect may already be gone before you’ve even had a chance to say hello.
A report undertaken by Marketing Sherpa concluded that welcome emails receive the most interaction out of any kind of email:
Email Open rates
That’s exactly what we will be focusing on in this article. We will show you how your business can leverage the welcome email to reduce subscriber fatigue, skyrocket engagement and drive sales.
Being generic never impressed anyone
Just look at all the promotional content in your inbox right now, there’s a good chance that well over 80% of emails are written in a boring robotic nature. It’s probably why you haven’t got round to opening them.
We continually emphasise to our clients that showing your human side does wonders to nurturing your list. Prospects who signup to newsletters feel more like a number than a person these days, but when you show them you’re human and not a machine – the results can be staggering.
Check out this cool welcome email sent by Social Triggers when signing up to their newsletter:
This is a great way to establish a relationship with your new prospect. It’s out the box, fun and feels like Derek is talking only to me.
Conversion – welcome emails turn prospects into customers faster
Some of our clients operate in the eCommerce industry, the bulk of their email marketing focuses around sending weekly promotions and special offers. But what never ceases to amaze me is their welcome email contains none of that!
They use generic copy that merely welcomes the prospect and fails to leverage that 50% open rate to generate sales. Here’s a H&M welcome email giving all new prospects a free 25% off their first item as a welcome:
Offering free delivery on their first order, a unique special offer or a time based promotion to create a sense of urgency are all great methods to immediately turn your prospects into customers.
This method has worked very well for several of our clients, who before faced major problems turning prospects into customers.
Give them a taste or direct
Not all of your prospects are ready to be sold to, for those who aren’t, provide them insights on what to expect in future emails. This will train their subconscious mind to look out for future emails you send.
If your website has a profile page or offers unique features, instruct them to complete their profile or mention how the features work. Check out the Social Triggers welcome email above, the first subject they address is to give me a taster of what to expect in the coming weeks.
Summary
The entry point of any email marketing campaign is the welcome email. When working alongside clients we put a lot of emphasis on how crucial it can be to creating a strong, meaningful and long-lasting relationship.
We often say the welcome email is the Swiss Army knife of email marketing, to find out more ways to use the power of welcome emails to your advantage, check our guest blog post on welcome ideas article here.