The Welcome Email Sequences Every Brand Should Have

Imagine for a moment that you’ve just started dating someone new.

Would you expect your new beau to be able to read your mind?

It’s likely you’ll have to share with him or her those crucial insider tips on how to learn to be a successful partner to you.

A new subscriber and especially a new customer or member is the same.

Those first few days and weeks are important for setting exceptions and building their personal investment in your brand.

Why is a welcome email series important?

If your new subscribers or customers have to wait for your regularly scheduled newsletter, it’s possible that you lose the momentum started when someone makes the decision to join your community.

And they may also not quite understand or reap the full benefit of your regular scheduled emails because they’re coming into the middle of the conversation.

Think of this way, if someone new moved to the neighborhood, you wouldn’t expect them to attend all the neighborhood gatherings without bringing over a pie and sharing with them all the fun things they’ll know get to enjoy about their space, right?

Who should receive a welcome email series?

You should send a welcome email series when:

• Someone new signs up for your email list in some fashion...they opt-in for a lead magnet, they subscribe to a webinar, they subscribe to your newsletter, etc. They’re not quite a customer or member YET but you need to provide them interesting and humanized content that indicates your brand has people behind it that see their audience as more than dollar figures.
• Someone buys something...the first time someone buys something is a BIG deal. Treat it as such. If they haven’t been on your mailing list, ensure that the email sequence welcoming them as a new subscriber to the community doesn’t overlap and overwhelm the new friend with too much content.
• Someone buys something again...every time someone invests financially in your organization through a purchase of some kind, they need to be acknowledge in more than a transactional receipt kind of way. If they’re a repeat buyer, that means you should reward and acknowledge his or her loyalty.

How should you send these welcome emails?

An automated Welcome series, of course. This automated series of emails allows you to set the stage for your new contact while increasing engagement and sales at the same time. Everytime an action is taken, your email series starts up and wows your audience member.

Don’t have a marketing automation platform or don’t love how you’re email marketing now? Let’s schedule a demo and get some choices that will save you time and energy.

Using a marketing automation tool like Hubspot or Pardot saves you time and energy because The best part is that you set up your Welcome series once, and it works for you indefinitely. The experience is the same for your first email contact or your millionth.

We also love that you can suppress certain automatic workflows and ensure others never stop running. So no matter where your audience is at, your content is delivered at the right time with the right information.

Pro tip: Welcome emails are usually short

65% of welcome emails range from 50-150 words in length. A low word count doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Research shows that welcome emails can increase customer retention by more than 70%.

What types of emails should you send in your automated welcome series?

New subscriber welcome sequence

Immediately after signing up for something as a new subscriber

Send a welcome that welcomes them warmly and introduces your brand. If they signed up for a lead magnet, ensure that your first welcome email provides that promised lead magnet. We love welcome emails that share the highlights of your brand, how you’re different, what you have in common, and why your new subscriber should be excited to continue a relationship with you.

2-3 days after first contact

Send a resource list of helpful blog posts, pieces of content that are video or audio that your audience can engage with. Do a soft CTA to purchase but the focus of the email needs to be on helping your new friend find their way around.

1 week after second contact

Give your new friend an incentive to purchase. With many brands, the first opt in offered a discount upon signing up. If the new subscriber hasn’t use that discount, has an abandoned cart, or needs just a little nudge about the items, events, or services they were browsing through, show them the value of why that item, event, or service matters to them. Create an obvious CTA that takes your new friend directly to a place to purchase.

2 weeks after third contact

Set the right expectations about being part of the community. Similar to email 2 in this sequence, send helpful content, nifty videos, or a way to engage with other community members like themselves.

2 weeks after fourth contact

Encourage your new friend to connect with you on social and if you have a bricks and mortar location, send them that way as well. This can also be folded in as part of the earlier emails than being the sole focus of an email. However, including a direct CTA for how to find the other ways to connect is a great way to get users to engage with your brand on multiple channels, giving you more chances to stay top-of-mind.

Pro Tip: Now that you’ve welcomed them in, the next trigger if they haven’t purchased anything yet, is to shift them into a nurture email series. It can more aggressive or less depending on how the subscriber is showing you their research, consideration, and intent. Check out our blog for more information about nurture sequences.

New customer welcome sequences

Email them immediately after purchase

Send a thank you email + any details about accessing or using the purchase. Introduce them to their account manager if they’ve signed up for a service.

2-3 days after purchase

Check in and see how things are going. Re-offer contact information for support.

1-2 weeks after purchase

Do another check in. Resist the temptation to immediately ask for a testimonial. Give them time to process their emotions if something does go wrong. You don’t want a bad piece of feedback if the shipping went awry or they’re having issues getting things going. More support is better in the initial stages.

3-4 weeks after purchase

Now send that request for feedback or a link to a survey that allows you to collect information that you can use for testimonials and improvements. Remember to thank them again.

4-6 weeks after purchase

Send a bonus email with free content that relates to their initial purchase.

8 weeks after purchase

Offer an upgrade or promotion that caters to an upsell opportunity.

6 months after purchase

Send them a video message seeing how they’ve been. Ask if there is anything you can do for them.

1 year after purchase

Send them a celebration email marking the one year anniversary of when they became a customer or member.

Pro tip - Make sure they actually became a customer.

I’m crazy. I sign up for a lot of demos and email lists because I like to see how other brands market. About 4 out of 10 times, I end up on an automated workflow welcoming me as a new customer.

Another 1 out 10 times, I actually will become a customer and then typically end up canceling in the first month or so unless I love it (I have shiny object syndrome). Once in a blue moon, I also cancel because I’m angry. I still receive the welcome happy email series without a pause for my cancellation or notes on my account indicating that I should likely not be on the happy customer workflow.

Use your CRM or support tickets to trigger stops and other workflows if the customer journey takes a turn for the worst. Don’t have a CRM or Service Hub that connects to your marketing workflows. Let’s set up a time to chat.

Repeat customer welcome sequences

Email them immediately after purchase

Send a thank-you email thanking them for their loyalty + any details about accessing or using the purchase. Reintroduce them to their account manager if they’ve signed up for a service or update them if there have been any changes.

If they've been a challenging customer or faced challenges in the past, ensure that is reflected in the type of service you provide. They'll expect you to have kept notes and know more about their customer experience preferences. 

2-3 days after purchase

Check-in and see how things are going. Re-offer contact information for support. Since you know them a bit better than a first buyer, don’t hesitate to use the specifics of their previous purchases to help you help them get the support they need.

3-4 weeks after purchase

Send a request for feedback or a link to a survey that allows you to collect information that you can use for testimonials and improvements. Remember to thank them again.

4-6 weeks after purchase

Send a bonus email with free content that relates to their initial purchase. This offer needs to be slightly better than the first time you sent this. After all, they’ve shown you they like you. You should reciprocate however you can.

8 weeks after purchase

Offer an upgrade or promotion that caters to an upsell opportunity.

6 months after purchase

Send them a video message seeing how they’ve been. Ask if there is anything you can do for them.

1 year after purchase

Send them a celebration email marking the multiple-year anniversary of when they became a customer or member.

Bringing it all together for welcome email sequences

People buy from people. They don’t like machines and most of them have very little patience with brands and organizations that don’t humanize or personalize offerings. Instead of blasting people with promotions every week and focusing mostly on discounts, think about how you can add value outside of an offer.

Your subscribers are people. Yes, they may want and need your product or service, but there’s a lot more than that you can help them with. Doing so will help differentiate your brand from competitors, and establish yourself as an authority in your industry.

Need help finding a email marketing platform or content creation for your next welcome email sequence, let’s set up a time to chat.