When someone signs up for your email list, what happens next?
Too many creative entrepreneurs miss the opportunity to build a relationship with their new subscribers because they don’t send an immediate response. Instead, the new email address sits on their list, collecting dust.
They’re not alone. 41% of brands aren’t sending welcome emails to their new subscribers within the first 48 hours. That’s almost half of the businesses who use email marketing!
You have an opportunity to make a better first impression by using email marketing to its fullest potential, which is important since 74.4% of consumers expect a welcome email.
Think about it this way. If you walked up to someone at a networking event and they gave you their business card, you’d want to follow up with them not just once but also on all of their replies, right? The same is true for email marketing.
It doesn’t make sense to cut off communication once you’ve started. This is your best time to shine! A great place to start is with a welcome email sequence.
A welcome email sequence is simply a series of emails sent to your new subscriber. Sometimes they are delivered immediately after someone signs up for an email list but they can also be connected to lead magnets (commonly known as “freebies”).
What’s unique about your welcome email sequence is that its primary purpose isn’t to drive sales. Yes, you read that right!
If you’re like most creatives, you may have breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure to sell all the time can be overwhelming, so this will give you a much needed break from pitching.
Instead of focusing every email on selling, you’ll want to use this time to create a stronger connection with your new email subscribers by nurturing the relationship. There are countless ways you can do this, and we are going to go over several of them today.
10 emails ideas for your welcome email series
Did you know that sending a series of welcome emails can increase your revenue by 51% on average as compared to a single welcome email? Wow, talk about a convincing argument for creating a welcome email sequence!
Okay, now that I really have your attention, let’s talk about the kinds of emails you need inside your welcome sequence.
You may be sad to hear that there’s no exact formula to creating a great welcome series.
The good news is you don’t have to force your messaging into a one-size-fits-all solution that won’t work for your brand. Why follow a method that doesn’t give you results, right?
Instead, we are going to start by describing some of the emails you could put inside your welcome email sequence. It’s important to compare each of these emails to your business goals so you choose the right ones.
Again, you do NOT need to add all of these to your email sequence, only the ones that resonate with you and your audience. Okay, let’s jump in!
Personal welcome email
A traditional welcome email usually includes a personal introduction so subscribers are able to virtually meet you. I still have yet to see a welcome email sequence that doesn’t include this kind of email, so if there’s one that is a must, it’s this one.
Personal story email
To create a stronger connection with your audience, you may want to share a personal story they can relate to. It can be something you experienced in your business, career, or any other area of your life. Your transparency and vulnerability will strengthen the bond between you and your subscriber.
Values email
Have you ever heard the Simon Sinek quote, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”? It’s so true! Your audience often wants to know what you stand for and believe in before they buy from you or work with you. This email is a great way to communicate your core values.
Educational email
Many brands want to be seen as experts in their field. Does this sound like you, too? If so, you may want to use this time in your welcome email sequence to teach your audience about a specific topic that relates to your expertise. You can include more than one of these emails if you’d like.
Life lesson email
In this email, share a time when you learned a valuable lesson. It can either be something you picked up from a mentor, or oftentimes, it will come from a challenge you overcame in the past. Make sure this lesson relates to your audience and what they want to learn about.
Case study email
Is there a time when you helped a client go from Point A to Point B? Why not share it through a case study email? People love a good comeback story. This is also a great opportunity to share a client transformation while subtly highlighting the value of working with you.
Resources email
Don’t you love whenever someone gives you a personal list of resources that are handpicked for you? Me too! You can do this for your audience through a resources email. Simply choose resources from your own content platforms (like your blog, podcast, video show, etc.) along with resources from other sources.
Freebie email
A subscriber may have signed up for your email list because they wanted access to a freebie, but you can surprise and delight them by giving them another. We all love free stuff, but make sure what you are sending through this email is valuable to your subscriber.
Actionable email
It’s great to learn the ins and outs of something new, but it’s even better to put that knowledge into action! You can do this by giving your subscribers an exercise or activity they can do on their own. Also, you may want to think about including a step-by-step process if it’s necessary.
Personal reflection email
The primary goal of this email is to ask a thoughtful question that gets your audience to open their mind and explore their thoughts. For some, it looks like a guided meditation while for others, it may be a journaling prompt. No matter what you choose, personal reflection emails can be a powerful tool for making lasting connections with your audience when they’re used in an intentional way.
You can get creative with any other email types you’d like to explore, but this should give a great head-start with your brainstorming session. Before I let you loose to create your welcome email series, let’s end with a few best practices you’ll want to keep in mind.
Best practices in writing your welcome email sequence
What’s the difference between a good welcome email sequence and a great one? That’s what we are going to be talking about! All of the best welcome series have these things in common.
Write conversationally
When someone gives you their email address, they are giving you access to their most private digital platform: their personal inbox. It shows how interested they are in hearing from you and learning about what you do.
The best way to communicate with your new subscribers is through conversational emails. If your audience feels like you are setting them up for a sales pitch, they will unsubscribe and move on. Since your welcome email series isn’t primarily about selling, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
However, if you try to come off as overly professional, buttoned-up, or academic, it could turn off your subscribers (unless they’re somehow really into that sort of thing… but most aren’t). Each of your emails should feel like a conversation with a new friend. That’s the best way to win their attention and trust.
Be engaging
As you send emails to your list of subscribers, it may start to feel like a one-way conversation. Treating your welcome email series as a monologue won’t help you make lasting connections with your audience.
Instead, it’s important to write your emails in an engaging way and give your audience a reason to reach out to you. One great way to do this is by asking an insightful question at the end of your email. You don’t need to do this for every email inside your welcome email sequence, but it could be the final push of encouragement someone needs before they decide to reply to your email.
When your email inspires a conversation between you and your new subscriber, it helps you get to know them on a personal level. Some of these conversations could even lead to your subscriber signing up for a free discovery call to learn about your services or purchasing your product. It’s happened for me and many of my clients, so I know it works!
Repurpose your best-performing content
Have you already written blog posts, recorded podcast episodes, or created video content around topics you want to be known for? If so, writing your welcome email sequence just got a whole lot easier!
This is when repurposing content comes into play. Repurposing is the practice of taking a piece of content that already exists and pulling specific information from it to use in a different application. That means you might be sitting on a content goldmine without even knowing it.
Instead of writing all of your content from scratch, I recommend looking at your analytics to see what content your audience already loves. If the content relates to the topics you want to discuss in your welcome email series, you’ll be in luck.
It’s a good idea to revisit your outline to make sure the content you wish to repurpose actually fits with the other content you’re writing. Otherwise, it could feel disjointed, and we don’t want that. If you’re not sure how well it’s all coming together, ask a close friend to read through the email before you send it to your whole email list.
Now you have what you need to get started with your own welcome email sequence. I’m excited to see what you create! Who knows? Maybe I’ll experience your welcome series firsthand. 🙂
