Optimized Welcome Email: Engagement from the Moment of Subscription

First, let’s see the numbers: statistics say that welcome emails are capable of producing 320% more revenue per email than other promotional emails and 196% higher unique click rate. It is no coincidence that 81% of B2C marketers use welcome emails – their effectiveness is a solid fact. This is of course, if you make a good one.

Let’s start with the subject line

The first impression itself is the subject: the recipient decides if they will open or not based upon what they see in that few characters. In that short space you have to make an impression.

There are certain words that you don’t want to include there. Webinar for example – that is too much, it is a higher level content that will not engage users who you contact for the first time, but it will lower your opens and clickthrough rate. A video however is much more tempting, as sale and save are too. Of course there are certain words which will help you to make your subject lines irresistible, please check out our previous blog post.

When will you send it?

If someone gave you your address on purpose, it means they are interested in what you have to offer. You can’t sell them your whole portfolio the first day; however it makes sense to send them a welcome email immediately after signup. It is also more personal than mails sent out in a batch.

Speaking about being personal: forget generic addresses like “noreply@”. It is much more likely that someone will not open a mail clearly sent in a batch to a list of addresses than if you use at least a real-looking address. It’s best if it belongs to a real person at the company. Even if it is johndoe@ they get a mail from, they will be more likely to open it.

So, they opened your email – now what?

If you’re good at email marketing, they will see a clear layout, a responsive design and not some overdesigned, confusing stuff. An attractive design really makes a difference, sine it can have deep influence on your conversion rates. Here are some tips to help you design highly converting email templates, but without a killer copy even the best design won’t help.

First of all, you should be comfortable with a bit longer copy – a few words is not enough to engage your lead. Don’t think in thousands of words, but at least 3-4 short paragraphs. And at the end add some information, offer links where they can contact you and ask questions.

In the copy thank them for joining and offer some kind of special discount for the occasion. It may sound cliché, but it works. Avoid word like free, buy, purchase. Use smart formulas instead. Write down why it is good for them to convert now, how will you answer to their personal needs. Include CTAs, but don’t be too aggressive about it, include information about your privacy policy and a contact where they can write down their suggestions on how to improve further communication. (And be very conscious if you do receive feedback!)

**These are the basics: be personal, be quick, be interesting. **Then you can start planning ahead.