A welcome email creates a first impression with a new customer. Done poorly and that new customer, the one you’ve spent your hard earned cash on to acquire, is looking for the unsubscribe button.
But done correctly, you are on your way to having a customer for life.
A welcome email sets the tone for forthcoming emails. Seventy three percent of subscribers expect to receive such an email.
But many marketers and business owners don’t give welcome emails their due importance. Instead they just knock out any old words, too eager to get to the next email where they mistakenly begin the hard sell.
The benefits of a welcome email
- 50%+ first emails get opened by a new subscribe
- 43% of new subscribers take up a ‘special’ offering in a welcome email
- there is greater than a 40% chance of having a new subscriber read more of your emails over the next 90 days
A welcome email is essential
As mentioned earlier it sets the tone. At this early stage, people don’t know who you are. You need to engage with them and build their trust before they’ll do business with you.
To be effective you will need to have a fairly good idea of who your customers are. Where do they live? How old are they? Are they working or retired?
From having a clear and concise picture of your customer, you’ll be able to communicate with them in their language. You’ll understand their fears. You’ll be able to show them how your products or services can alleviate their fears and put them on a better path.
A welcome email is NOT a confirmation email
Most reputable email service providers require you to opt-n to their subscription service. They are asking you for permission to email you on a continual basis, until you unsubscribe.
A welcome email does not ask you to verify your email address, add their details to a white safe list or thank you for ordering. These are confirmation email.
Tip #1 Let your subscribers know about your emailing frequency
The biggest turn off for subscribers is having their inbox crammed with unread emails. In a world of information overload you might be adding to their stress.
Instead let them know when and how often you’ll be sending them an email. If they know they are going to hear from you on a Tuesday (and your content id good) they’ll look out for you. And if you get a few unsubscribes, that’s ok. They were not right for you. Best to have an engaged list right from the start.
Let your subscribers know what they are going to get (powerful information, free stuff, opportunities to win stuff, cheat sheets etc), how long each email will roughly be (about 500 words or a couple of pages) and whether it’s hit their inbox in the morning or afternoon.
Tip #2 Reconfirm the benefits of subscribing
They should know why they have subscribed to your list but it doesn’t hurt to reconfirm it.
Some of these benefits will be the reason as to why the signed up. To ‘get your 7 point checklist to live a better lie’
Others will come in the ‘being a subscriber’ format. Thank you for being a loyal subscriber type email where you give away another product or service for free or a super discount.
Tip #3 Don’t go for the jugular too quick
Most of us wouldn’t ask the girl at the bar to marry us within the first 5 minutes.
Same with email marketing. Don’t go for the sale too quick. Don’t be pushy. I’m sure you’ve all felt the hard sell. The most annoying ones come from people on social media. They send you a friend request, then after you accept, they hit you up to buy their product or meet for ‘coffee’. I love coffee but I’ve been burnt too often by that line.
Instead get your subscribers to give you small ‘yeses’ Make a comment and ask them if they agree or not. Get them nodding to the little things before you ask them to whip their wallets out.
Tip # 4 Get their attention
People are busy. They are time poor. In a fast paced world the ordinary or even good item doesn’t capture people’s attention. The content, and in particular the heading, needs to be great!
Think about when you are on your phone scrolling through your social media fees. Do you stop at every single post to read it? No! You simply don’t have time.
Your heading must must eye catching. Your content following must be newsworthy. The customer must be able to see at a glance that your email, especially your welcome email is worthy of them investigating it further.
Conclusion
Business owners don’t give enough time to creating a good welcome email.
Instead they rely on the default confirmation email and wonder why people don’t fully subscribe. That’s just plain crazy!
But if done right and a subscriber knows clearly what he/she will get from you, you could end up with a subscriber for life. But they need to know what they are getting and when.
A welcome email is not the opportunity to ram home a sale either. Yes it can produce an upgrade sale if done correctly, but it is better to engage a customer for the long haul. Get simple nods early and the subscriber is more likely to stick
Are you using email content to grow your business. Let me know?