Email welcome letters are important tools to start building a rapport with customers and prospects who sign up for your mailing list. Sending an email to welcome a new subscriber lets you acknowledge their request to be on your list and shows you’re glad they did. Here are tips to create effective email welcome letters.
What Is an Email Welcome Letter?
An email welcome letter is a message you send to new subscribers shortly after signing up for your mailing list. It’s a way of thanking them for signing up, introducing them to your mailing list, and giving them some helpful information about how to use it.
Your email welcome letter is the perfect opportunity to make a great first impression with new subscribers. By taking the time to write a well-crafted welcome letter, you can set the tone for future interactions and build a strong relationship with your new subscribers from the start.
What Are the Benefits of Writing an Email Welcome Letter?
At first glance, email welcome letters may seem like nothing more than a polite gesture that won’t have nearly as big of an impact on subscribers as your carefully curated email campaigns. However, email welcome letters can be very effective for both short-term and long-term results. The following are some of the main benefits of sending out an email welcome letter to new subscribers:
The Open Rate Is High
Studies have shown that the open rate for email welcome letters is high, often around 50 percent. This is much higher than the typical email newsletter. Essentially, your best bet of reaching as many subscribers as possible is through your welcome letter. If you make a good impression, subscribers will be more likely to open future emails that you send to them.
Keep Your Brand Top of Mind
When subscribers first sign up for your mailing list, they’re likely very interested in what you have to offer. However, this interest can quickly fade if they don’t hear from you again soon. In fact, some subscribers may even forget that they signed up to your email altogether.
If they don’t receive an email from you for a while, they may not recognize it once they do receive one. Not only will this hurt your open rate, but they may even mark it as spam. A welcome letter will keep your company fresh in their minds and increase the likelihood that they’ll recognize future emails from your business.
Make A Great First Impression
First impressions are everything, and your email welcome letter is the perfect opportunity to make a good one. By writing a well-crafted message, you can show new subscribers that you’re professional and that you’re dedicated to providing them with valuable information that’s relevant to them.
Related: What is email marketing?
What Should You Include in Your Email Welcome Letter?
A welcome letter should be more than just a single-line introduction to your newsletter. Considering the potential benefits of leaving a good first impression, you’ll want to take some time to craft your email welcome letter. The following are a few tips on what you should include:
A Clear and Succinct Subject Line
Use the word “welcome” in your subject line so that subscribers understand that it’s a welcome letter. Be sure to add the name of your company as well. Combined, these elements will remind the subscriber that the email is in response to an action that they took.
Thank Your New Subscribers
The first thing that you should do in the body of your welcome email is to thank your new subscribers for signing up. Showing appreciation is always a good idea, but it’s vital in a welcome letter because it reinforces that you’re happy to have them on board.
You may even want to show your thanks by providing a small gift, such as a discount code to a product or service on your website, a free trial, or a free piece of downloadable content. Not only does this show that you are thankful, but it’s a great way to engage new subscribers right off the bat.
Outline What Subscribers Can Expect
In addition to thanking your new subscribers, you should also take the opportunity to outline what they can expect from your email newsletter. This is an excellent opportunity to set expectations and ensure subscribers get what they signed up for. It’s also a chance to give a sneak peek of the type of content that they’ll be receiving in future emails.
Providing a clear overview of what subscribers can expect from your emails can also make them more excited about the content they’ll receive. As a result, they’ll be more likely to open any emails you send them in the future. You should also give them an idea of how often you send out emails. For instance, if you send a monthly newsletter, letting them know ensures that they’ll keep an eye out for it.
Include a Call to Action
A call to action (CTA) is an essential part of any email, and your welcome letter is no exception. Your CTA should encourage subscribers to take some kind of action. Although you’ll probably want to refrain from trying to get them to make a purchase at this point (especially if a purchase triggered the welcome email), there are plenty of other things that you can encourage subscribers to do, such as:
- Sign up to your RSS feed
- Visit your website
- Check out your blog
- Follow you on social media
Whatever you ask your subscribers to do in your CTA, be sure to include a link to a relevant page.
Include the Option to Unsubscribe
Although you don’t want to see your subscribers leave, it’s important to include an unsubscribe link in your welcome email. This allows them to easily remove themselves from your list if they decide that they no longer want to receive your emails. Including an unsubscribe link in your email will also ensure compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.
Don’t try to bury the unsubscribe link in your email to make it hard to find either. The last thing you want is to come off as untrustworthy. Make it easy to find. After all, some subscribers may realize from your overview that your email newsletter won’t be of interest to them. If this is the case, you won’t want them on your subscriber list to begin with since they’ll hurt your open rate and will present little chance of converting.
Additional Tips for Sending Effective Email Welcome Letters
The content of your welcome email matters, but there are a few other things you should keep in mind when sending an email welcome letter as well. For example:
Use Action Triggers to Automate Your Welcome Emails
If you’re using an email marketing service like MailChimp, you can use action triggers to automatically send out a welcome email when someone signs up for your list.
Use Different Templates for Different Action Triggers
Although your welcome email should be mostly the same regardless of how someone signed up for your list, you may want to consider using different templates (or at least slightly different versions) depending on the action trigger.
For example, if someone signs up for your newsletter from your website, you may want to include a link to some of your most popular content. On the other hand, if someone subscribes through a purchase, you may want to include a coupon or other special offer (as well as thanking them for the purchase).
Related content: 10 types of emails to send to your mailing list
Keep Your Branding Consistent
Your welcome email is a great opportunity to establish or reinforce your brand. Be sure to use the same logo, color scheme, and overall aesthetic that you use on your website and other marketing materials. Consistency will help subscribers to quickly identify your email as coming from you, even if they don’t recognize the sender’s address right away.
Showcase Your Brand Personality
Welcome emails shouldn’t be boring. After all, you’re trying to leave a memorable first impression. Be sure to inject some of your brand’s personality into the email. Doing so will help establish a stronger brand identity and make your emails more enjoyable for subscribers to read.
Begin Engaging Subscribers Right Away
Your welcome letter should go out immediately. A thank you page that shows up after the signup form is submitted should direct people to check their inbox for the welcome letter.
An email welcome letter is one of the best ways to engage new subscribers and encourage them to stick around. By following this guide, you can create an effective email welcome letter that will help you to build a strong relationship with your subscribers from the very beginning.