It’s exciting to attract a new customer, a new prospect, or a new reader to your blog. If you capture their contact information, that makes the engagement even stronger, because it gives you the ability to send marketing emails to this individual in the future and gives them an instant connection to your brand community.
One of the first steps you’ll have to take when you welcome a new customer or prospect to your brand is to send a welcome email. You may send one in response to an email subscription sign-up, a filled-out form, a purchase, or any other meaningful interaction that enables you to capture the person’s email address.
The goal of most welcome emails is to provide users with useful information and prepare them for brand interactions in the future. But what steps might you take to make your welcome emails even more effective?
How can you nurture your new prospects and customers more effectively?
Start with Goals
Before you start automating your welcome emails, and even before you start drafting them, You should begin with a list of goals you wish to accomplish with your message. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
If this person is new to the brand, your initial goal may simply be to inform them about your brand, so you can improve visibility and boost your reputation. If this person has just made a purchase, your goal may be to reward them for the purchase so they feel more incentive to purchase from you again in the future.
There’s no shortage of potential goals that can direct your welcome email strategy. You might prefer to focus on your brand reputation, customer loyalty, customer information, or any number of other priorities.
It’s totally up to you and your objectives as a brand. What’s crucial is to have a definitive list because you’ll craft your welcome emails in line with the list.
Write a Compelling Subject Line
The most important element of any email is the subject line, for one powerful reason: Without a strong one, people aren’t going to open your message. This is especially true of welcome emails, since many people will be hearing from your brand for the first time.
These people have had limited interaction with your brand, so they don’t know what to expect from you. Accordingly, they may be especially reluctant to open the first email they receive.
Because of that, you should spend a disproportionate amount of your time crafting the perfect welcome email subject line. That also may involve experimenting with various subject lines, so you can see how different approaches affect your target audience.
A very important tip is that if you are sending a video, mention it in your subject line, this will help you improve your open rate by up to 19%.
Provide a Simple Thank You
Welcome emails tend to perform best when they're written and structured concisely. Consider providing readers with a simple thank-you message, a bit of follow-up information, and nothing further. You may be tempted to stuff more information into this format, but conciseness is often the wiser choice.
Make Your Readers Feel Welcome
Do whatever you can to make your readers feel welcome. Make them feel like they’re a part of your community, and show your appreciation for them.
There are many different ways to do this, which can vary, depending on your industry and your target audience.
One option is to create a welcome video that expresses enthusiasm and explains the perks of being a member of this brand community. Embedding a video in email is easy these days, thanks to tools like Viewed.
After uploading your video to the Viewed platform, you will receive a short code that you can copy and paste into your email template to send your campaign through your ESP.
Remember that Viewed is compatible with 99% of ESPs and mailing software on the market.
Set Expectations for What Happens Next
Set reader expectations for what will happen next.
- Instructions, guidelines, etc. If your customer just bought something or just signed up for a webinar, provide instructions, guidelines, and tips for getting the most out of the experience.
- Future emails. If you’ve set up an email drip campaign or plan to email your customers in the future, briefly explain what kinds of emails you plan to send and when you anticipate sending them.
- Next steps. Are there any steps your customers need to take right now? If so, be sure to provide a call to action (CTA). CTAs are powerfully persuasive, and emails with CTAs attract far more engagement than emails without them.
Include Contact Information
Always make it a point to include your contact information in the footer of your welcome email. Stay available for customers who might require further assistance or information. You could also or otherwise direct customers to additional resources.
Perfecting Your Welcome Emails
You’re probably not going to create the perfect welcome email the first time you sit down to draft one. More likely, you’re going to inch gradually toward perfection, and make subtle tweaks as you gather more information.
These are just a few ways you can do that:
- Study strong examples. Take a look at the welcome emails of other successful brands. You might even be able to find a few in your own inbox. What makes you click a welcome email you received from a major brand? What types of emails and subject lines are being written by your competitors? Don’t blindly mimic someone else’s strategy, but try to learn from the approaches of others so you can incorporate their best tactics into your particular brand of marketing.
- Improve your working knowledge. The more data and knowledge you have, the better constructed your campaigns are apt to become. Improve your working knowledge by understanding your target audience better, segmenting your lists more efficiently and effectively, and paying attention to the latest trends in email marketing.
- Experiment. Finally, experiment with various techniques and approaches. Tinker with your subject lines, change the time of day when you send emails, and provide different incentives can all help you plan more effective campaigns. Cut whatever doesn’t work and double down on whatever does.
Use Viewed to surprise your new customers with a welcome email they won’t forget. Start your 30-day free trial today!
