The email you send to welcome a new subscriber or customer is always the most read email you will ever send.

You will never send an email that is read more eagerly than the welcome email.

The welcome email is the most powerful chance you have to achieve every marketers goal of ‘customer engagement’.  Yes, I am being slightly monotone and repetitive – I’m aiming for a hypnosis effect so it gets in!

Because this email is so very important, it is the time when you should concentrate on these key aims:

• Set the tone of your ‘voice’
• Establish the terms and boundaries of your ongoing relationship
• Brief your newbie so they can anticipate your next move(s)
• Instill confidence and build credibility
• Take the newbie by the hand and ease them over towards your end goal
• Request no more than one action, but draw attention to other possibilities in the future

I’m going to look at each of these parts of the Welcome Email, and then I’ll post some examples of welcome emails that get it right.

Set the tone of your ‘voice’

Use the genuine voice of your company, some personality is preferable.  Don’t be too folksy though, this welcome is setting the tone of how your emails, your website, your call centre, and your bricks’n'mortar presence should sound.  In fact I think you should forget about ‘single view of the customer’ until you have established a single ‘tone’ of your organisation.

Establish the terms and boundaries of your ongoing relationship

Make it clear what they have registered for, and how you will use that permission.  Plain english works well here. One of the most comforting things is a phrase such as ‘we will never, ever, share your details with anyone else, or use them for any other purpose other than what you have asked for’.

Brief your newbie so they can anticipate your next move(s)

Seth Godim said it best 10 years ago: ‘Great email is personal, relevant and anticipated’.  Anticipation is key.  No one wants a rude surprise.  Every single email is greeted with a thought process that goes something like this ‘who are you, and why are you sending me this’.   Setting up the terms, and the anticiaption means that the path is clear for you to deliver the goods, and grow that permission, to paraphrase Seth again ‘from stranger, to friend, to customer, to advocate’.

Instill confidence and build credibility

If you are good at something, now is the time to quietly reinforce that. Link to testimonials and awards, use language which makes it clear they have done the deal with just the right kind of people.

Take the newbie by the hand and ease them over towards your end goal

You might like to reinforce what it is that you aim for, in line with your overarching goals for this person.  Do you want them to buy something? Offer a time limited coupon or offer.  Do you want them to advocate for you?  Give them the tools to share to their social networks or refer a friend.  And so on.

Request no more than one action, but draw attention to other possibilities in the future

If you need them to do something, remember this is DM!  Ask for it and make the action, simple, obvious and easy.  If you just want them to look around your website, or sit tight and wait for the next stage of your program, then make it clear that they can do that and entice them with some ‘easy’ steps they can take to view your content, for example.

We have written other posts on Welcome emails in the past, you will find other ideas here:

Underground tips for us – Hall of Fame (a great welcome email example)

Welcome warmly…! (basic tips)

The 1st of 3 Best No-Brainer Ways To Improve Your Email Newsletters (all about spying!)

If you have a brilliant Welcome program then please share it with us with a comment, or if you would like them, our team are ready and waiting to guide you to make the most of the incredible potential that the Welcome email offers you.

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