Your Guide to Creating an Email List Welcome Sequence
Hooray! You have a new subscriber!! When someone lands on your list, you want to welcome them right away with a warm and engaging welcome email. This is your chance to introduce yourself, thank them for joining your community, and remind them of the value they’ll receive from being on your list. The email list welcome sequence emails are some of the most important you will send because they tend to be the most frequently opened! So take some time to think through what you want to share here. A welcome sequence could be as simple as one email, or, if you have more to share, up to five emails. In some specific cases, it could include more, but I always like to start simple!
Setting up an automated email list welcome sequence can help you nurture your subscribers over time, guiding them from the initial connection to becoming loyal customers. It also allows you to batch work – sit down and create a valuable sequence once and let it go to work for you. Just be sure to check back often to make sure it’s still fresh and relevant content!
The main purpose of a welcome sequence is to introduce yourself and how you help. The welcome sequence is also a great place to inform your reader of what to expect from your newsletter – what content you share, how frequently you plan to email, etc. Be sure to leave some room for change and growth in your content and ask for their input to help shape the emails you send.
Your Welcome Sequence isn’t Really About You!
This makes it easier if you have a hard time talking about yourself. Your emails should be about ‘what’s in it for them’. They need to know who you are and so an introduction is in order, but make it memorable and make it more about how you help them than all about you. We all open SO many emails daily, and you don’t want your subscriber to later wonder ‘Who is this and why am I getting this email?’ when you follow up in a few days (or weeks…)
A great way to become memorable is through branding and storytelling. Have a specific look to all your emails so they are recognized! No need to get fancy here, in fact, you want to keep it simple (don’t clog inboxes with huge emails) and most importantly: keep it consistent. I’ve created a Canva template with a few email headers you can use! You can personalize them with your logo and brand colors and insert a png or jpg file at the top of each email to let your subscriber know who your emails are from.
Set Up Your Nurture Sequence to Follow your Opt-in Delivery
Typically someone will join your email list after signing up for an opt-in or freebie. To keep things simple, deliver the opt-in in its own email and workflow and then transition your subscriber to an email list welcome sequence or workflow. This way you can easily have multiple opt-ins and just one welcome sequence. Unless of course you have multiple audiences and need to create a separate welcome sequence for each. But let’s start simple for now, shall we?
Options for Welcome Sequence Emails
Introduction Email
Who you are and what they can expect from your emails. Remember: What’s in it for them? This is a great time to direct them to your website about page if they’d like to learn more about you or have them hit reply and tell you about themselves.
Bonus! This email could link to a video welcome introduction if video is your thing! This would be a great way to differentiate yourself from all the other emails!
Before and After Email
Describe your challenge and how you overcame it – this challenge should be similar to their own current challenge and will let them know you understand their situation and how to help.
Free Gift Email
It’s a great idea to surprise and delight your subscribers by including another gift in your welcome sequence. This should be different from the opt-in you already sent prior to this sequence. This will also get your audience accustomed to clicking on links and downloading things you share in your emails.
Where to Find You and What You Offer Email
Now that you’ve offered value in your welcome sequence to nurture your audience, I think it’s helpful to inform them about what offerings you have available or where your products are for sale.
What’s Next Email
This could be included in any of the above or sent as a separate email. Now that your subscriber is familiar with you and what you offer, instead of leaving them hanging let them know when your next newsletter will be sent or when they can expect to hear from you again.
Have One Call to Action in Each Welcome Email
Make it clear and specific. Throughout the welcome sequence, it’s a great idea to get your audience used to interacting with your emails (reply, click, share, etc.) Offering valuable information here will let them know that your emails are worthwhile and that they should continue to open them and click on your CTAs in the future. Here are a few options for CTA’s you can add to your welcome emails.
-Hit reply and tell me_______. Make this a specific and easy question that they will want to answer. Asking better and more precise questions will get you better answers.
-Click here to check out the blog (about page, shop page, home page, etc)
-Answer this Survey and tell me what content you’d like to receive (it’s a great idea to host a giveaway or gift a freebie to thank them for their time)
-Download this free gift
-Choose your preferences (if your Service Provider offers this) so you know what segments to add them to.
-Follow on Pinterest/Instagram/Facebook for more – bring your people to other platforms.
An Email List Welcome Sequence Should:
A welcome sequence is important because it lets your subscribers know what to expect from your emails, tells them who you are, what you offer, and how it will help them. It can also share your personality and can help you learn more about your subscribers, by their replies or how they interact with your emails.
And though it is important, it doesn’t have to be complicated! You can start with a simple series of emails, or even just one! Remember that each subscriber is a friend, with their own specific challenges and your goal is to connect with them and eventually help them. To learn more about email marketing in general, head to this post!
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