3 minutes
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April 8, 2024

How to write a welcome email that outperforms everything

Your welcome emails should outperform every other email you ever send, by far.

The reason? 

These emails are like first dates with your new subscribers who've joined your email list.

Someone's just chosen to connect with you. They're testing the waters, and their curiosity (aka willingness to read your emails) is at their highest.

This is what gives you the opportunity to send emails that perform better than the rest—on average 4x the open rate and 5x the click-through rate of a standard email marketing campaign (InboxArmy).

For this to work, these emails should work hand-in-hand with your lead magnet (the mechanism you use to obtain your subscribers). i.e. popup on your website, subscribe on your blog, or free trial on your landing page.

And the flow typically follows this format:

  1. Once you obtain a new subscriber via your lead magnet, your first welcome email should deliver on the promise stated in your lead magnet—be it a discount, free guide, or onboarding content.
  2. This email should also introduce your brand and explain what customers should expect in future emails by staying on your list.
  3. After your first welcome email, your subsequent emails will continue to nurture these subscribers until they've purchased your product or taken other action(s) you'd like.

What does this look like in practice?

While there is no right way to do this (every business is so unique), there are some general rules of thumb. You can also use Hoppy Copy's Sequence Creator to craft something custom for you, which we actually used to help build our own welcome sequence.

Here's the welcome flow we're using at Hoppy Copy, which could apply to any software or services business:

  1. Introductory email - reinstate product benefit and showcase main features with video
  2. Educational email - build brand, provide thought leadership, and inspire customers to start using the product
  3. Product expansion #1 - showcase a core feature of the product to lead to a 'wow' moment
  4. Trial ending reminder #1 - remind customer of trial timeline and collect feedback
  5. Product expansion #2 - showcase another core feature of the product to lead to a 'wow' moment
  6. 24 hour trial ending reminder
  7. Product expansion #3
  8. Review request for those who convert to customers
    …and it doesn't have to end here!

And here's a welcome sequence for one of our e-commerce business (after someone subscribes to the welcome popup):

  1. Introductory email - share brand story + discount
  2. Discount reminder (sending to those who haven't opened it)
  3. Educational email - more brand building & credibility focus
  4. Educational email - product benefits focus
  5. Educational email - customer reviews & media features
  6. Last chance discount reminder

It doesn't have to be that complex. Just do this, and you'll be miles ahead of the many other businesses who aren't paying attention to their welcome emails.

Welcome emails are so powerful


So powerful, that they generate more far more revenue on a per email basis than promotional emails. They put your brand's personality front-and-center. They set the tone for building trust and credibility. And they help you build an audience of hyper-loyal fans who keep coming back, time and time again.

So if you're looking for a place to focus in email marketing, start with your welcome emails. Even if you already have them setup, there's almost always more emails you can add or ways to improve your existing flow.
Welcome emails are one of the biggest opportunities in email marketing.

If you're ready to make yours awesome, try our Sequence Creator >

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