If it is the first impression that counts, we can immediately well understand the enormous potential contained within a welcome email.
Technically, as a “welcome email” we define the automatic email we receive once we register for a site, an online service, or more simply sign up for a newsletter.
It is for all intents and purposes a transactional email which, by virtue of this very nature, is too often, at worst, either not configured or left with a standard layout and textual content.
In fact, if customised in form and content, it represents not only an excellent business card for the company but also an opportunity for the latter to establish a relationship with its users.
Welcome email: what if it is much more than a welcome message?
Data and statistics prove it: welcome emails are the type of email that achieve much higher open and engagement rates than the average of other newsletters that are usually sent out: users who subscribe to a service certainly expect to receive such messages, so the timeliness of sending plays a crucial role.
Engagement but not only: precisely because they are received at a time when the user is most likely to interact, welcome emails can be a great tool to start profiling your audience, creating workflows and deploying effective marketing automation strategies.
Biographical data, preferences, interests and much more: it is important to include in the welcome email a call to action that invites the user to progress in the relationship with the brand. If presenting products and services or sending special promotions can be an interesting hook, surely it can prove equally useful to invite the user to fill out a short profiling questionnaire. Welcome emails and dynamic smart forms thus represent two excellent tools to use in the first phase to get to know your audience better.
Tips&Tricks. Open your welcome email with a greeting and a thank you addressed to the user, but don’t forget to include a link to a short profiling survey, it could be useful to later send personalized offers or show products more in line with the user’s needs and expectations.
What if users don’t click? There is always the option of segmenting them to ring them later with ad hoc communications.
Practical tips: how to personalize your welcome email
Empathy, eye-catching layout consistent with the corporate image, thank you message, proposal of recommended products/services, latest blog articles, links to social profiles:the elements that can make up a successful welcome email are many and the advice is to use them to the fullest with the aim of providing your new users, not only with in-depth content, but above all the stimulus to get to know the company and, in some circumstances, even the discount code can be an interesting lever. But precisely because there are so many elements to bring into play, the advice is not to take advantage of a single email, but to create a real workflow, that is, a welcome series.
- First email: play on the emotional level Empathize with the new user, a warm welcome and thank you is what is needed. Create an eye-catching layout, choose an attention-grabbing opening image, provide a brief introduction to the company and include links to social profiles and valuable resources such as customer care or the company blog.
- Second email: stimulates the rational aspect This is the time to let people know in more detail about the products and services offered as well as the mission and values of the brand. It can be an opportunity to introduce best-selling products and invite the user to action.
- Third email: invest on the persuasive level The goal is to advance the user’s relationship with the company: purchase, quote request represent the most requested actions. Discount codes, personalized time offers can thus be a great tool to achieve the goal.
However, let’s not forget what was stated above: namely, that the welcome email can also be an excellent opportunity to get to know your audience better. So here it might be interesting to include a short questionnaire in the first email as well; the product offer, which is present in the second email, could thus be customized precisely according to the data previously entered by the user.
And if it is felt that some questions may “scare” our users even a simple clickable banner can be a first way to profile our user base.
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