The first emails you send to new subscribers are crucial for whether they unsubscribe, become inactive, or stay engaged.
4. juli 2024
A great many companies send only a single welcome mail to new subscribers, and some send none at all.
If you are among those not yet sending a welcome mail to new subscribers, hurry up and start by setting up a generic "Thanks for signing up", then read the rest of the article afterwards 😉
If you have at least one welcome mail set up, read on for inspiration on how to increase sales to your new subscribers.
Tip #1: Make your first welcome mail specific to where the sign-up came from:
Most sign-ups to your newsletter come either alongside a purchase, or in connection with a reward you have promised for signing up – for example:
A discount code
The chance to win a prize
A whitepaper or e-book
A webinar
The first mail you send must therefore (of course) contain what you promised to deliver on sign-up.
By far the most valuable sign-ups you can get are the ones that come with a purchase. If you deliver a satisfying product and/or service, the chance of a repeat sale is very high.
BUT, if straight after a sign-up via purchase you either bombard the inbox with offers or send a standard welcome flow aimed at people who have never bought before, you risk your customer quickly losing interest in reading your mails.
Tip #2: Start by building a simple welcome flow for those who come from a purchase – then reuse whatever makes sense from that flow for other new subscribers.
Think about what other mails you send to customers who have just bought from you. If they get 3–4 "transactional mails" as direct follow-up on the purchase, it can be a good idea to postpone the newsletter welcome mail until you have delivered the goods and finished the direct follow-up on the purchase.
Beyond that, the principles for a good welcome flow for subscribers from a purchase are much the same as the principles for a good welcome flow for everyone else.
The difference is whether you are creating the next sale or the first sale.
So what should a good welcome flow contain?
The specific content depends entirely on the individual company, of course – but here is a suggestion for the structure of a simple 3-mail welcome series:
Mail 1 in the welcome series:
Say thank you for signing up – and "thanks again for your purchase" to those who signed up via a purchase.
Deliver the value you promised at sign-up.
Tell them what to expect from here on.
Mail 2 in the welcome series:
Get relevant information about the new subscriber – ideally something concrete you can follow up on directly once they have answered.
Give something extra in return for the information – ideally something that requires the information you are asking for. If you ask about their interests, for instance, offer to send them your best offers on the interests they chose straight away – or an extra entry in a competition for answering.
If you ask about interests, remember to distinguish between situational interests and general ones.
Mail 3 in the welcome series:
Give a further introduction to your company / products / services – ideally targeted according to the answers in mail 2.
If there was no answer to mail 2, give a standard introduction and consider repeating the questions from mail 2.
Say that the introduction is over, and repeat what the recipient can expect from here on.