We all know that first impressions are important but did you know that they can also be incredibly powerful? In the world of email marketing they are the most impactful moment you will get to connect with a potential customer.

The Most Powerful Email Of Them All

Welcome emails, the first email connection you have with a customer, is far and away the email with the highest engagement. There are a million stats out there but they all show that welcome emails have more than an 80 percent open rate -- 82 percent according to MailChimp and more than 91 percent according to Hive.co. That is an enormous number compared to the 20 percent average open rate on normal email sends across industries.

Welcome emails are not only widely opened they are also read through. According to Campaign Monitor, welcome emails have read rates 42 percent higher than the average email. This means that people aren’t just opening them, they are actually reading them!

And not only are they reading them -- according to InboxArmy, welcome emails generally get 5 times the clicks that a regular email receives. That means five times more clicks through to your site, your social media channels, to whatever you call their attention to.

This is the captive audience that any marketer or business owner dreams of! You can’t afford to send a boring email and squander this opportunity. 

How can you use this chance and really connect with your potential customers? Here is how to create a winning welcome email that will put your best foot forward right off the bat.

Writing A Single Welcome Email

Tell Your Story

Say hello! Tell your new subscriber who you are and what you are all about. This shouldn’t be long but should be warm and tell them something about what your business is all about. Thank them for subscribing and taking interest and how you are excited to build a relationship going forward.

Use Images

A great eye-catching image works wonders in marketing. Choose a main image that you think really captures your brand and makes you stand out. You can choose to use more than one image but keep in mind that you want your email to load quickly and stay simple especially at first. One main anchor image is perfect if you want to keep it simple.

Keep It Simple

With such an engaged audience you might be tempted to dazzle them with all sorts of bells and whistles. Don’t! Keeping things simple and straightforward makes it easy for the customer to read and take action. 

Think about what you want to get across and structure the email accordingly. Don’t pack a ton of information into a tight space. You may want to show them a bunch of offers right away to try and capitalize on the engagement but that will only backfire. Choose one special offer or one call-to-action to highlight prominently in the email to push them to take action upon.

Offer Something

One of the best ways to convert off of a welcome email is to offer a discount or coupon of some kind. Many of us have signed up to mailing lists just to get that special offer! 

This is a great way to build an email list and convert browsers to paying customers. Think about what kind of offer you can make happen and include it. It doesn’t have to be a huge discount! If someone is signing up for your email list they are taking an action and showing you they are interested in your brand. Immediately following up with a discount or offer is a great way to convert that interest immediately.

Creating A Welcome Series

An even more effective way to capitalize on the increased visibility of a welcome email is to send a welcome series.

A welcome series is a simple, automated series of emails welcoming a new subscriber to your business. If you choose to send a series of emails these will also follow a similar framework of simplicity as a single welcome email. 

In whatever email platform you use you would create these emails and schedule them to send days or weeks apart to keep your new subscriber engaged and informed without having to lift a finger.

The First Email

The first email would be something like a single welcome email with an introduction to the brand and a message thanking the subscriber for signing up for the mailing list. This would also include an offer or discount.

This email would essentially be the general one-off welcome email you would create if you were not creating a series.

The Second Email

There are no rules for what you should send next but a great follow up email would encourage the new subscriber to connect with your business on social media. This is a great way to bring the relationship with the brand from email to other platforms to build the relationship even more.

The Third Email

This email is a great place to highlight your products and how your customers feel about your business. Show off products that are trending or are best sellers at the moment. You can also choose to show off some of your most recent five-star reviews. 

Also reinforce the initial offer to make sure it gets used!

Can I Send More Than 3 Emails?

You can send as many emails as you want in a series so long as they all have a clear purpose. But generally try not to overwhelm your subscribers and when you see open rates start to fall significantly you should pull the plug. Also be sure to space out the emails so they all send at appropriate intervals. 

Final Thoughts

It’s time to take first impressions seriously. If someone got your welcome email right now, as is, what impression would it leave them with?