This article is part 3 of 3 of my welcome email series.
Part 1: How to Write the Perfect Welcome Email (Printable Template Included!)
Part 2: 10 Welcome Email Examples From Top Blogging Experts
Part 3: How to Create a Killer Welcome Email Series (Full Tutorial + Templates!)
You’ve started your email list.
Found the perfect email service provider.
Managed to get some subscribers.
Now… what do you do with all these new subscribers you are getting?
You send them a welcome email series! (aka welcome email sequence).
In this post, you will learn how to write a killer welcome email sequence that will delight your new subscribers.
Please pin me?
Writing your welcome email series: What we will cover today
- Why bother writing a welcome email sequence?
- How many emails should you add to your welcome email series?
- How often do you send these emails?
- What do you write in your welcome email series?
- How do you combine your broadcasts and your welcome email series?
- How do you transition from your welcome email series to selling something later?
Don’t know why you have to start an email list? Check this post out: Why Building an Email List is a MUST for Your Blog & Business
Haven’t started your email list? Learn how to here: List Building 101: How to Build An Email List That Makes Money (Cheatsheet Included)
Why should you bother writing a welcome email series?
The first few moments of attention you get from each new person in your community is the “make or break moment” for your business.
You have to make a great first impression!
Out of the gazillion things your subscriber can do on the internet, he/she has chosen to spend it on you and subscribed to your list.
If you do not engage them during these critical first moments, he/she will probably tune out from your business and not open your future emails.
When a new subscriber joins, it is often better for you to send specific content to them (rather than just rely on your weekly newsletters) that will introduce yourself to them and “indoctrinate” them.
You don’t want to be accidentally sending a sales email to a brand spanking new subscriber when he/she barely knows you at all!
Here’s what a great welcome series does:
A great welcome email series captures attention.
A great welcome email series engages.
A great welcome email series gets you remembered.
A great welcome email series gets you trusted.
A great welcome email series primes people to buy.
In other words, your welcome email series exists to get your new subscribers to know, like, and trust you to solve a specific problem(s) in their lives.
Now let’s move on to how you can do that.
How many emails should you include in your welcome email series?
I recommend that you start with 3 – 5 emails if you are just starting out with your welcome email series.
This includes your welcome email.
Why not just have one welcome email? Isn’t 3 – 5 emails excessive?
No, it is not excessive. This is because you should not be viewing your welcome email sequence from your point of view as a sender but from the point of view of a receiver.
In reality, your subscribers will not see, open, or engage with every email you send. So for instance, even if you did send 5 emails out, they may only open 1 – 2 of them, or even none.
Also, just one point of contact is not enough to get someone to know, like, and trust you. You need to build a relationship.
To get around this problem, send more emails, but with different content – all providing value.
How often do we send these automated emails?
You can send one out every 2 or 3 days: You don’t want to irritate your subscribers, but you don’t want them to forget about you either.
Bear this in mind – new subscribers will likely not open your emails because people’s inboxes nowadays are flooded with marketing emails.
What do you include in your welcome email series?
Here are a few things you can include in your welcome email series:
- Introduce yourself
- How can you help their life?
- What makes you an expert?
- Your experience
- Any credibility indicators you have
- Your brand story
- Send them pure value that will get you trusted.
- Ask them questions: get them to engage
- Talk briefly about what products and services you provide
Email #1: Your welcome email
Objective: Introduce yourself, motivate them to open your next email
I have a full blog post with a printable template included about how you can write the perfect welcome email and another post with several great welcome email examples.
Here are the 8 components of your welcome email to include that I mentioned in my How to Write a Perfect Welcome Email post:
- Greet your subscriber by name
- Tell them what they can expect from this welcome email
- What are you doing in their inbox?
- Properly introduce yourself
- Give them lots of value and point them to your best resources
- Get them to stay connected to you
- Tease them about your next email (open a curiosity loop)
Something important to do in your welcome email is to ask them to add you to their contact list so that you don’t end up in their spam folder!
Email #2: Your second welcome email (But don’t call it that)
Objective: 1) Re-introduce yourself (they may forget), and 2) Offer them great value.
In this email, re-introduce yourself and how you can help them. Just like how you may meet people in real life once and promptly forget about them, your subscribers may not either.
Don’t forget: Facts tell and stories sell! Introduce yourself in a manner that’s highly entertaining and conversational.
I recommend that your second email also offers them your best freebie.
Your new subscriber is likely still deciding if your emails will be valuable to them – and the best way to convince them is to provide value that will transform their life immediately.
You can do this by providing a solution to their problem within the body of the email itself or through your freebie.
Great post about how you can write an amazing welcome sequence!Click To TweetEmails #3 & #4: Story + Value Bomb Combination
By now, your new subscriber should know who you are. Engage them further!
There are many different ways you can send the next couple of emails – but personally, I write my emails in a certain way:
- I will usually start off with a story, have a personal sharing, or be more inspirational – to draw people in and build a relationship
- Then, I will talk about a freebie / talk about strategy to give people solid value – so that they trust me and see me as an expert
Use this combination for the next 2 emails. OR, email #3 can be pure motivation / story-telling, where you talk about why you do what you do or provide inspirational nuggets, and email #4 can be pure value.
Just make sure you have both of these elements: Be personable and get them to know you as a human, and provide solid tips that will transform their lives.
Email #5: Move them along the customer sales process
At this point, your subscriber would know you much better than before and trust you to a certain degree.
It is now time to move them forward in the customer sales process.
There are a couple of things you could do. You could:
- Ask them for the sale directly by selling a low-cost product
If you choose to do this, follow your offer up with 1 – 2 reminder emails to further convince them.
- Invite them to participate in one of your funnels that will provide further (specific) value to them on a particular topic and pitch them your product down the line.
This could be an invitation to join your free email course, or perhaps an invitation to sign up for your evergreen webinar that will sell them something later.
Conquer Your Welcome Email Sequence With Ease With This Full Tutorial! Click To TweetHow do you combine your broadcasts and your welcome email series?
You only send broadcasts to subscribers that are not in your welcome email series.
This is because we want to send a very targeted, specific, and customized set of emails to every new subscriber to make sure that their first few experiences with you are amazing.
You don’t want to interrupt this experience with a random sales email, or your latest blog post which may be irrelevant for them at this moment.
For most email service providers like Convertkit, you can easily exclude certain audiences when sending your broadcasts.
(If you have no clue what I am talking about, you can check out this page to start your list building journey today.)
How do you transition from your welcome email series to selling something later?
After your welcome email series, you can send them to a sales funnel to sell them a product down the line.
It could be an email sales funnel, or a webinar sales funnel. Most people start with an email sales funnel.
An email sales funnel:
- Provides your audience with great value
- Casually mentions your product/service (while still providing value)
- Addresses any reservations someone might have about purchasing your product,
- and then asks for the sale with a time-specific deadline.
But that’s not till later, for now – focus on your welcome email sequence first.
Now, go and write your welcome series!
While I have provided a lot of guidelines in this post, at the end of the day, write your emails with your own style.
It’s all about the connection and value you can bring your new subscribers.
This marks the end of the 3-part welcome email series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the series.
If you liked this post, I would appreciate if you pin this post to your most relevant board.
Thank you!
Check out the other posts in my welome email series:
Part 1: How to Write the Perfect Welcome Email (Printable Template Included!)
Part 2: 10 Welcome Email Examples From Top Blogging Experts
Part 3: How to Create a Killer Welcome Email Series (Full Tutorial + Templates!)
There is no link to the templates.
Click the big yellow button and you’ll find it!
The yellow button doesn’t work. It’s not an active link so it’s not possible to download the template.
Mind fixing it?
Thanks!
On it!
Hi Raelyn!
I’ve only read a few posts on your blog so far, but I’ve found each one full of helpful information. I’d love to download your welcome email series templates. I tried clicking the yellow button that is supposed to take you to the free template, but when I click on them, nothing happens. Usually, when you roll the mouse over a button or link, the browser shows the url that the link is going to in the bottom left corner. When I roll over these buttons, my browser doesn’t show a url linked to that button. I even tried a different browser, but it still wouldn’t do anything when I clicked. I wonder if the link is broken? P.S. You have a new email subscriber. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Brianna! I just fixed it but will probably replace it with another optin soon, the current templates aren’t really up to my standards, hahaha!
Hello Raelyn –
I am also one of those readers who has only read a couple of your posts but from the ones that I have read they are really informative and have helped me look at things in a different light that has actually worked. Right now I am getting ready to set up my second email sequence but on a different twist. I have read somewhere online from another blogger who actually said that he has tried setting up his sequence where his delivery is on a daily basis. I think that the theory behind this is that with all of the lists that people sign up for if you are not sending an information and actionable email then someone else is.
I thought I would ask you what you think about this to get your comments on it. Thank you in advance.
Keep on rockin’!
Yes I have heard that for some people it works. It really boils down to whether you can entertain and add value to people on a daily basis. Most people find it annoying though. Personally, I keep it to once or twice a week.