Don’t Let New Subscribers Wander: Craft a Killer Welcome Email

You work hard to get people to subscribe to your email lists and sign up for content products.

Too often, though, content entrepreneurs’ next step is to put up a proverbial sign, “Please seat yourself,” abandoning newly committed audience members who must find their way at your place of business.

That’s a mistake. Instead, act like a maître d’ — welcome your new guests and show them how to get the most out of their experience with your content business.

And that all starts with the welcome email. It can be the most valuable communication you ever send. InboxArmy reports:

• 74% of subscribers expect a welcome email immediately after signing up.
• Open rates average 68% or better.
• Click-through rates are four to five times better than other email types.
• Almost half of email-driven sales are generated from automated welcome emails, according to EmailTooltester.com.

1. Don’t use the default welcome: Email subscription platforms have a default welcome email. It’s written generically and is really designed as a confirmation that the person’s signup has been processed. Don’t use it.

Customize the welcome email for your business and subscriber.

Advertisement

Take Control of Your Content Business with Memberful

In a media world increasingly dominated by AI content and tech giants, Memberful empowers creators and content entrepreneurs of every size to reclaim control of their business and earn sustainable, recurring revenue.

Whether you’re an independent journalist, podcaster, or business coach, Memberful provides a way to connect with your audience and diversify revenue. Offer exclusive articles, premium podcasts, or private community chats by integrating with the tools you already use, or build a unique membership business using Memberful’s powerful in-house features.

With Memberful, you retain full control of your brand, audience, and content while simplifying payments, renewals, and content protection.

Focus on making great content  — let Memberful handle the rest.

2. Make introductions: Let the new subscriber get to know a little bit about you and why you created this business. Even better, let them see you. Newsletter creator Chenell Basilio says good emails include a welcome video from the sender.

Invite the recipient to let you know about them. Include a short survey or ask them to reply to the email (just make sure the address works and you check the account regularly.) Asking questions can produce helpful audience research and it lets new subscribers know their input is valued (and that there is a person behind the email.)

3. Give the tour: Onboard the subscriber by letting them know what to expect with your content product. For example, a newsletter publisher would detail the frequency, delivery time/day, and content lineup. An online course provider would outline the curriculum as well as how to access the classes. You can’t provide too many details. (That said, don’t expect everyone will read every word. Some likely will come back and ask questions that you already answered in the welcome email.)

If your site or content product is very detailed, do a video tour so they can see exactly what you’re talking about and how to navigate the platform.

4. Call for action: What do you want the new subscriber to do? What would the new subscriber want to do? Answer both those questions and identify where the answers overlap. Those are the possibilities for your must-include call to action.

The CTA could simply be inviting the recipient to consume relevant content now or it could be asking them to buy a content product. Just make the request clear and easy to execute.

Dan Oshinsky of Inbox Collective refers to a report that shows a significant portion of revenue earned from a new subscriber happens in the first 30 days. If you opt to ask for a sale, consider including a discount code or incentive with a deadline to get the new subscriber to act right away.

Caveat: Don’t go overboard with CTAs. It’s OK to include more than one as long as you don’t turn the email into CTA after CTA after CTA.

5. Go beyond the body: Pay attention to the sender, sender email, subject line, and preview. Frankly, these bits and pieces are even more important than the body of the email. After all, it’s what the recipient sees first.

Have you ever received an email from “[email protected]”? Nothing is as unwelcoming as “do not reply.” Establish an email address with your name (make it different than your working email address) or at least a friendly generic name – hello@ is better than donotreply@. You also can edit the sender name so it doesn’t match the email address. Modify it to reflect your and/or your brand’s name.

Don’t forget to pay attention to the subject line and preview text. Sure, these people signed up so they should expect an email. But that doesn’t mean you can exude your brand personality and helpful information in the subject line.

Chenell illustrates the difference between bad and good subject lines:

• SUBJ: Welcome to our newsletter (bad)
• SUBJ: You’re in! Here’s how 1440 works (good)

If the subject line sets the tone, the preview gives a few words that lead into the email’s purpose. Focus on the first three or four words and opt for punchy verbs and adjectives, such as “Join the fun …” or “Crack the code …”

Learn more from Chenell and other expert presenters at Content Entrepreneur Expo this August in Cleveland.  Register today!

The post Don’t Let New Subscribers Wander: Craft a Killer Welcome Email appeared first on The Tilt Publishing.