Email marketing: How to write a welcome email that makes a good impression?

Often overlooked, the welcome email is nevertheless an essential first point of contact with your organization’s world. It should reflect your professionalism while offering a catchy glimpse of your company’s personality and offering.

Automatically sent, for example, after subscribing to your newsletter, this email lays the first stones of the relationship you want to build with a new recipient. How do you write a welcome email that makes a good impression?

The (too often) unsuspected strengths of your welcome email

First, why write a email of welcome? It is one of the first gears of your email marketing strategy and a gateway to your customer or candidate journey. A bit like the famous first handshake, it sets the tone for the professional relationship you want to establish.

The main strengths of a compelling welcome email

• Increase recipient engagement. By validating their interest in your newsletter’s content, you ensure that you regularly send relevant information to people interested in what you have to say. A plus for your newsletter’s open rate!
• Build a lasting relationship with your subscribers. Everyone wins when you encourage loyalty by offering exclusive benefits from the moment they sign up: promo codes, free demos, discounts for your next seminar, etc.
• Present your company and newsletter to someone who may have discovered them through a colleague’s recommendation, after making a purchase, or after reading one of your blog articles on Google.

Maximize the visibility of your welcome email: about 7 out of 10 people open this type of content – an engagement three times higher on average than for regular newsletters, according to a recent study.

What should an engaging welcome email contain?

Above all, you should know your target audience and have a specific goal in mind for this email (retention, company or product presentation, etc.). Here are the essential components:

1. A subscription confirmation, a thank you, or a short welcome message. That’s the minimum! Even if simplicity is the watchword, the following elements can enrich this solid base.
2. A presentation of the benefits. To maintain or increase the initial interest that led to your newsletter subscription. Will they receive regular expert articles, updates on your ongoing projects, event or training calendars? By clarifying the purpose of your newsletter, you validate your subscribers’ expectations.
3. An explanation of how the email was obtained. Was it a spontaneous subscription or an implicit registration following a purchase, participation in one of your seminars, or an information request? This may seem obvious, but confirming why this email is in the recipients’ inboxes is a good way to maintain their trust.
4. A reminder of the sending frequency. Once a week or once a month? Also specify the next sending period, so as not to completely fall off your subscribers’ radar.

Pro tip: Add a banner to your welcome email to highlight your latest ebook, invite people to visit your social media, or link to your latest customer success story. The important thing is to stay within your company’s ecosystem!

Best practices for an effective welcome email

In addition to simplicity, prioritize informed confirmation at subscription. This means, for example, having a clear button to confirm, but also offering the option to unsubscribe. In other words, if people change their minds at this stage, you can maintain the engagement of your subscribers by making the unsubscribe process easy. After all, when it comes to email lists, quality usually trumps quantity.

Keep in mind the recipient’s experience: focus on personalization and segmentation according to their interests if your expertise touches on different aspects.

Other quick tips:

• Adapt the content of the welcome email to your company’s voice and personality.
• Work on the subject line (more descriptive) and its preview (more enticing) to encourage clicks.
• Add a box or form to send a question and immediately open the dialogue.
• If your newsletter is more promotion-oriented, set the tone with a special offer right from the start.

Email marketing: a trump card for your business

A welcome email can also be sent in different contexts – not just for your newsletter. It can follow a demo request, a webinar registration, or even the submission of a CV via your career page. So many opportunities to make a good impression!

Does crafting a welcome email that sparks your audience’s interest feel like a headache? Turn to our strategists and writing specialists: we’ll find the best way to welcome newcomers into your digital ecosystem.