Do you have a mailing list? If you have a business, it's bound to be something you've considered.
Mailing lists are really useful for many reasons.
A really important feature I hope you are using is the welcome email.
This is the first thing that anyone who signs up to your list will receive.
Whether you decide to use other automation or not, the welcome email should still be set up as the first thing people get from you.
What is a welcome email & why is it important?
Your welcome email is the first message that a customer receives when they sign up to your list. It is a standalone message that welcomes people who have signed up to receive your email content.
It tends to have very high open rates compared to other emails you might send. It stands to reason doesn't it, if someone is interested enough to sign up to your list then they will want to read that first message from you.
Your welcome email sets the tone for the whole relationship you will have with your customer via email.
If you use it sell to the customer right away then this could make them wary of you, but equally you do want to remind people that you are a business. Getting the welcome email right shouldn't be too hard with a bit of thought and attention.
What should a welcome email include?
Here are 5 things that I would include in a welcome email, you can change these to be relevant to your own business of course.
1. A link to your lead magnet
If you haven't come across the term before then maybe you don't have a lead magnet. Simply put a lead magnet is something of value to your customer. Maybe it is a simple PDF download that helps them with a problem they have, or maybe it's something of higher financial value.
If you have one, it makes complete sense to build the downloading of the item into your welcome email.
I appreciate you may not have hundreds of people per day signing up to your list, but making it an automatic thing that they receive the item you've promised them to sign up, within the welcome message makes life so much easier for you.
2. Welcoming, on-brand language
It is quite unusual for people to sign up to email lists randomly. The chances are high that they've met you on social media, maybe from a social media live talk with another person, or in a Facebook group chat.
They have already formed an opinion of you, and it must be a favourable one because they've taken a step closer to you by joining your list.
It is really important that whatever else your welcome email is, it is warm and friendly in tone. Try to make the communication join up with other elements of your marketing strategy.
It may be that you use slightly different tones and language depending on the social media platforms you are on.
Maybe you are more official on LinkedIn and less so on Facebook, because of the different clients you reach in each place. Just have a think about how you can tie this together in your welcome email. Or you risk losing people who like you already.
3. Links to other high value content
In my welcome email I link to three of my most read blogs.
It stands to reason that if other people have found these helpful then so will the new subscriber. I can tell from my click-through-rates that this is indeed the case.
You could do the same, or you could think of other content that is of high value that you want to showcase. YouTube videos or Podcasts may also be important to your audience.
4. News
A welcome email is the perfect place to let your new subscriber know of anything of interest they can join in with immediately.
This might be an event you are hosting, it could be a social media challenge they can join in with, or it might be the launch of a new book, or product.
Many companies spend weeks on-boarding new hires, showing them what is helpful to them. Think about your new sign ups this way, how can you help them feel more at home straight away?
5. A list of where else to find you
People can join you from anywhere on the web. They may not know that you have a fantastic Facebook group as well as a mailing list.
They may not know that you offer co-working space once a week. You have to really assume that they know nothing about you other than they liked you enough to join your mailing list.
Make it easy for them by including a list of links to anywhere else you'd like them to join you.
I hope that you now have a clear idea of the importance of the welcome email and what you could include in yours.
Thanks for reading.
Shona
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About Me
Shona Chambers Marketing is a Marketing Consultancy based in SE London.
Specialising in helping Small Business Owners and Freelancers with their Marketing.