Welcome Email Series for Ecommerce in 2023

As the saying goes, “First impressions last” and this could not be further from true in marketing! If you want to take your email marketing to the next level, consider creating a welcome email series, especially for ecommerce!

Your welcome emails provide an excellent opportunity to make a favorable first impression among new email subscribers. one that marks the start of a long-term connection and encourages prospects forward in their buyer’s journey.

Moreover, welcome emails are what your subscribers want and expect to see in their inboxes to feel valued. This is the reason why welcome emails get higher open rates than any other type of email.h

In addition, welcome series emails for eCommerce businesses have always been a need of every huge business to gain more revenue.

According to Invesp, welcome emails have an average open rate of 50%, which is 86 percent higher than normal newsletters. So you can call them welcome, bievenue, wilkommen > they are a must have. Email Marketing is here to stay.

When creating a welcome email, don’t miss your chance to. Welcome email series are really important for this:

  • Introduce your business and its goals;
  • Share your values and what you stand for;
  • Offer a special discount to new subscribers;
  • Increase the number of clicks on your most popular products;
  • Set expectations for future emails;
  • And more.

This article contains information you need to know about the welcome series emails for eCommerce, as well as examples that will help you achieve your marketing objectives.

What are welcome email series?

A welcome email is the first email sent to new subscribers after they sign up for your email list.

Welcome emails often verify that someone joined your newsletter successfully and give them the reward that was promised to them upon signup, which can either be a coupon code or a lead magnet.

It’s also part of our must have ecommerce marketing automation flows.

Once you’ve sent out welcome emails, they can be much more than just a simple confirmation letter. This is your chance to boost conversions and revenue!

But one email is not always enough.

That’s why the Welcome email series is another way to level up your marketing strategy. It is a series of welcome emails sent to your newsletter subscribers.

A welcome series of emails may include an introduction to the business, a summary of the product or service being marketed, getting started recommendations, and other valuable information.

Then, what is the difference between a simple welcome email and a welcome email series? Do they truly vary from one another?

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Welcome email versus welcome series for eCommerce

Welcome emails represent only a single email sent (usually) right away after a user subscribes.

On the other hand, a “welcome email series” is a collection of emails delivered once a user subscribes to the list over a set period of time. After a new subscriber joins the mailing list, these emails are usually issued within a few days or weeks.

Welcome email series are a popular way for most eCommerce businesses to engage with new subscribers and give them a good first impression. This may as well work for you to get more people to know your brand!

Here are several advantages to using a welcome email series, including:

  • Personalization: Welcome emails can be customized with the subscriber’s name and other necessary details that can make the message feel more personal and tailored to the new subscriber.
  • Engagement: Welcome emails allow you to interact with new subscribers and create a relationship with them. You can establish a strong first impression and inspire new subscribers to continue connecting with your business or organization by providing excellent information and helpful recommendations.
  • Automation: Welcome email series is delivered automatically, you do not have to send every email to each new subscriber manually. This helps you save time and enables you to work on more critical tasks.
  • Improved retention: A welcome email series can help improve retention by providing new subscribers with relevant information that will enable them get started and continue using your product or service. This can significantly reduce churn and retain more consumers in the long run.
  • Increased revenue: Welcome email series can assist improve sales by persuading subscribers to purchase your product or service by giving valuable information and engaging with new subscribers.

Benefits of email welcome series

A welcome email series is an ideal opportunity to introduce yourself to new subscribers and demonstrate how your company or organization can help them.

Because new subscribers are often most excited at the moment they opt-in to your mailing list, a welcome email series is a great way to capitalize on their enthusiasm and potentially make a sale.

Moreover, email welcome series are best for eCommerce business if this is your line of business to engage people to visit your page and take a glimpse of what you offer.

“There’s 1 email that gets a higher open rate than all others: the welcome-to-my-list email.

It’s no surprise. The recipient is at their peak interest. They just converted into a subscriber, so they are want your content and trust your brand. Setting this auto-response it a no-brainer. Opens and click through rates are often 2x any other email you send.

Think of it as just being polite. When someone starts listening, you should say hello, right? When someone asks for more, give them your best. I think of the welcome series as both smart marketing and common courtesy.” -Andy Crestodina, Chief Marketing Officer, Orbit Media

To put it simply, when a new subscriber joins your email list, that individual is most likely interested in learning more about you, so they try to introduce themselves by joining.

So, what are you supposed to do? Send them a handshake in the form of a welcome email.

Additionally, the First Impressions Email Marketing Study conducted by Ciceron found that only 39% of brands send a welcome email, while 41% do not send one within the first 48 hours.

There are several potential goals for your welcome email series, which may vary depending on your eCommerce business. This includes:

  1. Introducing your business or organization to new subscribers: A welcome email series is typically used to introduce new subscribers to the company or organization and provide them with an overview of the product or service being offered. This can include highlighting the company’s mission and values, explaining how the product or service can benefit the subscriber, and providing an overview of key features and benefits.
  2. Providing valuable information: Welcome email series can also be used to provide valuable information that will help new subscribers get started with the product or service. This could include things like tips for using the product, explanations of key features, and links to useful resources.
  3. Building a relationship: A welcome email series can also build relationships with new subscribers. This can include personalizing the emails to include the subscriber’s name, asking for feedback, and providing opportunities for the subscriber to engage with your company or organization.
  4. Making a sale: Depending on the product or service being offered, a welcome email series may also be used as an opportunity to make a sale. This could include things like offering a discount to new subscribers, highlighting the benefits of purchasing the product, and providing a clear call to action.
  5. Establishing trust: A welcome email series can be used to establish trust with new subscribers by providing them with valuable information and demonstrating the company’s expertise and knowledge. This can help build confidence in the company and its products or services.
  6. Showcasing the brand: A welcome email series can also be used to showcase the brand and highlight the company’s unique personality and style. This can help new subscribers get a sense of what the company is all about and what sets it apart from its competitors.
  7. Providing customer support: Welcome emails can also be used to provide customer support to new subscribers. This could include things like answering common questions, providing troubleshooting tips, and directing subscribers to other resources for help.
  8. Upselling and cross-selling: Depending on the product or service being offered, a welcome email series can also be used to upsell or cross-sell to new subscribers. For example, if a new subscriber has purchased a basic version of a product, a welcome email could be used to promote additional features or upgrades that they may be interested in.
  9. Gathering feedback: A welcome email series can be used to gather feedback from new subscribers. This could include things like asking for their opinions on the product or service, soliciting suggestions for improvement, and inviting them to participate in surveys or focus groups.
  10. Promoting events or special offers: Welcome emails can also be used to promote events or special offers that may be of interest to new subscribers. This could include things like upcoming webinars, workshops, special sales, or discounts.

Overall, the goals of a welcome email series will be determined by the company’s or organization’s specific demands and objectives.

How many emails should you include in your welcome series?

As part of your welcome series, it is highly advised that you send at least 4-6 emails. Before you push for the sale, you need to create trust and help your contacts—five emails allow you to focus each email on a specific topic.

Ryan Johnson, GrowthLab’s head copywriter, is an expert in creating email funnels and launches. Here’s how he creates a 5-day funnel for GrowthLab’s Mental Mastery course.

a sales funnel outline from GrowthLab
Each email has a specific purpose—it helps move people to the next step of the sales funnel. (Source, GrowthLab)

First, GrowthLab grabs the reader’s attention with an intriguing topic. Then they excite people’s curiosity and make them desire the product.

In emails 3 and 4, they continue to create demand (while also making the course available for purchase).
And in email 5, they make a strong pitch to make a sale.

Here is an example of a successful welcome series:

  • First email: A simple ‘Welcome” or “Thank you” to a new subscriber.
  • Second email: You describe who you are and how your organization and team operate. It humanizes the exchange and aids in connecting and building trust.
  • Third email: You inform the subscriber about what to expect from your business. That includes your offerings, your quality, your values, and so forth.
  • Fourth email: You inform the subscriber of your requirements. For example, his trust, his genuine opinion, and so on.
  • Fifth email: You can request a review on Google Reviews or your website.
  • Sixth email: You seek feedback in order to enhance your product or service.
Need help with your Email Marketing?
We offer managed services from strategy, to implementation and tracking. Usually getting a 15-25% increase in results. Let’s see how we can help you!

How to create an email welcome series for eCommerce?

Now that you understand the types of emails that must be sent as part of a welcome email process, you must also put all these ideas into actual practice.

If you currently have a Shopify store and want to encourage first-time purchases, just install templates for your welcome email to save time and build an enticing email.

Here are some general rules of the welcome email series:

Welcome emails are an excellent opportunity to engage with new subscribers and grow your brand.

These new subscribers have just joined your newsletter, which indicates that they are sort of interested in your business; therefore, they are more likely to view your email and appreciate your efforts to engage with them.

Furthermore, it is an excellent opportunity to inform them about your new items or specials or to suggest that they respond to a survey or other request.

But in order to make these welcome emails effective, you need yo consider incorporating the following basic elements:

  • A welcoming subject line for being part of your email list.
  • A “Thank you” note to show how you value their choice of joining your email list
  • An introduction of your business that includes a short description of your brand, your intentions, values, goals, etc.
  • A call to action to recommend products, fill out a questionnaire, join your company’s social network, and so on.
  • An appealing email design with images, graphs, colors of your brand, etc.
  • A logo of your brand, but also a quick description.
  • Social proof of reviews from previous customers or examples of successful work to convince the subscriber that he can trust you
  • An unsubscribe link (requirement under CAN-SPAM).

Use welcome workflow series we provide.

You can easily create an email welcome series using Vibetrace Marketing Automation Software.

A flow is a series of action that happen after an initial event, usually named trigger. In our system we automatically have created templates or scenarios of welcome email series that work well for ecommerce.

Go to Campaigns > Automations and switch to the Scenarios Tab:

Recipes/Templates for Welcome Series

Here you can choose any of our existing scenarios, but for this time, we will stick with the 5-step Welcome Series that we have created.

Clicking Copy Campaign will duplicate it under My Campaigns tab, which is where you can edit it.

What else you need to do:

  • review email content for each step
  • review delays between emails.

This is important because any scenario or welcome series template you would use, it will still need to be customized for your business.

Review Email Content

This is a 5 emails series so you will need to go through each email and configure and personalize subject lines, from email (can be different) and also email content.

Review time delays between emails

You might one to send emails quicker or just to compute the next time in a more advanced way.

First option will send the email after a certain amount of time (like 24 hours) or you can use advanced functionality to send it at specific time (next day at 17.00 or next Monday at 23.00) if you want to skip weekends.

Create email welcome workflow from scratch.

There are cases where you want to create a series from scratch. Maybe you don’t like any of our existing welcome email series recipes or you think you can do better.

That’s great! Means you are an expert and we only tell you some basics to consider:

Choose workflow trigger

Choose welcome email series trigger

Add welcome series steps and delays

Add intermediary steps for the series.

Configure email content

For the emails you need to send you will create email from scratch.

You can use a design template that we provide or add your own HTML.

Edit email content for the email steps.

Examples of welcome email series

Here are a few examples of welcome email series:

Clothing Line Business

Welcome email from TOMMY HILFIGER

If you are a clothing retailer, you can send a welcome email series that includes an introduction to the company, an overview of the different types of clothing and accessories they offer, and tips on how to style different pieces from the collection. The emails in the series might also include links to popular products, information on sales and promotions, and a special discount code for new subscribers.

Fitness Application

Welcome email from PELOTON

If you offer a fitness app, you might consider sending a welcome email series that includes an introduction to the app and its features, tips for setting up a personalized workout plan, and links to helpful articles and videos on the company’s website. The emails in the series might also include information on upcoming challenges and events, testimonials from satisfied users, and a special offer for a free trial of premium features.

Meal Delivery Service

Welcome email from CHIPOTLE

If you offer a meal delivery service, you might want to send a welcome email series that includes an introduction to the company and its mission, an overview of the different meal plans and options available, and tips for choosing the right plan for the subscriber’s needs. The emails in the series might also include information on the company’s sourcing and sustainability practices, links to popular recipes and meal ideas, and a special discount code for new subscribers.

Travel Booking Site

Welcome email from HILTON HONORS

If you own a travel booking website, you can consider sending a welcome email series that includes an introduction to the company and its services, tips for planning a successful trip, and links to popular destinations and travel ideas. The emails in the series might also include information on special deals and promotions, customer reviews and testimonials, and a special offer for a free travel guide.

SaaS product or service

Welcome Email from Trello

If you offer a SaaS product or service, you might include an overview of the service, a tutorial on how to get started, and links to resources or support options. Also, include the features related to SaaS products or services.

Online education or course provider

Welcome Email from Coursera

If you offer online education or course provider, a welcome email for an online education or course provider might include an overview of the course or program, information on how to get started and access materials, and links to resources or support options.

Conclusion

Whether you want more subscribers to redeem their discount coupon, look through your products, or understand and learn more about your brand, keep in mind the various ideas for sending proper welcome emails and how to make them effective.

However, rather than going straight for the sale or being pushy, remember to capture the subscriber’s excitement about joining a new group and make them feel welcome.

Because establishing a long-term relationship with your prospects has greater long-term benefits for your business, make sure to establish a strong foundation with them through your welcome emails.

Need help with your Email Marketing?
We offer managed services from strategy, to implementation and tracking. Usually getting a 15-25% increase in results. Let’s see how we can help you!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a welcome email?
When customers sign up for your email list or buy a product, they receive an automated email. This email introduces your business to new subscribers and helps you build a relationship with them. It is an effective strategy for establishing connections with your audience.

Typically, welcome emails include a few essential components:

  • An attractive subject line e.g. Welcome abroad
  • A personalized message e.g. Using name
  • Message from your brand e.g. We value our customer
  • Easy call-to-action (CTA) e.g. Buy Now, Grab Discount

2. How do you write a welcome sequence email?
A few things, such as the following, should be kept in mind when composing a welcome sequence email:

  • A person should send like one to one communication.
  • The subject line must be very welcoming and catchy.
  • Emails content should be short and to the point.
  • CTA must be visible and clear.

3. What emails are in the welcome series?
A welcome series is a collection of automated emails that are sent out over time to new subscribers. A welcome series’ objectives are to introduce your brand to the subscriber, establish a relationship with them, and ultimately persuade them to take action (such as making a purchase).

The following emails could be included in a typical welcome series:

  • #1: Welcome email (sent immediately after signup or purchase)
  • #2: Outlining the business and describing the brand story (Send it a week after sign up)
  • #3: Showing off the business’s goods or services (Send if two weeks after sign up)
  • #4: Sending testimonials or requesting comments (Send few weeks after signup)
  • #5: Special discount or offer (Send updates on a regular basis)

4. How do you create an email flow?
With email marketing solutions like Vibetrace, creating an email flow is simple. You must first construct a sequence and then add the required emails to it before you can proceed.

You can automate your email sequence using triggers on the majority of email marketing systems, which means all you need to do is set up the sequence once and new subscribers will start receiving it right away.

Common triggers include:

  • Subscribing
  • Purchasing
  • Attending
  • Downloading

You may turn your subscribers and consumers into loyal fans by creating numerous email sequences and automating them.

Additionally, you always have the option to personally add someone to your email chain. For instance, you can manually add someone to your welcome email series if you meet them at an industry convention and they later subscribe to your list.

5. How many emails should you use in a welcome series?
Your objectives and what you hope to accomplish with your new subscribers will determine how many emails you send out as part of a welcome series. Five to seven emails might make up a typical welcome series, but you may need fewer or more, depending on your requirements.

It’s important to keep in mind that each email should have a specific purpose and goal, so don’t add extra emails just for the sake of it. If you’re not sure what to include in your welcome series, start with these five email examples and adjust as needed to create a series that works.

Don’t add too much emails, keep in mind that each email should have a clear purpose and objective. Start with these five email samples if you’re unsure of what to include in your welcome series and make adjustments as necessary to come up with a series that works.

  • Welcome email: After subscribing your list, your subscribers will first receive this email. Introduce yourself and express your gratitude to your subscribers in this email.
  • Service or Product introduction email: Use this email to introduce your new subscribers to your tangible products if you sell them. Include material that is both informative and beneficial to your subscribers regarding your product.
  • Story email: Tell a story to your new subscribers about product or business or customer service. Include contact details and explain to your readers how to contact you if they need assistance.
  • Feedback email: Use this email to answer some of the most common questions you get from customers. This can be a great way to reduce the number of customer service inquiries you receive.
  • Appreciation email: Send this email after a purchase is made or a subscription is started to thank your customers for their business. This is also a great opportunity to upsell or cross-sell other products and services.

You may make a welcome series using these five email samples that will help you accomplish your objective.

But keep in mind to keep your emails focused, and make sure each one has a call to action. Giving special discounts or offers in the email body of your welcome series emails is also a fantastic idea.

You may engage new users, create their interest in your product or service.

What is a welcome email series?

A Welcome Email Series is a list of emails (usually 2-5) that are send after a new recipient subscribes to your list.

What is a welcome email?

When customers sign up for your email list or buy a product, they receive an automated email right after subscription. This email introduces your business to new subscribers and helps you build a relationship with them.

How many emails should be in a welcome series?

We recommend sending between 2 and 5 emails within a 7 days interval after recipients joins your list.

What type of content should I add to a welcome series?

Content should match user interest and what you promise along with the subscription. You can have:
– value driven content
– introduction email (welcome message)
– survey or feedback email
– special offers and promotions

How do I create a welcome email series?

Using Vibetrace you can use one of the existing automations templates built around welcome series or you can create one from scratch.

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