The welcome series email automation flow is one of the most powerful flows a business can implement. This is a sequence of emails used to introduce your brand to potential customers while educating them on the benefits of the product or service you are offering.
What Is a Welcome Series?
Also often called a “drip campaign, ” the welcome series email flow is a chain of emails sent out to new mail list subscribers to establish brand awareness, educate them on your product or service, and nurture your new audience.
The welcome series allows you to maintain your audience’s newfound attention and interest over 30 days or so through 5-7 emails.
Why Do You Need a Welcome Series?
Email is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing. And yet, it remains one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. While social media platforms come and go, and the algorithm changes continue to challenge us all, email essentially stays the same.
As a communication platform, it is also neutral and not controlled but a third-party company like Facebook or Twitter.
A welcome series initiates the marketing process for your customers and is an excellent opportunity to tell your brand’s story without bombarding your audience with information. This connection allows you to create a strong foundation for the relationship going forward.
In a survey, 74.4% of people say they expect a welcome email once they have signed up for a new mail list or newsletter. Considering this level of expectation, this initial email will also be the most read email you will ever send to each person, often reaching an open rate between 50% and 86%.
What Is the Difference Between a Welcome Series, and an Email?
A welcome series is how your subscriber will get to know you and your brand and is ultimately how you build a relationship with new prospecting customers. This series is usually 5-7 emails long, spanning between 2 weeks and 2 months in delivery. On average, a consumer needs 7 touchpoints to remember a brand.
A welcome email is a one-off email that someone will receive to confirm they have subscribed to your mail list. This email may contain information about you and your brand, a discount code for their first order, CTA’s for your social channels and other essential information. However, the email will typically be short and sweet. This is still a crucial email to consider setting up when running email marketing but ultimately is less nurturing to your audience.
Your internal business goals will help you decide whether a single welcome email or a series will suffice.
What Kind of Emails Should I Put In My Welcome Series?
What is it you want to tell your subscribers? What impression do you want to convey, and what story do you want to tell? Simply put, you want to tell them something they’re going to remember, which will differentiate you from everyone else.
Highlight your advantages and unique selling points within your welcome series, and don’t be afraid to utilise case studies, reviews and customer testimonials to portray your company ethos.
Here are some other key elements to consider:
- Thank them for joining your mail list, and provide some information about your brand and the product or service you are offering
- Provide more detailed information about where the brand has come from, allowing them to feel more invested
- Offer a welcome discount code or incentive for signing up to your mail list.
- Remind them to connect with you on your social channels
- Give the audience some insight into what’s coming soon for the brand, i.e. new products coming soon, new stockists, a re-brand in development etc., so they feel they have an exclusive look into your brand.
Remember, you’re trying to create an intimate and personal connection through this series, enhancing and neutering the relationship with your email subscribers.
Additional Email Tips From Yoke.digital
Generally speaking, you want to treat your welcome series as you would any other email to a subscriber; this means avoiding spam, keeping the message short and relevant and accounting for different intentions and stages within your marketing funnel.
Here are some general tips to help make your welcome series/emails pop:
- Only email people that have expressed an interest in being on your mail list by signing up on your website
- Always send the first welcome email immediately, and space out the following emails appropriately for your content.
- Time your emails based on your industry and product. What is appropriate for you and your audience? You don’t want to overwhelm your subscribers, nor do you want to lose their interest.
- Remind people to follow your social media channels regularly.
- Make sure you meet subscriber expectations by fulfilling whatever their expectations are when signing up to your mail list. If you’ve promised a monthly newsletter, make sure this is covered.
Using these tips you should be able to get your email welcome series set up for success. If you’re curious what our email clients say about us, you can check out our case study here, or get in touch, we’d love to help out and make your next email campaign a success.
