When someone joins your email list, they are telling you that they want to hear from you.
This is THE HONEYMOON PERIOD.
And if you’re not sending a welcome email, then you’re missing a golden opportunity.
Perhaps they signed up for a free download, a webinar, a discount code or some other lead magnet that attracted them to welcome you into their inbox.
The bottom line is, they signed up because they were into you.
So give ‘em what they came for and really appreciate their interest.
Let’s dive into welcome email sequences in all their glory so that you can map out your very own.
What is a welcome email?
A welcome email is an email that someone receives after joining your list. That might be after downloading a free lead magnet or just cos they realllllly like you.
Your welcome email will likely receive the highest open rates and engagement of any email you ever send.
But why stop at just one email?
On average, sending a series of welcome emails yields an average of 51% more revenue than a single welcome email.
Mailchimp
A welcome email sequence is a series of automated emails that go out when someone joins your list.
A welcome email sequence allows you to create a much stronger relationship with your reader right when they’re at their most interested in what you have to offer.
This could be anywhere from 2-8 emails, but I generally go with the sweet spot at 5!
The number of emails in your sequence will be influenced by the action you want your reader to take at the end. So, for example, if you’re selling a £2000 course, you’re going to need to do more work than for a £30 offer.
Where to start with mapping out your email sequence
We’ll get onto a clear welcome email sequence map in a moment. But first, you need to be clear on why the person joined your list and what action you want them to take.
For example, if someone joins your list after downloading a lead magnet, then the content in your sequence needs to be related to the same topic. And you need to know what the end action you want them to take.
QUICK TAKE ON ETHICAL MARKETING INCOMING…..
I will qualify this here: I am not about manipulative marketing tactics.
Your marketing should motivate, not manipulate!
If you’ve created a product or service that genuinely helps or delivers joy to someone, then you don’t need to manipulate to sell.
But you do need to build trust, allow them to take their time to make a decision (without pressure), and show them how you can help them.
If you avoid sales because you don’t want to be a manipulative A-hole, I get it.
But, if you have something of value to offer that people can benefit from, then you’re doing them, and you a disservice if you don’t take the time to educate them on it.
Ok, back to mapping out your email sequence.
Let’s look at a real-life scenario:
I recently wrote an email sequence for a dog trainer who works with reactive dogs. She had a lead magnet that delivered a simple yet effective game owners can play with their dog to get their focus and hold their attention in tricky situations.
We knew that people who downloaded this were reactive dog owners – because that’s who we marketed it to.
We knew that they were looking for solutions to make their dog walks easier and that they needed some instant relief for a very tough and emotive problem.
We also knew that those games alone will not completely solve the issues they’re experiencing.
Our end goal is to make life with their dog happier, more predictable and to help their dog feel safer.
We were offering a course designed specifically for them that we know provides incredible support and positive change.
But we can’t just jump right in with that – we need first to build a relationship, provide some instant relief, and gently float the course as an avenue to solving their problems.
This is the foundation of your email sequence.
- Where is your reader now?
- And where do they need to go to solve the problem they are experiencing?
Once you’re clear on these two questions, you can begin to map out your email sequence. It might look something like this:
Welcome Email 1
Your first email should give your reader what they came for!
If they signed up for a lead magnet, then deliver it in this email and thank them for their interest.
You can give a brief intro into how to use the thing if appropriate or invite them to reply if they have any questions, but as a rule, I keep the first email in the sequence short and sweet.
You don’t want to scare your new interested peeps off now, do you?!
Welcome Email 2
In the second email, I recommend introducing yourself. Not everyone who joins your list will know you or indeed much about what you do. If they’ve signed up for a free guide of some kind, then they may know absolutely stuff all about you beyond that.
Share a story, talk about how you help people or why you feel called to help them. Let your reader get to know you a bit more.
Add some value – give your reader a quick win. This could be a tip, a blog that’ll help them, or a video. Extra points for busting a myth and revealing a common misconception that’s making their problem harder.
Remember that it needs to be relevant to why they joined your list. If they signed up for 5 tips for a quiet dog, don’t start giving them tips for how to perfect their recall!
At all points through your email sequence, you need to keep front of mind these two things:
- Who your reader is and what they care about
- What problem do they need help with
Welcome Email 3
Now you’ve provided the thing, shared some more about you and offered some value; you can move towards introducing your end action point.
Tie this into the problem they’re experiencing, which led them to you and don’t forget to include a link to where they can learn more, sign up or buy your thing.
I don’t recommend a hard sell here. Heck, I don’t ever recommend a hard sell.
Keep it light yet informative, and keep the end result your reader desires front of mind.
Welcome Email 4
We’re getting close to the end, so it’s time to include a compelling story and a testimonial to showcase how your product/service solves the big pain point your reader faces.
Social proof is critical. It’s a big factor when it comes to us believing in someone enough to take the plunge.
Get more info on how to use testimonials in your marketing here (including how to get ‘em in the first place!)
Welcome Email 5
This is your final email, your chance to wow! In this email, you want to go into the nuts and bolts of your offer. Dig into its benefits rather than the features, and help your reader see the transformation that lies ahead if they go all in.
Don’t forget to tell them how to book/buy and include the links to do so. You want to make it easy for your reader to take the next step if they decide it’s right for them.
Start with this
I recommend mapping out the email sequence in bullets before you write them. Outline what you intend to put in each one and be mindful of the purpose of each email, so you don’t wander off track.
Before I do this, I like to brainstorm the pain points, emotions and desired outcomes the target reader has. Having this clearly bulleted at the top of your document will help you to remain customer focused with their feelings and experiences front of mind.
What frequency to schedule your welcome sequence
Your new subscriber is most interested in what you have to say when they hit the subscribe/sign up button. So send your first email on day 1 – ideally as soon as they sign up.
The following emails are best sent each day after the sign-up. Like this:
Day 1 – Email 1
Day 2 – Email 2
Day 3 – Email 3
Day 4 – Email 4
Day 5 – Email 5
None of us wants to be spammy, but the reality is if you leave your new subscriber to go cold, they will.
Set it up and GO!
The beauty of email marketing is that you can literally set it up and leave it. Let your automated sequence work tirelessly, so you don’t have to.
That said, I do recommend monitoring the performance of your emails. So you do need to a teeny bit of work to make sure it’s all working as it should.
The 3 things to monitor once your email sequence goes live
Once the sequence goes live, you want to track the following metrics so you can evaluate how successful they are.
- Open Rates
A typical open rate is 20% – if you are getting open rates in this region or below, then you may want to revisit the email sequence to optimise it for higher opens.
Your subject line is the most likely culprit here, so change that and leave everything else the same. And watch and wait.
If you change more than one thing at once, you’ll never know what worked.
Remember: It’s normal for your first email to get a higher open rate than the emails that follow, so don’t panic if your follow up email have a lower open rate.
- Click-through rate
You want to keep track of how many subscribers are taking the desired action and clicking through to wherever you’ve directed them.
An average click-through rate is between 2-5%.
If you are below this figure, consider tweaking the email’s content, perhaps the call to action needs changing, or the topic is off base.
- Conversion rate
Lastly, you want to monitor how many of those click-throughs result in purchases/bookings.
The average conversion rate of a sales/landing page is approx 2.5%.
Ideally, you’d want to see this closer to 5% – so monitor the number of sales vs visits to your sales page, and if stats are low, you may need to revise the landing page.
Don’t forget to stay in touch
Once your subscriber completes the email sequence, you don’t want to completely ignore them forever.
Sure, you won’t be emailing them daily anymore, but you still want to nurture the relationship beyond those first 5 emails.
That might be with a fortnightly or monthly newsletter or even a weekly email. Set a frequency you can maintain and keep in touch.
If you write regular blogs, then simply an email each month when it goes live can be a simple way to stay in contact and keep providing value to your reader on the regs.
If you’d like this all done for you, then my monthly blog package with email and social content takes care of it all for you!
That’s it – go forth and create emails!
You’re all set! Emails can be an awful lot of fun to write. You don’t have to think about algorithms, SEO or peer fear – it’s a private little place where you can be yourself and have fun!
If you need any help or have any questions, then just comment below or shoot me an email. I’m more than happy to chat.
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