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So. You have to write a welcome letter for your new email subscribers.
It’s no surprise if you’re zoning out in front of a blinking cursor, thinking:
What the heck am I supposed to write in a welcome email?
Who is even gonna read this thing?
If I just skip the welcome email, will anybody even notice?
Did I remember to file my quarterly taxes? (Ugh!)
I seriously do not have time for this.
If that sounds like you, fret no more, my friend.
I’ve got sumpthin' for ya: TEN and a half examples of welcome emails that you can download and use to write a custom welcome email for your local small business or purpose-driven brand.
.
And I’ve got some quick-read tips that will have your email nurture campaign up and running faster than you can say Usain Bolt.
I recommend reading through my welcome letter best practices, but if you're itching to get writing, use these links for shortcuts.
Skip To The Example Welcome Emails
Why Is Your Welcome Email So Super Extra Important?
A welcome email offers peace of mind; it confirms that a website visitor has successfully signed up for your newsletter, nurture campaign, or blog.
But it’s soooo much more than that.
It’s a VALUABLE opportunity for you to engage.
In fact, your welcome email might be the most valuable email you’ll ever send.
Statistics about the open rate for welcome emails are all over the map. Depending on the source, email marketers claim that the average open rate for a welcome email is between 50% and 92%.
That’s a lot—especially when you consider that the average open rate hovers around 21% for most marketing emails (though it varies across industries).
Let me put it another way.
Friendos, we gotta make it good!
First Question: Who Are You And What The Heck Do You Want From Me?
In a perfect world, you’ve worked with a brand consultant to create a buyer persona so that you have a clear idea of your reader. Or maybe you’ve done some of that work on your own.
But if you’re like many small business owners, your target client definition is as foggy as San Francisco in autumn.
And maybe that’s not ideal, but it’s okay.
-ish.
If possible, spend some time thinking about your target persona.
Then, to get the most value out of your company’s welcome email, you’ll need to decide what step a reader should take after clicking “open.”
Do you want your subscribers to:
Buy something?
Speak with one of your reps?
Share something on social media?
Visit your website?
Book a service?
Whatever you decide, that’s your email’s call to action (or, your CTA).
Make your CTA as clear and easy to execute as possible. The more steps a reader has to take to complete a CTA, the less likely they’ll actually do it.
Do You Really Need A CTA For Your Welcome Email?
Well, I guess you don’t need a CTA.
But since your welcome email has the best chance of being opened, you’ll lose a huge opportunity if you don’t have one.
If you’re having trouble thinking of a CTA for your welcome email, ask yourself this:
What do I want my subscriber to do that will help my business grow RIGHT NOW?
Like, right at this second.
That’s your CTA.
Self-Test: What most motivates you to open an email from a small business or purpose-driven organization?
Opportunity to connect with a sales rep (aka, free consultation)
Coupon or discount
Helpful information
A freebie, like an ebook or printable
FOMO on good content
Your desire to be supportive
Opportunity for self-improvement or advancement
Here Are Some Of My Personal Best Practices For Creating A Welcome Email
So, you know what you want people to do.
Now, how do we get them to do it?
Before you start writing your welcome email, I want to share few best practices that you can upload to your neurologic hard drive.
Keep in mind, what works for one business will not work for all.
1. Send your welcome email from a custom email address—not a generic gmail account, etc.
2. Consider sending your welcome email from a personal account: like Lee@SearchPurse.com instead of info@SearchPurse.com. Seeing a real human name in the email address encourages trust.
3. Ask for first names (at least) when people sign up for your newsletter. That way, you can personalize emails to readers.
4. Keep your text short and spirited. Did you know that a little humor (even a bad dad joke) can boost your chances of making a sale or converting by 18%? A little goofing goes a long way.
5. Your welcome email should represent your brand in tone, content, and design (when applicable).
6. It should offer actionable value. A click is an investment. Your call to action is asking your reader to make an investment of their time, energy, and interest by completing an action you’ve laid out for them. A good CTA needs a big ROI (return on investment) to get a click.
7. Personally, I think that there should only be ONE call to action per email. Decision fatigue is a real thing. Don’t paralyze your reader by making them think, not even a little. You want action, not reflection.
8. Always run your welcome email text (and all emails) through a filter that will check to see if the content will likely be marked as spam. Certain words trigger spam warnings, and we want your email to arrive in your user’s inbox, not spam or promotions.
9. Focus on what you can give, not what you can get. If you approach your welcome email with the intention of squeezing a little money out of your reader, your subscribers will jump ship like lemmings…or lemming sailors.
10. Consider using a plain text format. I know, I know! Those fancy templates in your email content generator are so slick and attractive and professional-looking!
They’re calling out to you like a makeover montage in a rom con—ooh, girl, we didn’t know your content could look this good!
But sometimes, you intentionally wanna stand out by being a plain Jane (I hate that term, and I hereby apologize for it on behalf of all humanity).
Plain text emails are more likely to land in an inbox (instead of a spam folder). Also, plain text conveys a message of authentic humanity—as opposed to salesy footwork.
(NOTE: There are some exceptions to using plain text format. You be the judge. And juror. And security guard. Cuz when you’re a small business, all the hats belong to you.)
11. Run some A/B testing, if your email management system allows, to figure out how to make the most of your welcome email subject line and CTA.
What Not To Do When Writing Your Welcome Email
Don’t use big blocky paragraphs.
Don’t use overly technical or unemotional writing.
Don’t make it a flagrant sales pitch.
Don’t get heavy-handed with graphics.
Don’t use spammy words and phrases, like Be your own boss! Pennies a day! Free offer!
Don’t ask ChatGPT or Bard to write it for you. Good writing has a heartbeat. See a real ChatGPT welcome email below.
So now that we’ve got some of the basic best practices of welcome emails out of the way, it’s time to look at our sample templates.
10 Free Sample Templates For Small Business Welcome Emails
You are welcome to download any of these ten welcome email samples without attribution. Consider it my gift to you, friend. You will need to customize them to your liking and needs.
And if you wanna thank me, you can a) hit me up for some digital marketing, b) share this link with all your besties on social media.
(I do a little happy dance in my home every time there’s a like or share. Really.)
Welcome Email Template #1: Hey, [name]! Waaaz Up?
CTA: Hit reply.
Strategy: Get your emails to appear in people’s inboxes, instead of spam. When your reader hits reply and emails you back, your emails are flagged as a priority. Plus, an email like this can invite a personal connection, creating a longer-lasting relationship.
Download this example:
Welcome Email Template #2: [Subscriber], It’s [Your Name]. Need to ask a favor.
CTA: Forward this email.
Strategy: Use an emotional appeal to ask a subscriber to pass your info to a friend. (Works especially well for purpose-driven brands and companies.)
Download the example:
Welcome Email Template #3: Here’s The Info [Or eBook, Or Whatever] You Requested
CTA: You might also like: XYZ.
Strategy: This one is tricky. Your subscriber joined your newsletter to get a freebie. Chances are, they’re not going to do much more with your welcome email than nab said freebie. You can try asking them to take a second action, but you’ll have to make sure there’s a really high value associated with that action if you want them to actually do it. In the welcome email below, I’m nudging people to make moves that will ensure company emails don’t get lost in spam. Then, I’m dangling a little carrot in the PS. Of course, you can always wait until the next email in your nurture campaign to launch a new CTA.
Download the example.
Welcome Email Template #4: Come Up And See Us Sometime (and bring this coupon)!
CTA: Come visit our store.
Strategy: Offer your subscriber an exclusive discount that will prompt them to visit your in-person location.
Download the example:
Welcome Email Template #5: Coupon for online store.
CTA: Use this coupon at our online store.
Strategy: This is a common strategy to convert browsers to buyers. You’ve seen it a thousand times—because it works! Offer a one-time coupon code for an online purchase in exchange for email sign-up. But know that in this case, your call to action is predefined: you want your reader to do some shopping!
Often, these discounts arrive in emails without personalized branding, using fancy well-designed templates. Like this:
You can do that too—or try to stand out with a more personalized, text-driven approach. Like this:
Download the example:
Welcome Email Template #6: You Might Be Missing Out.
CTA: Connect on social.
Strategy: You want to increase your presence on social media, right? You *know* that the person reading your welcome email is already interested in you. Now it’s time to incentivize them to connect with you on your social as well. Note: I personally would include only the two or three social media platforms that are more relevant to your audience, and let the rest go.
Download the example:
Welcome Email Template #7: Do some good with us.
CTW: Leave a review.
Strategy: This works if you’re growing your email list by collecting the emails of people who are local visitors (like, to a farm), customers (at a store or restaurant), or clients (who have just used your service).
Reviews count big toward local SEO. You can’t offer goodies or deals in exchange for reviews, but at the time of this writing, it’s okay to make donations to charities for reviews. You can try something like this in your welcome email:
Download the example here:
Welcome Email Template #8: Want a free consultation from our experts?
CTA: Book your free consultation with our experts.
Strategy: If you’re in a service field, free introductory calls might be your preferred way of turning a browser into a buyer. Exploratory calls give you the opportunity to hook your leads with great offers and proven customer service. Your welcome email can inspire subscribers to pick up the phone!
Download the example.
Welcome Email Template #9: We’ll answer your questions.
CTA: Use our online chat.
Strategy: You’ve got a chat feature on your website for a reason. You want people to use it because you’re finding that people who reach out on chat really do convert for your particular business.
Download this example:
Welcome Email Template #10: Get Ready! Good Things Coming Your Way!
CTA: Prep your inbox.
Strategy: If you have created a nurture campaign or drip campaign for your email newsletter audience, your first email is key to getting readers to open additional emails from you.
Download the example:
And Now, For The “Half” Template On My List
Just for fun, I decided to ask ChatGPT to write a welcome email letter to see how it went. If you’re interested, keep reading!
I told the chatbot to write me a welcome email for an imaginary company that creates custom toilet paper for potty-training toddlers. Here’s what it came up with.
My Take On Chat GPT’s Welcome Email Text
Friends, it’s ain’t half bad. I mean—I’m agog and aghast.
Any small business could use this text; it’s respectable.
My robot writing friend did a lot of things right. But missed the mark on some key elements.
It’s wordy.
It’s fluffy (not a lot of practical value).
The CTA is buried.
Sounds like a robot wrote it.
If you’re having trouble getting started on your welcome email, by all means, try ChatGPT or Bard to get started. But use your human eye to revise (and trim!).
This is too funny not to share:
Am I the only person interpreting this to mean ChatGPT says its own responses are, uh, poo? 😂
And on that note…
Sometimes, when you’re a small business or a purpose-driven brand, it feels like it’s you against the world. I sincerely hope that this comprehensive blog post has enough information to make it easy for you to write your own welcome email for your subscriber list.
But if you do want some help, I hope you’ll reach out to me!
I love helping good people (and good organizations) make a positive impact.
Sending you my good wishes (no CTA here—you have some writing to do!).
Cheers,
Lee
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