The importance of having a good welcome email

What is a welcome email?

A welcome email (also known as an autoresponder) is an email that welcomes, for example, a new newsletter subscriber, someone who has downloaded a whitepaper or someone who has filled in a contact form. A welcome email flow can be triggered by a contact filling in a form that shows an interest in your services and products.

These emails have a high open-rate and can be seen as a great opportunity to offer relevant information and thus strengthen the relationship with the contact. The content of the email can vary in format and may include, for example, a video, an offer or a link to information on the website. What is important is to be personal, let them get to know you and contribute relevant and value-adding content.

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The importance of welcome emails

Do you know how your welcome emails and autoresponders are performing?

If not, it's time to sit down and analyze it.

In fact, the average open rate for a welcome email is 82%(GetResponse). These are incredible figures!

The average open rate for regular mail is 21.75% in Europe(GetResponse). With these statistics in front of you, you can't close your eyes to all the possibilities.

This is a point in the customer journey where the contact has actively shown an interest in your product or service, which is probably why the open rate is so high. Once you've captured the contact's interest, you have a great opportunity to continue creating value and strengthening the relationship. For example, you can offer more information or ask for information that will allow you to be more relevant in future communications.

A welcome email is a unique opportunity to create a good first impression. And as Harvey Mackay said:

"First impressions are lasting. Unfortunately, once a first impression has been made, if it is less than good, it takes a long time to change it."
- Harvey Mackay

Have you optimised your welcome emails?

If not, you should. Take advantage of the high opening frequency! Make sure you don't miss this valuable opportunity you have now created with your contact.

How do I start optimizing my welcome emails?

1. Start by listing all the welcome emails you have. 
2. Analyse your results (open rate, click rate and unsubscribe rate)
3. Set internal targets for what you want the results to look like in the long term.
4. Now the fun begins, testing, analysing and repeating.

What do you want the contact to do? What steps do you want them to take? Try one thing at a time to find out what works and what doesn't. 

OBS! Do not test two things at the same time, for example a new subject line and preview text at the same time. If you get improved results or worsened results, you won't know which of the changes is to blame.

How to optimise your welcome emails:

3 steps to optimised opening frequency:

1. Personalize the subject line. According to Campaign Monitor, emails with personalised subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened. This is something that we at Leadfront often test and see improvements in our clients' open rates.
2. Write a preview text (Preheader). Statistics show that emails with preheader texts have a higher open rate than those without(GetResponse).
3. Send mail from an actual person and not from a no-reply or generic email address such as marketing@domain.com.

How to improve the click-through rate of your welcome emails

1. A hot tip is to record videos and make use of it. Moving material proves time and again to be very effective!
2. A classic is to change the look or placement of the CTA (Call to action).
3. Try a new CTA. Preferably one that is relevant to the contact and the phase the contact is in.
4. Stick to a CTA. Many links may prove ineffective. However, try linking your CTA in more places, for example in a button and an image.

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