Quick question…Which of the following people on your email list is most likely to generate the most sales for your business?

The subscribers who have been on the list for a long time
The subscribers who actively open every email every week
The subscribers who just signed up to receive emails from you

Give up?

It’s the last option—the people who just signed up for your list.

If you guessed that the subscribers who have been on your list the longest would be the most likely to buy, you’re in good company. That’s what logic seems to suggest.

However…the longer someone is on your list without making a purchase, the less likely they are to actually buy something.

That doesn’t mean you should ignore them, though—there are reengagement email campaigns you can use to “wake up” inactive subscribers & see if they are indeed still interested.

But as far as your hottest leads are concerned…the people who have just signed up are more primed & excited to hear from you than they ever will be.

And your job is to take advantage of that by communicating with them with the right kind of messages.

That’s where the customer welcome email comes in.

Why Write A Customer Welcome Email?

Why do you say hello to people you know when you see them at events? It’s not just because it’s the nice thing to do—it’s because people like to be acknowledged.

Your new subscribers just gave a total stranger their email addresses, hopefully in exchange for a lead magnet or some other valuable piece of information or content.

At the very least, you need to send an email saying thank you…but a great customer welcome email series goes above & beyond to genuinely show that you are glad they’ve joined you.

To put it simply, the welcome email isn’t just good marketing. It’s good manners.

A person who raises their hand to sign up & receive a lead magnet is effectively telling you their name & saying, “Nice to meet you.” Hopefully, when people introduce themselves to you, you don’t just not respond.

But still…one email marketing study showed that only 39% of brands actually send a welcome email immediately after someone subscribers. 41% wait as long as 48 hours to send one.

Worst of all? 27% send no emails at all.

When someone hits the Subscribe button on your landing page or website, the clock starts ticking. The longer you wait to start a conversation, the less likely they are to respond at all…& that includes actually making a purchase.

An expertly crafted customer welcome email will make sure you retain their interest & build the relationship that can eventually lead to them becoming a repeat buyer.

How The Customer Welcome Email Works

Here Comes The Pitch

Here’s another trivia question…when is the best time in your welcome series to present your product pitch?

Immediately after they sign up
In the third email in the series—they have to get to know you before you can effectively sell anything!
In the third email in the series—they have to get to know you before you can effectively sell anything!

First off, you can eliminate the last choice immediately—it does matter.

Just as you need to send your welcome email immediately after someone subscribes, you need to make your pitch sooner in the relationship.

The longer you wait—even if you are sending your list killer content in the meantime—the less interested in your product they’ll be.

Typically, email open rates decrease with time, so if you wait until day 3, chances are that they won’t even see the offer.

Graham Cochrane, founder of the music production business Recording Revolution, saw a huge difference between pitching a webinar on the third day of his sequence.

The end of the webinar includes the pitch for his core offer, The Radio Ready System, a master course on how to produce professional recordings in your home.

However, when Cochrane moved the webinar pitch to the very first email the new subscribers received, sales for his core offer increased 89%.

More people seeing the webinar pitch means more attendees…which means more people learn about the Radio Ready System.

So the moral here is don’t waste time. You have hot, fresh leads who are ready to learn more, & if they aren’t ready to buy yet, the right email messaging can make them ready.

3 Steps To Build Trust & Relationship

Automated email doesn’t have to be cold & robotic. Like we just said, welcoming someone is an act of courtesy, & it should be done with a personal touch.

Your email needs to ultimately accomplish 3 things. First, it should give them whatever they are expecting to receive.

If you’re following our formula, The Customer Value Journey, this could mean delivering the lead magnet they provided their email address to get.

However, it could also mean confirming a purchase they’ve made & giving them a receipt or other order information.

Second, it should build trust & authority by welcoming your subscriber to the family & sharing more about you & your business.

After all, you want to build a relationship with this person, & making automated emails as personal as possible is a critical piece of the puzzle.

Your email needs to be human. It needs to acknowledge your customer’s biggest pain points—& show that you understand them. It’s this empathy that helps you endear readers to your brand.

Third, it should tell them what to do next. Depending on your goals, this might mean presenting another offer, as Cochrane did. It might also mean sending them additional emails with content that shares more about your business & products.

One general tip: Welcome email or not, all your emails should end with a call to action. Customers always need to know the next step they need to take—leave them without the next action & you run the risk of having them forget you.

Ultimately, It’s Not Just About The Welcome Email

A good welcome series contains anywhere from 3-6 emails spread out over a period of 3-6 days, depending on your goals.

That might sound pushy or excessive, but you need to have enough messages to both keep your brand at the front of your subscribers’ minds & build a relationship.

This allows you to devote an entire email to different topics related to what you do & what problems your product or service will solve.

Customers also may be at different levels of awareness throughout the series. They may have signed up for a lead magnet or made a small purchase like a tripwire offer, but they may not be ready to actually make a purchase.

So you need to take the time to introduce yourself & not only state your case for your brand, but do so in a way that will advance the relationship.

Want To Learn More About Email Marketing?

We’ve got a ton of resources to help you get started with automations so you can begin saving time & making more sales.

In particular, check out our free Next Level Segmentation guide, which will teach you about how dividing your email list into segments can help you speak to more specific audiences in more personal ways.

Click here & check it out.