5 Amazing Welcome Email Examples to Inspire Your Marketing Strategy

It’s your first impression and elevator pitch.

It’s the five seconds you get to grab a reader’s attention and never let go.

This is your welcome email, and it may just be one of the most important messages you’ll ever send. This one campaign — and, of course, its subject line — can make or break a relationship. Naturally, it must be good.

No, it should be amazing!

After all, you’re appealing to new subscribers. This is your chance to turn website visitors into new customers, but how do you go about doing that?

Sure, you can use email templates. Those copy-and-paste messages are a mainstay in modern email marketing, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with their use. However, they’re not the most creative things. They’re fairly limited, featuring only the bare minimum to work with. More worryingly, they don’t actually tell you what to write.

Fear not!

This blog post is dedicated to just that.

Keep scrolling to see five examples of kick-butt welcome emails!

What Is a Welcome Email?

Welcome emails are the first step in your overall customer flow.

Think of them as your elevator pitch. They’re two minutes (or, more accurately, about thirty seconds) of active listening, the basis of your email marketing strategy. They usually include some sort of catch, commonly a discount code, to keep potential customers engaged, but that’s not a requirement.

Some brands opt to send one welcome email. Others use multiple, forming what is known as a “welcome series.” Both of these options are perfectly valid; it’s up to you to choose the right fit.

A good rule of thumb is to use extended welcome series emails to tell the brand story. Alternatively, you can use those welcome emails to warm up wallets and boost your overall click-through rate. On the flip side, a single welcome email is commonly used for smaller companies, particularly those with limited inventory.

Why Should You Care About Your Welcome Message?

Beyond their basic functionality, welcome emails serve many purposes.

The first email may be little more than a double opt-in confirmation, but it’s the gateway to a world of possibilities!

Create Conversions for Your Email Marketing Strategy

That first click is more than just a confirmation.

It’s the beginning of a wonderful friendship, one that a catchy subject line and can really amplify.

Why?

Well, for starters, users have set expectations, and welcome emails are one of them. This means that they’ll be looking for your message once they’ve submitted their signup form. That anticipation forms the basis for the amazing performance of a welcome series. In fact, a standard welcome sequence can expect a 52% conversion rate on average!

Remember, too, that a warm welcome message is the perfect place to remind users of their spam folder. Improve that deliverability with a gentle nudge to add your brand’s contact details to whitelists! It doesn’t have to be flashy. Think of something like, “Hey! Don’t forget to check your spam!”

Plant a Seed (of Anticipation) and Watch It Grow!

Speaking of expectations, your welcome email flow is also fertile ground for your value proposition.

There are plenty of ways to grab a website visitor’s attention; you’ve probably seen a few. Some of the most common “hooks” include:

• Customer loyalty rewards
• Discount codes
• Exclusive online store access
• A free trial
• Lead magnets
• A welcome gift

Regardless of the specifics, it’s your job to uphold your end of the bargain! Yes, you have a chance to earn yourself some new customers. But! You’re also here to deliver what your customers expect. So, use that email automation to your advantage and give every new subscriber a stellar first impression.

Enjoy That Sweet, Sweet Customer Engagement

Finally, some compelling subject lines and amazing welcome emails can earn you plenty of engagement.

I’ve already mentioned the click-through rate, but we must also cover the open rate. These first contact flows perform remarkably well, especially when compared to similar promotional emails. More precisely, the average welcome series garners a 30% open rate!

With that in mind, it’s time to study the art of the perfect welcome message.

What makes a great first impression email campaign, and how can you turn that initial call-to-action into perennial profit?

The Product-Focused Welcome Email

Get ready because it’s time for our welcome email examples!

Our first dissection is an amazing campaign for Bavsound, a luxury car sound system producer. This welcome email sequence — like all the others in this article — was made by none other than The Email Marketers. It’s a showcase for plenty of welcome email best practices, but the ones we’ll be focusing on are:

• Bold, consumer-friendly design
• Clear instructions and flow
• Copy that encourages further engagement
• An upfront value proposition

The Anatomy of Design

Let’s start with the header.

It’s bold, relevant, and visually stunning.

The simple, no-frills layout is the perfect basis for any welcome email template, and its upfront content will complement any subject line. It primes users for future emails while serving as a gorgeous onboarding welcome email.

The Power of Pain Points

Now, let’s scroll down a little.

Directly beneath the opening header (and its associated discount code), we have this wonderful snippet:

Check out that value proposition! Like the sleek, modern header, this is no-frills copy with a clear target audience. Moreover, it has a clear message: “New subscribers, beware! Poor sound quality is the bane of our existence!”

Oh! And don’t ignore the power of the company name. In this example, the link led to the brand’s “About Us” page. Your company can choose other links, of course, but the main goal should be the same. You’re trying to connect your brand story and name to warm, positive feelings.

Don’t Forget Your Segments

Finally, we have a powerful conclusion.

This highly-targeted ad copy is meant for a very specific subset of prospective customers (namely, BMW owners). Brands like Bavsound, which have massive inventories and countless options, thrive on this level of segmentation. Such specificity allows ecommerce businesses to pick and choose which customers to engage with. On the surface, it’s a nice personal touch. However, a deeper look reveals the logistic implications: It’s a way to narrow the customer pool and target the most likely buyers.

The “See What We Can Do” Welcome Email

Next up on our list is an amazing user-generated content campaign from EXO Drones.

Like Bavsound, EXO is a luxury brand. Its high-end products aren’t for everyone, and the price points are out of some customers’ reach. Both the brand and its welcome emails are well aware of this fact. Trying to say otherwise is disingenuous, especially in a welcome email!

After all, this is your first impression. It’s your chance to gain a first purchase. So, why pretend to be someone you’re not? Of our five welcome email examples, EXO’s flow excels at individualism and awareness. If you learn anything from this example, let it be this: Don’t dress up your brand as something it’s not!

Doing so is just downright silly. You’ll see more unhappy customers, fewer conversions, and more work for the customer service team.

Putting That Value First

The fastest way to secure a first purchase is to give customers a valuable deal. In EXO’s case, that deal happens to be 15% off!

Here, we see the power of pairing an email subject line with a can‘t-miss deal. There’s no way for anyone, even the freshest of new subscribers, to miss their chance at 15% off their first buy, and the brand’s flow uses future emails to push that reminder.

Including Social Proof in Your Welcome Email

Of our five welcome email examples, EXO Drones is also the only brand to truly utilize social proof. A quick scroll down the email showcases this gorgeous video, taken by one of their drones, and tells new users exactly what this technology can do.

Sure, it’s not a free gift. There are few products in EXO‘s inventory that could even function as feasible freebies, anyhow! In this welcome series, it’s not about that instant gratification; instead, we‘re focusing on power.

Think about it.

You‘re buying a pricey drone. This isn‘t a casual purchase for most; it‘s an investment. Naturally, you‘ll want to see the results, and this social proof fills that role.

And we can‘t forget that call to action button, perfectly primed to create urgency.

The Final Bow

The cherry on top of this marketing cake is the email finalé.

Here, EXO offers its beloved customers the chance to enroll in certified flying courses.

If nothing else caught the eye of a new subscriber, this will! After all, it‘s the perfectly personalized message. You‘re buying a drone, so it‘s only natural to need lessons. Plus, those helpful resources cut down on complaints from confused pilots.

How to Write a Welcome Email for Readers

Don‘t have many fancy photos?

Don‘t worry! There are plenty of email templates for you. Your welcome email doesn‘t have to be a visual masterpiece. Some brands, like the Jaspr air filter, use the welcome email as a text-heavy narrative experience.

Opening With a Personal Email

We start off strong with this personalized introduction.

Welcome messages that use a customer’s name are remarkably effective. They make new subscribers feel welcome, nurturing the relationship required of (eventual) new customers. While you always hope for immediate action, it never hurts to prime your audience with a full-blown welcome series.

Nurturing the Narrative

Next, we launch into a story.

Everyone loves a good story, and email subscribers are no exception!

For Jaspr, the team workshopped a gorgeous, engaging journey. The result was one of the best welcome email examples for text-based campaigns.

Read that text from the perspective of new users. It’s the perfect embodiment of welcome email templates, a simple journey from one destination to the next. Moreover, its use of first-person language reels in the reader, making them more likely to engage with the content.

“We‘ve always been taught that things like vehicle emissions, fuel oils, and other natural or man-made hazards can negatively impact our health.” It‘s a compelling, inclusive sentence — the perfect fodder for high click-through rates!

The Mission-Driven Welcome Email

What about value-driven brands?

There are welcome emails for those, too!

Enter Sol Organics, an environmentally aware linen company. The Email Marketers designed a stunning welcome flow, one that really highlights the perks of the brand, and it’s the subject of our next email dissection.

Make the Email Immediately Relevant

“Welcome to Ethical, Affordable Luxury.”

Four words (and an article) say a lot. It‘s the perfect email subject line packed into a header, and it‘s the unmistakable focal point of this mobile-friendly welcome email.

At this point in the funnel, users have expressed interest. They‘ve submitted the signup form. Now, it‘s time to boost those click-through rates. For Sol Organics, we aimed to create a value-driven experience by packing the email body with as much information as possible. The accompanying link further emphasizes these points, acting as a clear call to action.

Write a Welcome Email With a Strong Ending

These email marketing campaigns conclude with a powerful value-driven collage.

While we began with the environmental benefits, we ended with the individual perks.

“These sheets,” the email says, ”are good for the environment and your comfort.”

As you write your own welcome email, keep that in mind! Think about how readers will feel and manipulate your email body accordingly. Do the same throughout your welcome series; the results will pleasantly surprise you.

At the same time, don’t go too heavy on the manipulation. Customers can see through it, and they don’t appreciate the pandering.

The Deals-Driven Welcome Message

The last of our welcome email examples comes from Sutro Footwear, a high-end brand for custom-made shoes. These stylish kicks do more than look good; they also make for an amazing welcome email!

This is your chance to see a profit-driven email.

Take note of the gentle, persuasive techniques. We‘re not demanding that customers buy something now. Yes, there‘s some natural urgency, but it‘s not aggressive. In fact, these welcome emails are almost conversational!

Lead With the Deal

After the initial subject line, customers are greeted by this email campaign‘s stunning deal.

“Find your perfect pair with $50 off,” declares the header. If your readers weren‘t paying attention before, they definitely are now! You‘ve progressed from new subscribers to potential customers, and the email marketing strategy has changed accordingly.

We also frame the welcome email subject with a gorgeous product photo, offering users some visual reference for future campaigns.

Appeal to the Audience

The campaign ends with a discount code, which I‘ve cropped from the screenshot.

However, I kept the fantastic header.

This welcome email knows its audience. It knows what it wants to do, and it primes itself for any future campaigns. Customers are told what to expect, shown the results, and given the information they need to make a decision.

That self-awareness is key to the campaign‘s success.

Your welcome messages are meant to welcome users. That‘s not to say you should avoid selling something. There‘s still plenty of room to make your pitch. But that shouldn’t be the only purpose. Your welcome email campaigns need more, to tell the brand mission and make new subscribers feel included.

Let the Pros Handle Your Welcome Emails

Feeling lost after that?

It‘s okay! Email marketing is stressful. Your success depends on constant learning, and even the best email template is a blank slate. You, as a small business owner, already have enough on your plate. You‘ve seen five of our best welcome email examples, but how many more can you look at today?

Stop worrying about your digital marketing! Let The Email Marketers handle it instead!

We‘ll design your welcome email sequence from scratch, tailoring it to your precise needs.

Give me a call. We’ll discuss your business‘ goals and investigate the best solutions. And in the meantime, don’t forget to check the rest of my blog for more tips and tricks.