Most businesses I talk with express a desire to use their email marketing more efficiently. Usually, this means using Welcome Emails and Drip Campaigns, segmenting their list to encourage more sales, and using personalization to get a better open and click-through rate.
This month we’re going to move beyond email marketing 101 and talk about Welcome Emails and Drip Campaigns. The first half of this post covers Welcome Emails, and the second half covers Drip Campaigns. When a business uses these 2 together their open rate skyrockets.
Welcome Emails set the groundwork for the kind of engagement a brand will have with their subscribers. They’re sent immediately after subscribing and have the best open rate of all the email types. Why? Because people want them and look for them in their inbox.
Welcome Emails are read and reviewed, which is why your Welcome Email must be carefully written to get the engagement and action you want your reader to take. Your Welcome Email is the first impression your potential client has of your business. That’s why it’s critical to put your best foot forward.
Why are Welcome Emails so important?
In short:
Better customer engagement
We know they have higher engagement compared to other emails, but they also set the tone and mood of what’s to come in future emails.
Saves time
Welcome Emails are sent automatically to each new subscriber—no need to send out individual emails via your inbox to potential customers.
Decrease spam complaints and unsubscribes
Welcome Emails introduce the brand to the customer. The next time an email arrives from the business, the customer will recognize the source and not question the validity of the email. A Welcome Email reduces unsubscribes and spam reports significantly.
You can further segment your email list
Add a couple of questions or a short survey to your Welcome Email. The answers you get will help you focus on your reader’s wants and needs. This is an excellent method to get more in-depth segmentation for future emails.
Increases customer loyalty
Life-long relationships with customers starts with the first Welcome Email. The goal is to establish a sense of community between the business and the reader. Personalizing the email (e.g., “Welcome to the club, Amy!”) will make the new subscriber feel like they belong to this community.
What’s in an effective Welcome Email?
Make sure your subject line grabs their attention
Your subject line should tell people exactly what’s in the email. If you’re sending a free eBook or course via email, say that loud and clear. Don’t be afraid to use the word, “Welcome” or “Here’s your download from …”
If it’s appropriate for your business type, consider using emojis in the subject line. When your reader is looking at their inbox, an emoji will draw their eye and attention.
Deliver what you promised
If you promised to send a free ebook download, free course via email, or answers to a quiz, make sure that’s the first thing people see when they open the email. Then you can add more content designed to get your readers to take action.
Gratitude
Show your appreciation for their subscription. An image, GIF, or even just a line of text can do the job. Remember, the reader asked you to market to them. They really want to hear from you. They’ve given you their attention and are interested in what you have to say.
Introduce the business
Use Welcome Emails to share a bit more about the business. Use your logo in your header or signature line so people can quickly recognize who your email is from. A visible logo will also discourage unsubscribes and spam reports.
Set expectations
Setting expectations is so important, and yet many businesses don’t do this. Tell your readers how often to expect emails and what type of content they’ll receive. If people know to expect your emails, you’ll reduce unsubscribes and spam complaints.
Give them value
Overwhelming your customers with irrelevant messages is pointless. Give your readers links to your most Frequently Asked Questions page or blog posts that answer FAQs. They’ll feel like you’re anticipating their needs and speaking directly to them.
Get personal
Personalized email messages get read at higher rates. They’ll ultimately contribute to higher open and click rates.
Set a clear call-to-action (CTA)
Don’t overdue your email with too many links and CTAs. It can be confusing for your reader. And when given too many choices, people will sometimes choose nothing at all. Use just enough links to get them to go exactly where you want them to go.
Sharing is caring
Provide links to useful resources. Videos, blog posts, or guides should be shared in the email. Extending an invitation to participate in the community encourages loyalty.
Social media buy-in
Include links to your business social media channels. Give your customers several options to follow your brand and interact on a channel they prefer.
Thoughts about Welcome Emails
Welcome Emails are without question, the most important email your new customer will receive. They introduce your business and establish how the customer will feel about your brand.
But does all of this content feel like it’s too much for just one email? It may be.
Once your Welcome Email is sent, successive emails will continue to help keep your customer loyal to your brand. So how do you solve this issue? With a Drip Campaign attached to your Welcome Email.
How and when to use a Drip Campaign
Enter email Drip Campaigns; they’re also known as autoresponders or automated emails. The thought behind these campaigns is pretty simple: rather than manually send emails out, create a set of emails to send automatically to your subscribers over a specific period of time. Everyone that goes into the Drip Campaign starts at email number 1 and goes through the series no matter when they subscribe.
A Drip Campaign is an investment
Drip email campaigns are an investment because you’re writing and creating several emails all at the same time rather than just sending out 1 email blast. They generate open rates around 80% higher with click-through rates about 3 times higher than single send emails, so they’re worth the time and effort you put into them.
When’s a good time to start a campaign?
Email automation is very flexible. Once you’ve got a new subscriber’s email, the sky’s the limit. Planning what you’d like to accomplish and crafting out the right emails are the only things you have left on your plate.
Here are a few suggested uses for your Drip Campaign:
Welcome Emails
Thank new subscribers for signing up to your newsletter, send your free offer, and set expectations for future emails.
Nurturing Leads
Build interest in your products or services by walking your leads through the sales process via email. Then when they contact you, they’ll be ready to purchase.
Onboarding
Simplify your onboarding process by educating new clients about your product or how to use your services with an onboarding Drip Campaign.
Shopping cart abandonment
Email campaigns can recapture abandoned shopping carts and lost potential customers. Use a Drip Campaign to entice them to come back to, by reminding them about the cart and suggesting discounts.
Recommendations
After a product is purchased, a short Drip Campaign
is perfect for upselling or delivering instructions on product use.Renewals
These are great reminders if you’ve got a time limit, e.g., annual membership renewal.
Courses
Drip Campaigns are great if you’re running online courses. Don’t hassle sending countless emails manually. Set up a Drip Campaign once and send them countless times with automation.
Creating a drip marketing campaign
Hopefully, you have your email list handy, and it’s segmented by behavioral criteria, or perhaps by demographic (or a bit of both).
Pick your email platform
There are many tools capable of automating your email campaign. My favorite email platform is Mailchimp. It’s capable of sophisticated Drip Campaigns.
But for eCommerce automation, I like Jilt. Jilt effortlessly integrates with WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and Shopify. It seamlessly sends abandoned cart emails. I love Jilt!
Every platform has its strengths and weaknesses. So ask yourself how complicated your campaigns will be and what features you need. The very best platform is the one you’ll use.
Set your goals
Perhaps you’re looking to promote brand awareness or want to retain and recover subscribers that haven’t opened your emails in a while. Be as specific as you can when picking your goal. It will make the campaign creation process much easier.
Identify your audience and create content for them
Understand who your audience is and where they are in your funnel is crucial. This is extremely important with Drip Campaigns because you’re planning a sequence of emails that will hopefully guide and nurture your subscribers to take the actions you want.
Once you’ve picked the segment you’re sending to, make sure your content is related to the email’s purpose. For example, educational emails should be informative, not cluttered, and difficult to navigate visually.
Make sure your Drip Campaign:
- gives value to the customer
- is relevant to the customer
- is easy to read
- includes an easy to see and click call-to-action button or link
- is optimized for mobile
To get even more action out of your readers, personalize the campaign for each recipient.
Testing
Whether you are running A/B tests or sending to guarantee delivery is seamless, testing will determine what’s working and what isn’t.
Campaign optimization
When looking at your Drip Campaign results, focus on open and click-through rates, conversions, and unsubscribes. Low open rates mean your subject line isn’t interesting enough to get people to open your email. Unsubscribes may mean you’re sending too many emails too close together and annoying people. Low click-through rates may mean your link is to low in the campaign, and people aren’t reading your entire email. Or it may mean your call to action isn’t enticing enough.
Final thoughts
Drip Email Campaigns are an awesome way to save valuable time and effort. Not every customer will be ready to buy today, but over time, you’ll succeed.
Your chances for increased revenue rest with how you keep your customers involved it your Drip Email Campaign. You want them interested enough to continue to move through your sales funnel.
The ultimate power of email automation in Drip Campaigns is that it may not always produce an immediate ROI; still, over time, with a carefully planned and thought-out automated Drip Campaign, you’ll get the sale.
A purchase by a customer who has been sitting off to the side for a while is uniquely satisfying.
Learn more about how effective Welcome Emails are in this infographic from Campaign Monitor below!
