It is so sad to see that the welcome email is underestimated as a really effective tool that can be used in your email marketing plan/strategy. That message that you send right there stands out as the one that has the most potential to make a really good impact and actually make the sale from the start. Why is that?
For starters, that welcome email is the one message that the receiver always knows is coming. That is highly important. The open rate in the welcome email is over 80% higher than with a newsletter and the click rate is close to 200% higher. Not taking advantage of the very first email in order to make an initial sale automatically means that you are missing out on a huge opportunity.
While the statistics are out there, they are underestimated, which is a true shame. Most will see the message as a transaction in which the company tells you that you signed up to an email newsletter. Then, you simply get to say hello and thank you. This is not a proper marketing approach. That welcome email is a great way to increase future campaigns relevance and help you to make an initial sale. The transaction rate associated with that initial email is of 336% and the average revenue you get per email is at around 320% higher than the regular one. Such statistics simply cannot be underestimated by a smart marketer.
Optimizing The Initial Welcome Email
There are so many things that you can do in order to optimize the welcome email. You should always test so that you can end up making the best choice but here are some general guidelines that you can easily take into account:
- Never Use The Word “Save”
Using this word will only increase the possibility that the receiver opens the email by around 4%. A much better alternative that is available for you is the word “SALE”. It will actually increase open rates by close to 25%.
- The Reply Address
In many situations we see people that are using a no-reply address as the email address that appears in the from section. This is not a good idea. What you have to do is use one that actually exists. You never know when a receiver will want to ask something.
- Avoid Spam Filters
This is much more important than what marketers think at first glance. You have to avoid words that would trigger the spam filters like “bonus” or “free”.
- Welcome Offers
Instead of just saying thank you, which you should, of course, how about offering special discounts and incentives for those that signed up for the newsletter? When you do this, you increase the possibility of making a transaction by 2.6 times, which is definitely a lot.
Always test and be sure that you go through trials. The more you test, the higher the possibility of making a sale even with the very first email that you send out.
