Your Welcome Email Swipe File

You stare at the blinking cursor on your computer. Gotta write a welcome email for our new subscribers…. but what to say? It’s hard to conquer the blank page.

Harder when you hear that a welcome email generates an average of four times the open rates than other campaigns.

Well, that really dries up your words.

Your solution? An amazing swipe file of killer welcome emails so you never start with a blank page. When you start with examples, suddenly words and ideas flow.

Problem is: how do you put together this swipe file?

Don’t worry – I got you covered.

I rounded up 10 of the best welcome emails in all industries. Then I analyzed them top-to-bottom for what’s working so well. So, you know exactly what elements to use in your welcome email.

1. SaaS trial user welcome email

Analysis

Use this email marketing message when your SaaS app has an easy-to-use onboarding process. Or when the first step a new user needs to take is a click.

1. This subject line is awesome: to the point and ties to what Wordable’s new user is interested in.
2. When you read the first line, you’re excited and want to try out Wordable. Especially since you have only 24 hours of unlimited exports.
3. Uploading a post sounds so easy with zero work involved. It’s a click of the button, and, whoosh, uploaded post.
4. You hated those hours wasted on formatting blog posts from Google docs, trying to get the images right. This email taps right into the solution for your pain.
5. Wordable did a great job of building up the emotion from the first line of this email. When you see this call to action, you want to click. They’ve orchestrated that feeling in you: yes, please, click.This call to action is the next step you need to take to achieve success with their app. This email sets up that action beautifully.“You have to quickly and clearly hammer home that they can’t live without your product,” said Patrick Campbell, founder and CEO of Price Intelligently. “The one or two things that constitute your product’s minimum path to awesome are the steps you definitely need in your onboarding sequence. These steps may be activities like setting up an account, posting to social media, installing an integration, creating a campaign, etc. They’re micro goals that give users a dopamine rush and help them feel like they’re accomplishing something.”
6. Answer to your question: what happens when my 24 hours is up?

Best part: it doesn’t sound like work.

If I were to optimize this email, I would like to see how this email performs with changing up the last two lines. I’d either bury them before the last paragraph or delete them. They sound like work and distract from the primary call to action of logging into Wordable.

Key takeaways

Short, sweet and to the point, this email lines you up to take the next step in using Wordable. That next step doesn’t feel like work, thanks to the anticipation in the language used (i.e.”have you tried it out yet?” and “save you hours every month”).

For your SaaS welcome email, figure out the first step your user needs to take so he’ll see success with your app.

Write a clear email pointing them to that next step like Wordable did. Layer in some emotion like anticipation, time-savings, and excitement in your language.

2. Consultant welcome email

Analysis

1. The from name sounds like a real-life person. The fact that Talia Wolf doesn’t use her last name makes her feel friendly. Now you want to open her email.
2. The subject line makes you feel like she was getting this cheat sheet ready for you. As though this cheat sheet were a bread that Talia baked specifically for you. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. “There is one all-important law of human conduct,” wrote Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends & Influence People. “That law, if obeyed, will bring us countless friends and constant happiness. The law is this: Always make the other person feel important.” (emphasis added)
3. A clear overview of what you’re getting in this cheat sheet and how to use it right away.
4. One, clear call to action which serves as the email’s goal. As Neil Patel says, “What good is copywriting without a logical endpoint — a goal, a focus, a point? It’s useless. That’s why the CTA is absolutely essential to successful marketing and successful copy. Your goal is sales.”

5. The personal signature at the end ties nicely to the from name and adds a feeling of personalized delivery. If I were to optimize this email, I might add in more brand voice or what outcomes you’ll see from using this cheat sheet.
6. This email is short. You have things to do and spending lots of time reading an email is not one of them.

Key takeaway

Your lead magnet delivery email can be short.

Consider adding in language to create a feeling that you made this content just for them. As though they were waiting at a white-topped table for your special creation and now, ta-da, here it is.

3. Lifestyle industry welcome email

Analysis

1. Yes, you want more yoga and meditationand a lot less stress. This is exactly why you signed up for Yogaia’s online yoga classes. Because trying to find a parking spot in a crowded lot doesn’t equal stress-free living.

2. Speaking of finding a parking spot, maybe when you want to practice yoga, it’s midnight. And no yoga class is open. Having a flexible yoga practice — that you can do when you want — is key for Yogaia’s customers.
3. “Roll out your mat, open up Yogaia” — this is visual language. You see yourself rolling out a mat, clicking open Yogaia. Using this visual language taps into your brain and is very persuasive. Your brain doesn’t make a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life. Studies have found that reading creates a vivid simulation of reality, especially words involving motion like “roll out your mat.”
4. This button is pretty dull. I’d recommend using button copy that ties to what your reader will get, such as: “Find my free class” or “Start my practice.”
5. This welcome email ends on a note of excitement and anticipation.

Key takeaways

Know your audience and what’s important to them. Understand what problem they want to solve and how you can help them, like living with more yoga and less stress.

Use visual language in your welcome email to help them imagine what their life could look like with your help.

4. Coach welcome email

Analysis

1. First off: kick-awesome subject line. It captures Jen Sincero’s voice and her brand beautifully. Plus, it makes you feel pretty darn special. Which is exactly what you want your new subscriber feeling.
2. Tell your new subscriber what they should expect to get from you. Set up expectations from the start — like Jen does in this email — and then follow through on them. This is also a great spot to let your brand voice shine.
3. People read the sign off, so make it count like Jen does. It’s another spot to let your voice shine.

Key takeaways

For a coach or consultant, your brand voice is what attracts fans to you.

So, don’t hold back. Make your welcome email sound like a) a human wrote it and b) it’s the same human that wrote the other stuff your fans fell in love with.

5. Ecommerce welcome email

Analysis

1. The subject line has two awesome words: “free” and “trial.” Of course, you’re going to openthis email from Nest.
2. This line is awesome. Yes, you want to celebrate your new camera! If only to do a little happy dance that now you can watch your dogs snooze while you’re at work.
3. Necessary info related to your trial that should be included in a welcome email. Other necessary information to include in your welcome email is log-in information and log-in site URL.
4. The underlined parts explain why each feature improves your life. Plus, those are the exact reasons why you bought a Nest indoor camera. How to find strong copy like this? Do customer interviews and surveys, use the language and pain points in your copy.
5. Not interested in this trial? Here’s what you do.

Best part: no emotion in the language explaining how to decline this trial. So you don’t feel pressured either way to keep the trial.

Key takeaways

Include emotions in your email where your reader will be feeling them. Also, understand the specific reasons why your customer bought a product.

“We like people who are similar to us,” says Talia Wolf.

“Based on your product and your customers you know what type of persona your customers will like and feel close to. Mirroring your customer in your strategy (using images, content and the right social proof) will increase likability and trust.”

6. SaaS welcome email

Analysis

Bitly’s welcome email is powerful in its simplicity and to-do style checklist.

1. First line creates a warm, fuzzy feeling.
2. Yes, you’re ready to get started!
3. The checklist style of onboarding makes it easy to see where you are and where you need to end up. Research has shown when you give a new user artificial advancement toward a goal — such as checking off the first item — that user exhibits greater persistence in reaching the goal. Bonus points for Bitly in checking off the first item on this list.

4. Each item on the checklist sounds easy and not like work. Bitly even emphasizes that feeling in #3 by saying “it’s so easy.”
5. This last item involves no action — i.e. sitting back — and lots of positive feeling. It’s akin to saying “pat yourself on the back.” Plus, it ties to the improvement your reader wants in their life.
6. Clear call to action with specific language. Bitly did a great job of not saying “get started.” Instead, they made their button copy work a little harder. When your copy works harder, you’ll get better conversions.
7. The welcome email is a little early to ask a new user to upgrade. But, perhaps Bitly tested this copy and found it performed well.

Using the language of “unleashing the power” taps into what you want and might convince you to spring for the enterprise version.

Key takeaways

Use a checklist with no-work-involved language to help your new user get started.

Set your new user up for success by checking off the first item on the to-do list.

Eliminate any suggestion that onboarding might be work. Instead, make onboarding feel like an exciting journey with a satisfying end.

7. Ecommerce coupon welcome email

Analysis

This welcome email from Birchbox rocks for its large font, simple message, and clear calls to action.

1. It’s nice to meet you, too! This subject line creates a warm feeling. Exactly the feeling you want to create in your welcome email.
2. Using the word “gift” invokes the Dr. Cialdini’s Principal of Reciprocity. This rule is that people have a strong tendency to repay or reciprocate when given a gift. Think of it as “give a little, get a little.”
3. Super clear call to action, but the wording could be improved.

If you send a welcome email like this one, experiment with different wording in your call to action. For example, Birchbox could test out wording like “Get my first box.”

Key takeaways

Welcome your new ecommerce subscriber with a coupon.

When your welcome email delivers that coupon code, build on the warm feeling and invoke the Rule of Reciprocity by choosing words like “welcome” and “gift.”

8. Consultant ebook delivery welcome email

Analysis

This welcome email was one of the best ones I’ve saw in my research for this post. It hits all the right notes. If you have a lead magnet and need a delivery email, I recommend using this format.

1. This email comes from a person! His name is Michael Hyatt and, look, his picture pops up in my inbox. His email address is personalized and his actual name — no success, info or “dontreply” in the reply email.
2. The subject line is straight to the point and feels professional.
3. He starts off by thanking you. As Robert Cialdini, PhD says, “Attractiveness, similarity, compliments, contact and cooperation can make a person more influential.” (emphasis added)

4. He gets straight to the point and fulfills on delivering his first promise to you.
5. The call to action leaves no mystery about what happens after you click the button. That alleviates any anxiety about what comes after you click. So, it is easier for you to click.
6. He welcomes you to the community, making you feel like one of the cool kids.
7. A personal sign-off. This feels like an email from a business colleague that a) is professional and b) friendly. If you’re a coach or consultant, your welcome email should hit these two key points.
8. “If you’re writing an email from an individual person,” writes Chris Hexton.”Try including a PS to increase click-throughs and conversions. Always re-iterate your primary call to action.”

In this email, Michael states what you get out of continuing this email relationship with him.

Key takeaways

Make your email come from a person and write it like you would to a business colleague: friendly but professional. When in doubt, thank your new subscriber for joining and welcome them to your community.

Make it very easy for them to download their free gift or lead magnet. Explain what happens after they click the call to action to reduce any anxiety they might have about clicking. Consider using a P.S. to your welcome email.

9. Niche consultant welcome email

Analysis

1. Check out the reply email address: this email comes from Bushra Azhar’s personal email. Personalization works both ways. When your from email address is a person’s name instead of a “don’t reply,” you foster a feeling of relationship. The exact feeling you want for your welcome email.
2. A welcome email is a celebration of a new subscriber joining your list. Bushra taps into that emotion in her subject line. Plus, this subject line is shorter than most subject lines which run 41-50 characters, making it stand out in your subscriber’s inbox.
3. She starts off talking about you. Everybody wants to know: what’s in it for me? You’re no exception.
4. She builds on that excited feeling by saying, “pat yourself on the back.” Suddenly, you feel like you accomplished something in your day.
5. And now, look, what else this accomplishment will help you do in your life. Those three things are exactly what you want for your writing.
6. This quick introduction to who Bushra is downplays her importance. She still focuses on you, her welcome email reader, in each of the bullets while creating authority as to why you should listen to her.
7. This last bullet is important. It’s a heads up on what you can expect from her.
8. These lines are her call to action and a way to find out what her new subscriber wants. She also uses this section as a way to include more personality.
9. Her sign off is unforgettable. It makes you think of the Golden Retriever dog your family had in your childhood (which endears Bushra more).

Key takeaways

Always focus on your welcome email’s reader.

You, as the email’s writer, are not important. What your reader wants and desires is. Help your reader understand how you’ll help them achieve those wants and desires.

Use “you” more than “I” and “we” in your welcome email.

If you’re in a specific niche — like copywriting or marketing — where providers are a dime a dozen, you need personality to stand out. Can’t forget Bushra after this welcome email, huh?

10. Best all-around welcome email

Analysis

I love this welcome email from Noah Kagan. Use it when you don’t have a clue how you can help your audience or where to start with a welcome email.

1. The from name is spot-on. However, I’d recommend using his actual email address at okdork.com as the from email. If you’re worried about a flood of replies to this email, set up a rule in your Gmail to divert those emails into a specific folder.
2. Clear subject line with the focus on you.The emoji helps the email stand out in your inbox. And, as you learn more about Noah, you’ll understand why he picked a taco. (Spoiler: He loves tacos.)
3. Noah builds on that positive feeling in the first line. A little flattery never hurt as this study found.
4. You want the best content, right? Don’t want unneeded emails in your inbox, correct? Yeah, I thought so.
5. Ask this question to find out what your audience wants to hear from you. Irrelevant content is the second top reason for an email user to unsubscribe. Asking your audience what they want is the fastest way to write content they want to read and will love you for.

Key takeaways

When you don’t know what your audience wants to hear from you, ask them in a welcome email like this one. Or when you don’t have a welcome email in place, send this one.

Show your personality a bit in your email — like in the subject line with an emoji — or in your sign off. This email is not meant to be complicated, so keep it simple.

Create a positive feeling

The best welcome email creates a feel-good emotion in your new subscriber. It also answers the question: “what’s in it for me?”

In your welcome email, welcome your new subscriber and share how excited you are that they joined your community. Include specifics on how reading your emails or content will improve their life.

If you get stuck writing your welcome email, read back over this list and swipe any copy that works for your business. Be sure to layer in your personality and brand voice because that’s why your new subscriber signed up: they want to hear from you.

What’s the best welcome email that you’ve seen? Are you using any other automated email campaigns to win your subscribers?