Your welcome email is the most-read email you’ll ever send. Here’s how to make it sell

Why the welcome email matters more than any other

Think about the moment someone subscribes. They’ve just typed their address into your form: they know you least and they’re listening most. That attention will never be this high again. Every day that passes without hearing from you, they wonder a little more who you are and why they signed up.

Leave that first email to chance, or worse, don’t send it, and you throw away the work it took to get the sign-up: the form, the post, the ad, the sign by the till.

What to write: the 5 parts of a welcome email that works

1. A subject line that keeps the promise. If your form promised 10% off, the subject is “Here’s your 10% off”, not “Welcome to our community”.
2. Thanks, in one line. No speeches: they want what you promised.
3. The gift, up front. The discount code, the guide, the invitation: at the top, impossible to miss.
4. What they’ll get, and how often. “I write twice a month with what’s new in the workshop and an offer just for subscribers.” People who know what to expect don’t hit the spam button.
5. One call to action. One button, one thing to do: use the code, book, reply. Two calls compete; three cancel each other out.

And a real signature: your name, not “The Team”. People buy from people.

A welcome email example you can copy

Here’s an example for a clothing shop. Change the details and it works for a restaurant, a studio or a course:

• Subject: Your 10% off is here, Emma
• Opening: “Hi Emma, thanks for signing up. As promised, here’s your code: WELCOME10, valid for 14 days on everything in the shop.”
• What she’ll get: “Once a month I’ll write with new arrivals, before they hit the window, and an offer just for subscribers. That’s it.”
• The call to action: one button, “Choose your first piece”.
• The open door: “Questions about sizes or fabrics? Just reply to this email: I read every one.”
• The signature: Sarah, with the shop’s name.

That’s under 100 words. You don’t need more: the welcome email isn’t the place for your life story.

Don’t stop at one: the 3-email welcome series

One welcome email beats none. Three beat one, for a simple reason: not everyone is ready to buy on day one, and people who miss the first email may open the second.

1. Straight away: the welcome. Thanks, the promised gift, what they’ll get.
2. After 2 days: your story. Who you are, why you do what you do, what makes you different. A true story sells better than ten adjectives.
3. After 5 days: proof and a nudge. What customers say (real reviews only), your best-loved product, and a reminder: “Your code expires in 9 days.”

In Spedito this series is ready to go: in automations pick the “Welcome” template, change the text and switch it on. It runs by itself for every new subscriber, from any form or integration, in their own language if you’ve translated it.

The mistakes that ruin a welcome

• Sending it late. A welcome that goes out with next month’s newsletter isn’t a welcome.
• Hiding the gift. The code at the bottom, or only after “follow us on Instagram”.
• The wall of text. Mission, values, company history: save them for email two, and keep it short.
• A noreply@ address. You shut the door on the very people who want to talk to you. Let them reply: replies also tell mailbox providers your emails are wanted.
• Signing people up without consent. Under GDPR consent must be freely given and recorded; double opt-in keeps you safe.

Frequently asked questions