Email marketing platforms often offer default welcome emails that go out to folks who sign up for your list. But if you’re relying on the default message, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with potential clients.

That’s why it’s important to customize this message. Use it as a means to share valuable information about your business and encourage engagement from your subscribers.

In fact, I wouldn’t rely on a single message. You’ll get the most out of this if you create a series of welcome emails.

But what’s the best way to spread out your message across a series of emails? Every business is different, so what works for one trainer might not work for you. Here we’ll share some ideas on how to take advantage of your welcome series to get buy-in — take these and modify them to your business’s needs!

First Email: Share Your Freebie

The first of your welcome emails is a chance to generate excitement around signing up for your list. Not only is the subscriber getting the freebie you’ve offered as your download incentive — they’re going to be receiving tons of great content from you!

(Note: though I highly recommend using download incentives, you don’t need one to set up a sign-up form. This welcome email can generate excitement even if you’re not sharing a freebie.)

Couple of things to keep in mind here:

• Use a clear subject line that folks won’t miss in their inbox
• Share the essentials about your business that you want your new subscriber to know — but keep it concise
• Let them know what to expect from you over the next couple of days/weeks

Sample email

Subject — You’re in! Here’s your freebie from [your business name]

Email —

Hey [recipient name],

Welcome to [your business name]. We’re so excited to have you here!

And we know you’ll love all the resources we’ve put together for pet owners — which is why we’ll be sharing some of our very best ones with you over the next couple of weeks.

We know you can’t wait to access your [download incentive name]. It’s full of [describe download incentive] to help you on your journey with your furry friend.

Here’s the link to download it! [link here]

Keep an eye out for our emails over the next couple of weeks — we’ll be sharing more to help you get the most out of being here, including our top tips for pet owners. If you have questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on [social media information] or via [email address/phone number].

Thanks,

[your name]

Second Email: Share More Resources

Your second email is an opportunity to share additional, curated content that ties in to your freebie. If your freebie was targeted towards new puppy owners, that list of additional resources might include blog posts you’ve written on introducing the puppy to family members or existing pets.

Don’t have a freebie set up? Consider looking up your highest-performing blog posts and sharing those as a collection of favorites!

An important thing to remember here is that this isn’t a sales email. You’re still establishing yourself as a trusted, expert source — by trying to sell too soon, you might alienate your new subscriber. Instead, think of this as a way to familiarize them with your business and how much knowledge you have to share, and encourage them to engage with your website.

Sample email

Subject — Start here to get the most out of our content

Email —

Hi [recipient name],

Since launching the [your business name] blog, we’ve published more than [number] posts on [list some common blog post topics], and every other area where we’ve learned from our personal experience working with pet owners like you.

To make it easier for you to get started, we put together a list of our five most popular, most useful posts — they’re our top tips for pet owners. Here they are:

[list of blog posts]

We hope you enjoy them!

[your name]

Third Email: Check In

At this point in your series, it’s time to ask your subscriber if there’s anything else you can do for them. This is also a valuable opportunity to gather data on what your subscribers are looking for in general, which can help you generate ideas for new content.

Note, again, that this isn’t a sales email — we’re getting to that next. Keep this one short and to the point.

Sample email

Subject — How’s it going, [recipient name]?

Email —

Hey [recipient name]!

We wanted to stop by and see how you’re enjoying your free copy of [download incentive name] (it’s here [link] in case you missed it).

We also have a quick favor to ask you. If you wouldn’t mind, we’d love it if you answered one quick question:

Why did you join our newsletter?

We’re asking because knowing what made you sign up is really helpful for us in making sure that we’re delivering on what our community wants. Just hit “reply” and let us know (and feel free to ask us any questions of your own!).

Looking forward to hearing from you,

[your name]

Fourth Email: Offer Your Services

By now, you’ve established yourself as an expert in your field. You’ve also hopefully gotten your new subscriber to engage with you, whether by downloading your freebie, checking out your blog, or replying to an email.

Now it’s time to (gently) push for a sale. Here you might consider offering some kind of incentive to get them to buy, like a discount or a bonus.

This is the email you’ll likely have to modify the most based on your services. Here’s a template to start with:

Sample email

Subject — Here’s another gift for you!

Email —

[recipient name], this is it!

We’ve made it to the end of our onboarding emails. You’re ready to be a full-fledged member of the [your business name] community.

Hooray!

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve sent you a handful of resources to support you in your pet ownership journey. If you’ve been enjoying them, then we’ve got one more thing we want to tell you about that we think you’ll find useful.

It’s the reason we do everything we do at [your business name], and easily the most valuable thing we offer.

[talk about your service or product here, and why it’s beneficial to the reader]

Sound too good to be true? It’s not.

In fact, we’re so excited to work with you, we’re offering you a one-time discount of 10% off your first [training session/class/etc]. Just reply to this email and we’ll get you set up.

Can’t wait to hear from you.

Cheers,

[your name]

P.S. Not ready to sign up yet? That’s totally fine. We’ll still stay in touch with new blog posts and big updates, straight to your inbox.

Setting Up Your Welcome Emails

Once you’ve gone through and modified these emails to your liking, you’re ready to automate them. Congrats!

We’ll be guiding you through how to do that in our next blog post. See you then!