16 welcome email examples + best practices for long-term engagement

Welcome emails are the first step in building a long-lasting relationship with your subscribers. So roll out the red carpet and make your new subscribers feel at home on your email list!

In this post, we'll share welcome email best practices that create lasting first impressions.

Along the way, we’ll explain why they WOW new subscribers and show you some welcome email examples and welcome email subject lines that will inspire your own welcome email templates.

Let’s dive in!

A welcome email is the first email you send to new subscribers, customers or users. It's your chance to let them know more about you, your business and what they can expect after subscribing. Welcome emails are usually automated emails, so that as soon as your subscriber signs up, you can begin developing your relationship with them.

When someone subscribes to your newsletter, they expect to receive a welcome newsletter immediately—74% of people do, in fact. They’ll even visit their inboxes just to find it. Welcome emails are a critical component of email marketing, contributing to the success of your overall strategy. 

They help with:

• First impressions and engagement: Welcome emails set the tone for the relationship and engage new subscribers right away. On average, welcome emails get 4x the open rate and 5x the click rate compared to standard marketing emails.

• Building trust and setting expectations: An authentic “thank you” and “welcome” builds trust between you and your subscriber, which lays the foundation for a long-term relationship. These emails also allow you to set clear expectations for future communications.

• Brand reinforcement: Consistent branding in welcome newsletters can strengthen brand recognition and loyalty, and reinforce the brand’s identity and values. 

• Generating more revenue: Research shows that welcome emails generate on average up to 320% more revenue than other promotional emails.

1. Build a relationship with personalization

Using personalization in welcome emails can have a significant impact on the success of your email marketing campaigns. By using a recipient's name, location, or other relevant information, you can create a more engaging and memorable experience. This can help build a stronger connection between your brand and the subscriber.

👍  What’s good?

• Beam welcomes new subscribers by name, establishing a human connection and making subscribers feel special, not like they’re just another number

• The welcome email is simple with a clear CTA

👉  Tip: You can gather more information for personalization by adding custom fields to your signup forms or having multiple welcome sequences based on the page subscribers signed up on. You can also use an email preference center to allow subscribers to personalize their subscriptions with you.

2. Set expectations for your email campaigns 

If your email campaigns don’t deliver on your promise (i.e. providing valuable content), your subscribers will feel cheated and most likely unsubscribe immediately.

👍  What’s good?

• 1000 Email Ideas includes a newsletter archive in their welcome email

• New customers understand what they can expect from their future newsletters

👉  Tip: Your welcome email is like a first date. It’s your chance to build trust. When you establish how that relationship will play out the first time you interact, your new subscribers will be more receptive to your future emails. This will result in higher engagement and fewer spam complaints.

3. Introduce your social media channels

👍  What’s good?

• CB2 explains what new members will enjoy from their email newsletters

• The CTA focuses on getting their new customers on social media

• Connecting with them online builds up social proof and, in turn, attracts new customers

👉  Tip: Instead of starting with the hard sell, deepen the relationship by inviting new subscribers to connect on social media. They’ll get to experience another side of your brand and learn more about your values.

Fostering a community of email subscribers and growing your email list is a process that requires more than one channel. The powerful synergy of email marketing and social proof helps build stronger relationships!

4. Use a video when you have a lot to say

👍  What’s good?

• Beardbrand's welcome email is all about introducing new customers to the community

• Rather than create a long welcome email newsletter explaining their values, they added a link to a video that covers all they want to say

5. Sell the experience and not the product

👍  What’s good?

• King Arthur Flour welcomes you into their community as a fellow baker

• There’s not a single bag of flour in sight! Instead, they sell the raw emotion and satisfaction of creating something from scratch

👉  Tip: You don’t always have to feature your product prominently in your welcome email. Sometimes it’s better to focus on the benefits or experience of using your product or service. This way new subscribers may be curious to connect the dots and try it for themselves.

6. Make emails interactive 

👍  What’s good?

• Peloton's first email immediately engages you with photos of their instructors

• Their fitness wear reinforces the high-energy workouts that you signed up for, remember?

• You're prompted to take a quiz to find your perfect coach—and start pedaling!

👉  Tip: In MailerLite, you can use the survey or quiz block to embed an interactive survey or quiz right into your newsletter.

7. Inject a sense of urgency 

👍  What’s good?

• Glassdoor cuts to the chase by highlighting clear actionable steps to help you find a job now

• Their 3-step process leads your eye to a clear CTA button to contribute to their pool of employer and interview reviews

👉  Tip: When someone subscribes to an email list, they expect to receive a welcome email immediately. In fact, real-time welcome emails have significantly higher open, click and transaction rates than bulk welcomes.

The only way to send your new subscribers their welcome email in real-time is to create an automated email sequence. Although it sounds technical, automating emails with MailerLite is super easy. Get a huge head start by choosing a template from our automation template gallery.

8. Add your brand identity 

👍  What’s good?

• Super Mario makes this welcome email newsletter instantly recognizable!

• The bundled perks are enough to warm the heart of any Nintendo fan

• Nintendo’s use of colors, icons and tone of voice communicate their unique brand

👉  Tip: Your new subscribers are receiving dozens of emails every day. When you establish a distinct look in your first email, your subscribers will know exactly what to look for in future emails.

9. Add an e-commerce storefront in your welcome emails

👍  What’s good?

• Bring out the pina colada! 🍹 A lot is going on in this busy Ripples newsletter but their bright summer colors bring it all together nicely

• The menu at the top of their welcome email seamlessly connects you with their online store landing page

10. Offer a welcome discount

Offering a discount to new email subscribers is a clever way to incentivize them to make their first purchase. By providing a discount code in your welcome email, you're showing your appreciation for their interest in your brand and giving them an extra nudge to hit “Checkout”.

👍  What’s good?

• Their special offers and discount code make you feel privileged to be part of their email list (and give you an extra incentive to press “Buy now” on your next order)

• The CTA immediately after the discount code entices readers to use the discount code right away

11. Offer preferences in the welcome email 

👍  What’s good?

• Groove uses a simple text email format and the message feels like it was written just for you

• New users are given a chance to pick the type of email content that they're interested in for the email series

12. Write inspirational subject lines

👍  What’s good?

• Memberful sits in your inbox with a purposeful and simple subject line

• The email’s helpful tone and voice speaks directly to you

• They’re humble and even willing to suggest another solution for your needs!

👉  Tip: A controlled sprinkling of emojis helps to break the monotony of a welcome email.

13. Always be positive (avoid negative phrasing)

👍  What’s good?

• TradeGecko starts on a positive note from the get-go

• New users are ushered along the onboarding process with dry wit and humor

👉  Tip: Consistent use of a single color in your welcome email reinforces your brand image.

14. Demonstrate how your product works 

👍  What’s good?

• Zapier uses helpful content marketing to guide their new subscribers in their welcome email

• Their welcome series email contains a demonstration of their marketing automation platform, with actionable steps to get started

• They maximize the email’s conversion rate by cleverly inserting a subtle CTA at the end

👉  Tip: Where possible, use your product to send the welcome email and you’ll instantly earn a lot of credibility for it.

15. Encourage readers to take specific actions

Encouraging subscribers to take action with a clear call-to-action (CTA) in your welcome emails is key to driving engagement and conversions. Whether you want subscribers to check out your products or services, follow you on social media, or sign up for your online course, a well-crafted CTA is how you guide your subscribers toward the next step in their journey with your brand.

👍  What’s good?

• Chipotle uses their welcome CTA to encourage subscribers to add their city to their preferences, giving them an opportunity to send even more targeted emails

• On top of the clear main CTA, they also include 3 mini CTAs to view the menu, find a store or order now

👉  Tip: Get creative with your CTA text. Generic phrases like “Shop now” and “Learn more” are overused and predictable. You need to speak directly to your audience if you want them to take action. Learn how to craft a winning CTA in our guide on how to create a call-to-action that works.

16. Run A/B tests to perfect your strategy

A/B testing your welcome emails can be a game-changer for your business. By comparing the performance of two different versions of your email, you can optimize your messaging, layout, and calls to action to improve engagement and conversion rates.

We run A/B tests on all sorts of campaigns, not just our welcome emails. In this example, we wanted to test if we should be including graphics at the beginning of our newsletters, or whether a plain text email was the way forward.

After running this A/B test, we learned that newsletters with images at the beginning generated a much higher click rate than those without.

In MailerLite, it’s easy to include A/B tests throughout your welcome email sequence with our new feature for A/B split testing in automations.

A/B testing is like being a detective. You have to gather evidence, analyze it, and come up with a hypothesis about what works and what doesn't. And if you're lucky, you might even solve the case of what makes up the perfect welcome email series.

👉  Tip: A/B testing is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important that you only test one element of your welcome email at a time, for example, your subject line or CTA. That way you get a clear insight into what changes directly affect your email metrics.

Crafting a great welcome email that makes a good first impression and engages subscribers is crucial for building strong customer relationships. To help you get started, we’ve created a selection of welcome email copy templates that you can copy and paste into your own welcome email designs. 

We’ve covered various welcome email scenarios so you can find the one that best fits your business, whether you’re looking to reinforce your brand identity, share essential information, or guide subscribers toward an action.

1. New customers welcome promotion

A promotional welcome email campaign involves giving new customers a special offer or discount when they make a purchase and sign up to your newsletter. 

This does 2 things:

1. Shows your appreciation and allows you to thank subscribers for joining with more than just words.

2. Increases conversions by providing an incentive to make a purchase or perform another desired action. 

Here’s the template:

2. Welcome email for new client

Since new clients have already signed up for your service, your welcome email is your chance to build on this budding new relationship and strengthen your brand image. 

Take the opportunity to share some information about your company, provide helpful tips and resources, or other content and channels that may be of interest.

3. Brand story template

Your customers and subscribers might enjoy your products, but it’s your brand that they’ll connect with. Although branding covers the aesthetics, such as brand colors and logos, it’s more about your story and brand personality. And your welcome email is the ideal place to introduce your company and let subscribers know who you are, your mission, purpose, and values.

4. Onboarding email template

An onboarding welcome email template welcomes your new subscriber while guiding them toward next steps such as navigating your store, customizing their accounts, connecting with you via other channels, or redeeming a special offer or gift. 

It improves the customer journey and encourages subscribers to take desired actions or make a purchase.

5. Weekly newsletter subscription template

A newsletter subscription is a valuable thing—subscribers are permitting you to contact them directly and it requires a certain level of trust to hand over their email address. 

Your welcome email is your chance to build on this trust and give confidence to subscribers that they’ve made the right decision by signing up. It’s a good idea to remind them what they can expect from your newsletter, why they’ll love it, and include some of the types of content they’ll see in future newsletters.

6. Product demo with video

There is no better way to showcase the benefits of your product and create excitement around it than with a product demonstration video. If you sell a singular product, have introduced a new entry to your lineup, or have a best-selling item your customers love, you can further promote it with an embedded video in your welcome email. 

It’s a great way to stand out in the inbox, and you can visually promote your product’s features and benefits, demonstrate how to use it best, and share any other hacks and tips you have.

7. Free trial template

If you’re offering a free trial, the goal of your welcome email is to help customers make the most of the product and convert them into paying customers. 

Give them information about the features and benefits, and guide them on how to use the product for maximum effectiveness. You can also provide links to useful content and resources they’ll find helpful.

It’s important to ensure that each component of your welcome email works together to create a positive and engaging first impression while enhancing customer satisfaction and priming subscribers to move through the customer journey. While remaining authentic and aiming to provide value, these are the key elements to include:

Clear subject line

If welcome emails give the first impression of your brand, then the welcome email subject line is akin to that split second of eye contact before you reach out to shake hands. It can determine whether you’re met with a strong shake and a big smile, or a suspicious stiffness.

You want your personality to shine through, but at the same time, you want to be clear that the email is a welcome message to kick off something special.

So, how do you write an email subject line that WOWs like these examples of welcome emails?

We wondered about the effect of including “welcome” in the subject line of a welcome email newsletter. To satisfy our curiosity, we analyzed our data all the way back to 2017 or about 12,000 emails in all.

Unsurprisingly, email marketing campaigns that featured a “welcome” subject line enjoyed a median open rate 55% higher than those without. And their median CTR was almost 60% higher!

5 welcome email subject line examples

All of these subject lines do a good job of establishing a welcome message while adding something extra to describe the content in the email body. For more inspiration, check out our guide on How to write the best subject lines to boost open rates.

Personalized greeting and thank you message

Personalization helps to create a connection with the subscriber while also making the message stand out in the inbox. Using subscribers’ first names in your greeting helps you to show your brand personality and connect on a more human level rather than on a business-to-customer level. 

Including a thank you message allows you to show your appreciation for the customer’s purchase or subscription to your newsletter, showing that you don’t take their custom, interest, or loyalty to your brand for granted.

Incentives to stay subscribed

Discount codes and special gifts are great incentives to encourage subscribers to stay engaged and keep opening your emails. But, an incentive doesn’t have to be a freebie or discount, your content should incentivize people to stay subscribed too! 

Showcase the types of content you’ve included in the past and let subscribers know the benefit of remaining subscribed. If your content is valuable, relevant to what subscribers are interested in, and solves their problems and pain points, they’ll look forward to your newsletter every time. 

Brand presentation

Introduce your brand and share what makes it unique. Tell your story, share your mission and values, and don’t be afraid to be human. The more authentic your brand experience, the more subscribers will connect with it, which will lead to increased brand loyalty and stronger customer relationships.

Links to resources

Provide links to valuable resources that can help your subscribers and customers learn more about your products and get the most out of them. Doing so will lead to more sales, improved customer satisfaction, and increased brand trust. 

Some resources you might want to include are:

• Customer support channels

• Blog articles

• Knowledge base articles

• Online communities

• Social media profiles

• Video demonstrations or reviews

• Infographics

Special offers

Including special offers is an effective way to turn your subscribers into customers. Share offers such as limited-time discounts, free trials, special gifts, priority access to a promotion, or invitations to an upcoming event. 

Be clear about how the subscriber can redeem the offer with uncomplicated steps and transparent terms and conditions. 

Call to action (CTA)

Since welcome emails have much higher open rates than other types of emails, they provide an excellent opportunity for conversions. So whether you want subscribers to make a purchase, visit your website, follow you on social media, check out your latest content, or take some other kind of action, it’s a good idea to include a compelling CTA in your message.

A single welcome email is a good start, but you don't have to stop there.

By creating a series of welcome emails, you can take subscribers on a journey, sharing valuable information and gradually moving them closer to a purchase decision.

You can use the welcome series to further educate subscribers about your products or services, offer more exclusive deals or discounts, deliver lead magnets, and showcase your brand personality.

By doing so, you're not only making a great first impression, but you're also nurturing your subscribers, building trust with potential customers, and setting the stage for a long-term relationship.

Take a look at this welcome email automation example built from a workflow template in MailerLite.

This template allows you to go beyond a simple welcome email by inviting subscribers to choose their preferences and sending promotional emails to probe their interests out of them. People who use a template like this are going to have way more targeting power than people who send a single welcome email.

How to set up a welcome newsletter automation

Getting started with email automation is easier than it looks—we promise! Check out this tutorial to learn:

• How to create a new email automation workflow

• The email automation triggers you can use

• How to easily add and edit steps in your workflow

• How to access email workflow reports

The best time to trigger a welcome email automation

The first email of your welcome email automation should be triggered when your subscriber signs up. Remember that if you have double opt-in enabled, the email should be sent when the subscriber confirms their email address. 

It’s important to send your welcome email immediately because chances are that the subscriber is expecting it. Plus, if you offer any kind of incentive, such as a discount code, they might be waiting for it to make a purchase. If you wait more than a few minutes, they could get frustrated or move on from buying your products and forget. 

How many emails to include in a welcome series

There isn’t really a fixed answer to this. Rather, it depends on your brand, your offering, and the types of content you’re going to share. The main point is to provide value and not overdo it. 

Experiment with 2-3 emails that include the initial welcome message and any special gifts or discounts, your brand story and mission, and your product’s features, benefits and demonstrations along with customer stories and reviews.

Whether you're a small business or a multinational enterprise, starting your subscriber journey with a warm welcome email is the first step to a great customer journey.

After seeing these welcome email examples, I bet you're motivated to start creating your own welcome email! And guess what? It's super easy with MailerLite.

Our drag & drop editors for newsletters and email automation templates make it simple to include these best email marketing practices in your campaigns.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in July 2020, but has been revamped with new tips and fresh examples.