Did you know that automated emails get a 70% higher open rate than your average email broadcasts?
Perhaps the most fundamental of any automated email sequence you can set up is the “Welcome Email Sequence”.
The purpose of this sequence is to indoctrinate your subscribers on to your email list and start to build trust for your brand.
There are really three things that you want to do in the “Welcome Sequence”:
- You’re trying to help people understand who you are and get to know you
- You’re trying to understand who your new subscribers are, so you can get to know them a little bit more personally.
- The third thing you’re trying to do is to initiate triggers within the email sequence, which will tell you something about those subscribers. These triggers are events or activities that your subscribers will take that will allow you to send them down other automated email sequences, or provide you the relevant information you need to send them personalized and tailored broadcasts in the future.
The “Welcome Sequence” is one of 23 email sequences that are available in the “Digital Marketer’s Campaign Playbook.” You can download that playbook here. But for now, here’s a video that takes you step-by-step through the “Welcome Sequence”:
The next email in this sequence is sent three days after the first one. In this email you are trying to encourage the prospect to reply to you. This reply is like gold in several ways. As soon as someone replies to you, it increases the chance that your future emails will turn up in their primary inbox, rather than the spam folder. Enticing a reply from someone also humanizes the relationship and creates a stronger emotional connection between them and your business. The best way to encourage replies is to ask them a personal question, something unique yet universal. For example, ask them if they’re a cat or a dog person, or ask them what their favorite weekend hobby is. These personal questions are very effective for developing rapport.
The third email of the “Welcome Sequence” is the first time you talk about yourself. It comes on day six and is an opportunity to share your story with this new prospect. Even though this email is, on the surface about you, it really needs to be about the prospect. You need to find a way for them to relate to your story. If it’s your personal story, you want them to see themselves in your shoes, overcoming similar challenges and achieving similar feats. If it’s your brand story, shine the light on your employees and your customers. Make it human and personal as well as filling the recipient with confidence that you have helped others solve similar problems to them in the past. Leave them feeling important, connected, and looking forward to your next email.
Emails 4, 5, and 6 of this sequence should offer obligation-free value to the recipients. It may be a helpful blog post, a podcast episode, a free downloadable resource, or an educational video. Something that helps your prospects, at least in some small way, overcome the challenges they face.In these emails, you should include what are called “triggers.” “Triggers” usually come in the form of a clickable link that will tell you something about the prospect. For example, it may be a link to a blog post about 101 amazing yoga exercises. This tells you that they are most likely interested in learning more about yoga exercises. Based on the actions taken in these emails, you can then push the prospect into highly-relevant email sequences that will move them down the funnel.
So that’s it for the “Welcome Email Sequence.” Remember, if you want to access over 20 other plug-and-play email marketing campaigns right now, you can download them in the “Digital Marketer’s Campaign Playbook” from the form below.
Email marketing is still a cost-effective and highly profitable way to generate leads and build long-term relationships with clients. A smartly designed email marketing campaign can help you to engage in sales talk with your promising leads. Improving engagement and interest from prospects, Getting more leads and sign-ups from interested parties Boost the conversion rate of your sales funnel.
Your suggestion, Will to entice new subscribers to reply to your second email is brilliant. I didn’t realize that receiving a reply makes it more likely that emails we send shall reach an inbox.
My two thoughts are –kudos to those who respond to emails sent from subscribers. When deciding what and how to write, I find it helps to flip to the perspective of subscribers versus what I think they’d appreciate reading.
Make sense?
~Keri
Hey Keri,
Interesting take… can you provide an example?
By the way – replying back to a subscriber is the most important part of the process!