When you first meet someone, what do you normally do?
Do you look them in the eye?
Do you greet them and say, “Hello”?
Do you shake their hand and then start a conversation?
Or do you look down, mumble something under your breath, and then choose to continue focusing on your work?
Or even worse, do you choose to ignore the person entirely? Hopefully not…this is terrible!
Today, technology gives us the opportunity to connect with people and build relationships.
Building relationships is timeless and doesn’t change. The technology and the way we can meet people is what is changing.
Meeting people and building everlasting relationships are the keys to a successful life and business.
So how do you use technology to build relationships with prospects and then lead them to become loyal advocates for your business?
How you welcome someone on to your email list can have a big impact on the relationship you build with the person.
Often welcome emails do a poor job of connecting with the person, who just signed up for your email list.
The purpose of the welcome email is to introduce the new person to your business, deliver on your promise, provide a positive experience, and then set the expectations for the relationship.
Answer These 10 Questions to Create an Effective Welcome Email.
1) Do you welcome the subscriber?
When you first meet someone, often the first thing you say is “Hi” or “Hello,” the welcome email needs to greet the person. Right now, many companies only require an email address to opt-in to their list. I prefer asking for the name of the person, so I can greet them my name in each email I send them. Most email companies say that personalizing email subject lines increases open rates, plus greeting someone by name improves email open rates.
2) Does the welcome email deliver on the landing page’s promise?
What did you offer to get the person to subscribe to your email list?
Does the welcome mail deliver on this promise? Is there a link to the download page or a link within the email to download the freemium directly? This is critical to building trust. You have to deliver on your promises.
3) Is the link to download the Lead Magnet (Freemium) prominently displayed?
Providing the link to download the freemium is important. Often I include a download link at least twice in the email. The first link is in the second paragraph of the email. Often this is the exact sentence I use. “As promised, here is the link to your download (name of download).”
I use the words as promised because I am building trust. I want to make sure the person receives what I promised them for subscribing.
Also, I include a second link to download the freemium in the PS of the welcome email. This is so after the person reads the email, they can immediately click and not have to scroll back to the top.
4) Do you introduce yourself and explain who you are?
Another important component is introducing you to the person. This does not have to be a short bio, but only just a paragraph or two. This is an opportunity to share who you are.
Another important component of a welcome email is to include a picture of you in the email. This helps create a personal connection with the reader. This picture helps improve future email open rates and create more engagement.
5) Do you begin to build trust and start establishing a relationship with the reader?
Each component of the Welcome email is designed to build trust. Trust and respect are the capital that relationships and legacies are built upon. Each component of the welcome email is designed to build trust.
6 ) Does it set expectations for the future?
Setting expectations is designed to create engagement with future emails. How many emails do you send each week? Tell the person what to expect. It can be a simple sentence such as “You will receive between one and three emails per week.”
7) Do you talk about the topics you share in your email newsletters?
The next portion is to start establishing the topics of your newsletters and emails.
This is primarily to ensure the person opted-in to the right list and to build anticipation for future emails. Often this is a simple sentence such as:
Here are some topics we will discuss: and then list 3 or 4 topics in bullet points.
8) Do you begin to establish your authority?
Sharing a brief bio, the title of your newsletter header, the topics, your photo, delivering on your promise is all designed to build trust and establish your authority on the topic and why the person should invest their time in reading your newsletters and emails.
9) Does it include links to other authority content?
The next step is to share other pieces of content. This is designed to establish your authority further and create engagement. These other pieces of content can also prime the pump and plant seeds for the next stage in the customer journey.
10) Does the first email ask for a purchase?
There is a debate on whether the welcome email should include an offer. My answer is normally, “No.” I normally do not try to sell a product in the first welcome email. There are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, I want to start establishing a relationship. Asking someone to purchase too quickly can hurt the relationship and deter people from purchasing in the future. Just like not asking people to purchase can teach your list not purchase from you. So, there is a balance.
Normally, I choose to sell through autoresponders, newsletters, and promotional emails. I prefer the welcome email only to welcome the new subscriber, plus set the stage for future emails.
There you have 10 different components of a welcome email to start building relationships with your subscribers.