After signing up for a mailing list, 8 out of 10 customers expect to receive a welcome email. This is a big untapped chance to reach out to your new subscribers who have just shown interest. Turn those new subscribers into long-term customers by sending meaningful welcome emails. We’ve picked some of the best examples for BigCommerce welcome emails to inspire your own email marketing efforts.
What is a Welcome Email?
A welcome email is an automatic message sent to new subscribers or customers. Its goal is to acknowledge their sign-up and introduce your company. It’s often the first in a series of welcome emails that guide new users, showcase your products and services, and encourage further engagement.
One major benefit is that it provides a consistent experience for everyone new to your brand. Every person who signs up for your newsletter receives the same introductory message.
Why are Welcome Emails so Important?
Welcome emails provide long-term benefits, including:
- Stronger customer connections: An authentic “thank you for subscribing” helps people feel positive about your brand and builds trust. Welcome emails are the first step in guiding new users towards making a purchase.
- More sales and better customer retention: Showcasing your products or services increases brand awareness, which boosts engagement and conversion rates.
- Better email engagement: If your first email impresses, subscribers are more likely to open and click future emails too. This improves email deliverability for later campaigns, setting you up for continued success.
How to Optimize your Welcome Email
Follow these tips to make your BigCommerce welcome emails useful and get subscribers to start engaging with you.
Send your welcome email right away
Welcome emails sent in real-time get up to 10 times better results than emails sent a day or even a few hours later. Start communicating with your new subscribers while they are still thinking about you.
Include branded images
Use branded, visually appealing images that reinforce your brand identity across all channels. While default confirmation emails merely state facts like “Your subscription is confirmed,” welcome emails should have a warm, conversational tone that connects with new subscribers on a personal level.
Consistency in design and messaging not only strengthens brand recognition but also helps foster engagement and guides subscribers towards making a purchase.
Ask the subscriber to take action
You don’t have to make a big request, like asking them to fill out a huge preference form. Instead, invite subscribers to take the next small step with you.
That could be checking out your products or making a low-effort request, such as answering a one or two question survey, which gives you data for segmenting and targeting later on.
Start tracking email engagement right away to prevent inactivity
New subscribers can quickly lose interest within days or weeks. Divide your new subscribers into groups, and see who is opening and clicking emails and who isn’t.
For anyone who didn’t open or click your first few emails, resend the welcome email or send a follow-up asking if they’re having issues with the emails or website.
Rename your welcome email to match your desired outcome
Your BigCommerce welcome emails should do more than just welcome new subscribers. It should encourage them to take actions that provide value to your business, like making their first purchase or creating an account.
This means your “welcome email” could become a “first-purchase email” or an “upgrade email.”
You can still include a welcome greeting. But renaming it forces you to think strategically about what you want this email to achieve. That will then guide the email’s design and content.
Provide opt-in incentives and rewards in the welcome email
If you offer a discount, free item or other incentive in exchange for the email address, include it in the welcome email.
To be honest, it’s too easy for someone to give you a fake email, get the incentive from a thank-you page on your site, and leave. Use that page to just confirm their sign-up instead. Notify them to check their inbox for the special welcome email containing important information and their goodies.
Use the Atom8 Automation app
Grit Global has introduced Atom8, which is a BigCommerce automation app that allows you to automatically send notification emails when a new account is created. Additionally, you can set it up to send emails to specific customer groups via integrations with email marketing platforms like Mailchimp or Sendgrid. Leverage these automated workflows to ensure a timely and personalized welcome experience for your new subscribers.
Moreover, if customers don’t place orders within x days after registering, automatically send an engaging email showcasing new products or promotions. This timely outreach incentivizes purchases. Additionally, notify your customer service team to personally follow up, providing exceptional care and increasing conversions.
5 Examples for BigCommerce Welcome Emails
Get-to-know-you email
If you keep your sign-up form short, your welcome email can help gather insights about your audience.
Use it to find out what subscribers want, like the types of content they’re interested in or how often they’d like to receive emails. This valuable information can inform your strategy, and also shows your audience you care about meeting their needs.
The example welcome newsletter below takes this simple, friendly approach.
Self-introduction
New visitors may not know all about your business yet. Your welcome emails should reinforce what makes your offering valuable and confirm you’re the right choice for them.
This effective welcome email example from TravelSupermarket strikes the right balance. It presents the perks customers get from using their services while also setting expectations about future emails.
Personalized welcome message
To make your introduction as relevant as possible for each new contact, you can customize the email content based on what you know about them. For example, Zapier adjusts their welcome email after someone registers based on how that person signed up, making the message as useful as it can be.
Video greeting
A short video introducing your business brings it to life in a way that text alone cannot. This could be a message from your founder putting a face to the brand and sharing your story, or clips demonstrating your product.
Alternatively, you can use an animated GIF in the email to convey your brand’s personality. BarkBox does this effectively in their welcome email:
Product showcase
For businesses trying to turn potential customers into buyers, BigCommerce welcome emails are an opportunity to showcase your best products so they can’t resist browsing.
Highlight your flagship product or promote top-selling and new items.
See how Perch and Parrow uses their first email to immediately grab the subscriber’s interest in their main product categories. The welcome email template focuses only on product images and clear calls-to-action inviting people to browse.
An engaging and effective welcome email can be a great first impression and convert new subscribers into loyal customers. To streamline the process of sending personalized BigCommerce welcome emails triggered by specific customer actions, consider using the Atom8 Automation app for BigCommerce. With integration capabilities and automated workflows, Atom8 makes it easy to ensure a timely and tailored welcome experience for your audience. Contact us today!
