Why do I need an email welcome sequence?

If you’re not yet using email to market yourself and your business…you should be.

No ifs or buts- email marketing has been shown repeatedly to have the single highest return on investment of any tool we have at our disposal.

The Power of Email

Email allows you to talk to your most engaged followers- those who are invested enough in your business to give your their precious email address.

They have explicitly told you (or at least they should have if you’re GDPR compliant) that they actively WANT to hear from you.

How unique is that as an opportunity for marketing?

The Wonderful Welcome Sequence

The welcome sequence is a series of emails that can be sent to new subscribers in the days after they sign up.

It catches them at the moment their interest is piqued and that your business is swimming around at the forefront of their minds. This is your opportunity to show them how wonderful you are and exactly why they need to use your services.

They’re often automated, so that after the initial set up, it takes care of itself. 

How Many?

You DEFINITELY need at least one welcome email, directing signups to a key service, but ideally you want a sequence of 3-6 emails designed to grab attention and build trust.

It might even be worth considering having multiple sequences.

If people are signing up through different channels, for example if you have some sign ups from a quiz (maybe one about what holding back your sales) and others from a PDF download (say, a welcome sequence checklist), you might want to send separate emails to each group.

That way your emails are more likely to speak to the needs of the person who downloaded it. They will appreciate that it feels personalised to them, and you have the opportunity to sell services tailored to their needs.

3 Things to Consider

Before you dive straight in, however, there are a few things you should consider before you put pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard). 

They might seem like a bit of a faff initially, but actually will help you to figure out what you actually want to say, and make the pay-off even better in the long run.

1. The Singular Goal

There’s a temptation to want to tell everyone about everything. 

You think to yourself “I know they’ve shown an interest in pet food, but they might also be interested in pet toys. If I don’t show them both, I might miss out on a sale.”

Here’s the thing: it’s unlikely your reader will sit down with a cup of tea and read everything you have to say from top to bottom. It’s far more likely that they will skim through for something that pops out at them.

You have to make things easy for them.

So, the first thing your welcome sequence should do is guide the reader towards one singular goal.

What action do you want them to take as a result? Buy now? Book a consultation? Sign up to a waitlist? Follow you on socials?

Whatever it is, build the sequence around that and only that.

Then, when they take that action, be sure to blow them away with what you provide and they’ll keep coming back for more.

2. Your Best Resource

The second thing that your welcome sequence should do, is show the customer how you can solve ONE problem for them.

How do you know what that problem is?

Well, you ask your customers!

This could be through a survey sent to previous customers, existing customer, or even those who didn’t buy. Find out what they liked, what they didn’t, and why they came to you in the first place.

Look at your reviews and testimonials. Are there any common themes emerging?

Use these to help you to speak directly to your customers in a way that resonates with them.

3. Be the Metaphorical Fire

The final thing that your welcome sequence should be doing is, obviously, to actively increase the chances that your reader will become a paying customer.

Your welcome sequence should be acting to build trust and engagement with your brand, but we don’t want to fall into the trap of feeling like this is just a chat between friends.

Don’t wait passively for them to buy- get them primed and ready.

How are you going to warm up your leads?

Will you create a sense of urgency? Will you aggravate their problems before providing the solution? Will you sell a lifestyle thing just can’t live without.

Whatever you do, think about how you will ensure that by the end of the sequence they are tingling to get to the checkout.