By: Michael Keenan
Customer Retention
December 1, 2022
16 Minute Read
What is a Welcome Message?
A welcome message, typically sent as part of a series of onboarding emails, is the first piece of communication you receive from a new or existing customer. This message can be a subscription confirmation or, in some cases, a post-purchase message. Unlike standard commercial email formats, this message is sent to people who have chosen to engage with your brand.
Top 12 Welcome Message Examples
We have gathered 12 examples of fantastic welcome messages from both large and small companies. Be sure to take note of what you like and dislike to inspire your own welcome messages. Here’s a quick list of the companies we will cover:
1. reMarkable
2. Cozy Earth
3. Chipotle
4. Persona
5. Ten Tree
6. Under Armour
7. Beardbrand
8. GOOD Meat
9. Steven Alan
10. Future Noodles
11. Alder
12. Snack TBH
1. reMarkable
reMarkable’s welcome message provides background about the company, then smoothly transitions into information about their new product (reMarkable 2). The message includes a clear visual piece to help the reader learn more about the company and its products through various links.
2. Cozy Earth
Cozy Earth’s welcome message offers a discount on the first purchase with a “Shop Now” button as a call-to-action. Alongside the coupon, Cozy Earth showcases their best-selling shopping categories to make it quicker for the customer to find what they want.
3. Chipotle
Chipotle’s welcome message introduces the Chipotle Rewards program. The message immediately showcases what the company offers and the perks that loyal customers receive. It also uses the same CTA buttons in the message (Order Food). Finally, the message personalizes the experience by addressing customers by name and informing them about Christmas rewards.
4. Persona
Persona’s welcome message provides a significant discount on the first month, encouraging the customer to click on a clear CTA button (Activate 50% Discount). After the headline, the message content guides the reader through some of Persona’s core values and how they achieve them.
5. Ten Tree
Ten Tree welcomes you in their welcome message and offers you a discount along with a code to shop now. They show they care about conveying their purpose before asking you to shop. Like Chipotle, they also present a rewards program.
6. Under Armour
If you’re interested in sports, you’ve likely heard of Under Armour, a brand known for sports apparel and equipment. The design of the welcome message you’ll see below reflects the potential customers the brand wants to attract. The headline grabs you first with “It’s Official: You’re on the Team.” Then, the first thing you see are well-known athletes and the phrase “Welcome to the Team.” Both help customers feel like they are part of a community that understands them. Additionally, the rest of the message includes a store discount code, a link to download one of their apps, and a link to watch workout videos for inspiration.
7. Beardbrand
In the middle of this list, we arrive at Beardbrand, a men’s grooming company that sells products like beard oils, combs, and fragrances (and is also successful in social media marketing). In this welcome message, Beardbrand offers a special product bundle to make subscribers feel like they are joining an exclusive group. While the message includes small links to the homepage, blog, and product page, the clear goal of the message is to make the customer purchase the starter bundle.
8. GOOD Meat
GOOD Meat presents itself as a future-forward company for lab-grown meat. With sleek design reflecting the company’s vision, GOOD Meat aims to produce meat without deforestation and slaughtering. In this welcome message, you are greeted with a chicken on a fork and the prominent phrase “You’re Making History.” This message is very much about storytelling for GOOD Meat and ensuring that you stay informed about future messaging.
9.
Steven Alan
Steven Alan arrives on the list with a short and direct welcome message. With just one sentence, Steven Alan invites you to shop for men, women, or home, or to visit the company’s about page. The best part about this message (and future message series) is that the brand carries a person’s name, so it always feels like you’re receiving a personal message.
10. Future Noodles
From ultra-simplicity to vibrant colors, Future Noodles comes in next. This noodle specialty company aims to create healthy, plant-based noodles that are good for the planet. In this welcome message, you are greeted with a bowl of noodles, featuring the phrase “Making our planet healthier, one noodle at a time.” Similar to GOOD Meat, Future Noodles uses a story-driven approach to welcome you to the club, with a recommendation for their best sellers.
11. Alder
Alder arrives as an e-commerce clothing company with a fantastic welcome message. Alder opens with a special offer for a discount code for customers to use on their first order. However, Alder also emphasizes its goal of sustainability, transparency, and diversity in the outerwear industry.
12. Snack TBH
Our last example of a welcome message comes from Snack TBH. This company has only one product, which it highlights in its email campaigns. The simple message above tells you that your toast deserves the best. The great thing about having just one product is that you can have a very clear CTA – as it does with the “Visit our store” button beneath the welcome text.
How to Write a Welcome Message
According to data from Omnisend, welcome messages have an average conversion rate of 52.9%, compared to 14.26% for post-purchase messages. Additionally, in the first half of 2021, email automation helped achieve open rates that were nearly twice as good compared to promotional campaigns.
When writing a welcome message, or the first message in a welcome series, there are several key goals to keep in mind. Let’s take a look at them below:
Showcasing Your Brand’s Unique Value
You don’t want to inundate customers with promotional messages during the only time you have to make a strong first impression. Remember, you should give before you expect to receive. Ravi Davda, CEO of Rockstar Marketing, explains, “It’s the first impression a customer has of your business, and of course, they’ve given you their email address, so they want to see what you have to say. It’s a fantastic opportunity for your business to impress the user. And it can help build loyalty.” Discounts, tips and tricks, and other customer-directed broadcasts can provide value while encouraging users to make a purchase later.
Personalizing the Message
Modern email marketing services allow for more targeted messaging than ever before. This is a good thing: according to McKinsey & Company, 71% of consumers expect personalization, and furthermore, 76% feel frustrated when they don’t find it.
When it comes to personalization, Mandy Moshai, an email marketing expert with over a decade of experience, says, “The best marketing – regardless of the channel – shouldn’t feel like marketing. Welcome messages should be personal and customer-centric: connect the dots between the customer’s needs and your brand, and make it easy for them to find the perfect product through effective commerce. Sales will follow.”
Sending the Welcome Message Immediately
Let’s say you’re incentivizing sign-up for your newsletter with a 10% promo code for the customer’s next purchase. If someone is ready to buy now and hasn’t received that promo code, you risk losing the sale altogether. Not only that, but with an average click-through rate of 5.63% in welcome messages, you need every bit of help you can get to motivate your potential customers.
Best
Your opportunity to achieve these conversions is to send the email when your customer expects it (i.e., after they’ve given you their email address). Remind subscribers to remove your address from their filters.
Sometimes, email programs may automatically send promotional messages to the spam folder. Encourage subscribers to add your address to their whitelist so they don’t miss your messages.
Under Armour does this, but only in the small print at the bottom of the email. This strategy seems to be common (check your inbox to see how many promotional emails contain this type of small print). If you are really concerned about reaching the spam folder, you can make this message larger.
Set Expectations
Allow subscribers to easily change preferences or unsubscribe, inform them about what new content you will send and how often, and remind them how they got on your list in the first place.
This step is crucial for building trust with new subscribers and is essential for email best practices. If you have European or British customers, you are required to make your email marketing legally transparent, from your sign-up form to the footer of your email series.
Have a Clear Call to Action
What do you want users to do with your welcome message? Do you want them to use a discount code to make a purchase, or do you want them to visit a page about you to learn more? Whatever the answer, make it easy to understand the next step and avoid confusion by having multiple CTAs.
One of the best examples from our list is Persona, with a bright pink button that says “Activate 50% Off.”
Use High-Quality Images
Whether it’s product images or custom illustrations, the images in your welcome message should be eye-catching. Remember to use images that appeal to your target audience – animated images and emojis may work well for some people, but not for others.
Images are also a great way to build social proof if done correctly. Do you remember Under Armour’s opening image? With the text “Welcome to the Team” amid pictures of famous athletes, it tells the customer “Hey, these top-tier athletes trust us. You should too.” You can create something compelling without a big investment in email design, at least initially. First, look into some personal photo editing tools. Use an editing program like GIMP or Canva to write “Hello” in large letters over one of the main images and use it as a header in your email. Or use PicMonkey’s collage tool to put all your products together in a collage.
Make It Mobile-Friendly
While creating a visually appealing welcome message is important, it must also be functional across devices. This not only makes life easier for your customers (and makes it more accessible), but it also helps improve your email engagement rates.
According to research from Mailchimp, responsive designs receive higher click rates across all devices, but they see a larger increase (15%) on mobile devices.
Before you go ahead and broadcast a new email (or create an automated email series), check how it looks on different devices.
Write an Engaging Subject Line
Often, the subject line “Your Subscription Has Been Confirmed” or “Welcome to Our Email List!” isn’t enough. You’ll need to be a bit more creative if you want to stand out in a crowded inbox.
Change
Are you sure which subject line will be the best? Try some A/B tests (with proper segmentation) to see which one generates the highest open and click rates.
Remember, your welcome email subject line (and preview text) is the first part of the communication that a potential customer will see. Make them feel something – curiosity or urgency or belonging were common themes in our examples.
Welcome Email Templates
In this section, we will go over some templates to help energize your creativity and kickstart your email marketing strategy. Subject line templates
Depending on the type of welcome email you’re sending, you’ll need to take a different approach with your subject line. At the very least, here are some ideas: 10% off just for you! Your 10% discount awaits Welcome to [Brand], [Name]! Shop now [Emoji] Hello [Name]. We’re glad to have you with us Hello [Name]. Here’s a [%] discount for you on us! Did I say… discount? [Emoji] A peek at what’s to come [Emoji] Treat yourself [Emoji] Hi [Name]. Here’s your [lead magnet]! Your journey with [Brand/Product/Purpose] starts here
If none of these templates appeal to you, you can always use a tool like the email subject line tester in Omnisend to help you determine the perfect subject line for you.
Email Content Templates
When it comes to the main email text, treat it like a landing page: simple, with one clear goal in mind. With that, we’ll look at three basic templates reflecting the key themes seen in the examples above: telling the brand story, building curiosity, or urgent selling.
Telling the Brand Story
Hello [Name]. Hi there! I’m [Founder’s Name]. Our journey started in [Year] to [State Purpose/Mission]. Since then, [Statement of Social Proof, e.g., hundreds of thousands of customers use our products for …]. We’re so excited to have you join us! As a token of appreciation, I’d like to offer you [Discount] on your first order. Let’s [Brand Purpose] together!
[Founder’s Name]
Building Curiosity
Hello [Name], welcome to [Brand/Brand Community]! You’ve joined an exclusive group of amazing people all working towards [Brand Purpose or Addressing Customer Pain Points]. In case you’re wondering, our product was created with [Ingredients/Unique Design] by [Briefly talk about your design process]. If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to visit [Link to About Us/Blog Article/Product Landing Page]. Now that you’re part of our community, look out for exclusive offers and new release updates. (Don’t forget to add us to your contacts list to avoid landing in spam!)
Take care!
[Name]
Urgent Selling
Hello [Name]! Thanks for signing up for [Brand]! We want you to have the best [Product Purpose] experience ever. Treat yourself to [Brand Product] at [Discount] off your first purchase. Use the code [Discount Code] at checkout. See you there!
[Name]
Four Apps to Create a Welcome Email Series
The Shopify App Store has all the apps you need to enhance your store, especially covering email marketing.
Here are four apps that will help you create automated welcome emails when someone subscribes to your email list. Click on the apps to understand how they work and how they can be integrated into your store.
Shopify Email
Klaviyo
Constant Contact
GetResponse
Rolling Out the Welcome Mat for Customers
Since your welcome message is often the first time your brand enters the customer’s fortified inbox, you need to earn your spot there and make the message fulfill its purpose.
While the welcome message carries a lot of weight, it is ultimately just the first interaction in a long and fruitful relationship, hopefully. Set the tone, say something compelling, and give customers and subscribers a reason to come back. Then start sending out amazing newsletters regularly, so subscribers know that giving you a chance to reach their inbox was a good decision after all.
Do you
Are you ready to start your business? Start your free trial of Shopify – no credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions About Welcome Emails
What are the benefits of sending a welcome email?
Welcome emails provide a new customer with an introduction to your brand. They leave a positive impression after a purchase has been made or after signing up for the email list. As a result, customers are more likely to engage with future messages, leading to improved click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates.
How can I write a welcome email?
There are several key objectives to keep in mind when writing a welcome email:
- Showcase your brand’s unique value
- Personalize your message
- Send the welcome email immediately
- Remind subscribers to whitelist you
- Set expectations
- Have a clear call to action
- Use high-quality images
- Make it mobile-friendly
- Write an engaging subject line
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