Imagine for a moment that you’ve hired a new employee.
Would you expect your new hire to figure everything out on their own?
It’s likely you’ll have a new hire checklist to be certain your new employee gets the information they need to be successful.
Those first few days are important for setting exceptions and building their personal investment in your business.
Shouldn’t you do the same for your new email contacts?
It turns out those first few messages your new contacts receive are also crucial for setting expectations and building their personal investment in your business.
If your new contacts have to wait for your regularly scheduled email, it’s possible that you lose the momentum started when someone makes the decision to join your email contact list.
And they may also not quite understand or reap the full benefit of your regular scheduled emails because they’re coming into the middle of the conversation.
How can you take care of your new email contacts?
An automated Welcome Series, of course. This automated series of emails allows you to set the stage for your new contact while increasing engagement and sales at the same time.
The best part is that you set up your Welcome Series once, and it works for you indefinitely. The experience is the same for your first email contact or your thousandth.
What should you send in your automated Welcome Series?
Plan on sending at least three automated emails to new email contacts.
1. Welcome/Fulfillment
The Welcome email is crucial. Imagine someone walked into your store, and everyone ignored them. If you don’t send a Welcome email, you’re doing exactly that.
The purpose of that Welcome email is to reaffirm your contact that they’ve made a great decision to join your email list.
And to fulfill on any offer that you made in exchange for their email address. Special offers are one of the reasons why people sign up to email lists.
When should you send your Welcome/Fulfillment message?
Instant gratification is crucial at this stage. Schedule this email to send immediately after someone joins your list.
What should you say in the Welcome/Fulfillment email?
Something along these lines:
Thank you for joining us!
You’ll receive two more emails from us over the next five days, and then you can expect to hear from us on a [frequency] basis with [general content of your on-going emails].
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link at the bottom of every email we send.
[Your offer will likely be one of the following. Choose the ONE that works for you.]
- Here is your [coupon/download].
- Here is our [provide something your new contact should know about. For example, link to a schedule, menu, or some other helpful information].
- Visit us at [website/physical location].
Shouldn’t a welcome email be enough?
I know, what you’re thinking: Why do I need to send more than a Welcome email?
The problem with only sending a Welcome email is that most people tend to overstuff it with information. The more you try to add to a single message the less effective your email becomes, simply because you’re trying to do more all at once.
You also miss the opportunity to get your business in front of your contact multiple times at a point when they’re highly engaged.
A short series of emails designed to increase engagement and sales with your new contacts works best.
Here’s what you should send in email two.
2. Invitation to Connect
New contacts may not be familiar with the way your business operates and the ways they can connect with you if they need help. Use your second email to get them the information they need about your social channels, a topic that most customers want to know about, or how they can contact you if they have questions.
When should you send your Invitation to Connect email?
Send this email about two days after they’ve received the Welcome/Fulfillment email.
What should you say in your Invitation to Connect?
Try one of the following:
We’re on social! Connect with us so you can be among the first to hear about new updates and so you can engage with us and our other [fans/followers/members of the community].
Follow us on social: [Links to social channels]
—
Most new contacts want to know about [topic] so we’re making it easy to get the information you need.
Visit [page] on our website
—
We’d love to hear from you! Give us a [call/email] so we can [benefit to calling. For example, answer your specific questions, provide a free consultation, something else you offer].
Get in touch with us at [phone number and/or contact email].
You’re ready for email three.
3. Get to Know Your Contacts
The more you know about your email contacts, the easier it is for you to inspire action by sending them relevant information and offers.
Use your third email to get to know a bit about your new email contacts.
When should you send your Get to Know Your Contacts email?
Send this email about four days after your “Invitation to Connect” email.
What should you say in your Get to Know Your Contacts email?
Try one of the following:
We’d love to learn a little more about you so we can deliver you a special gift on your birthday.
When is your birthday? [Link to update profile form or single question survey]
—
We’d love to learn a little more about you so we can tailor the emails we send to your specific interests.
What are you interested in? [single question survey]
—
We’d love to learn a little more about you so we can give credit where credit is due.
How did you hear about us? [single questions survey]
—
Don’t be afraid to modify these scripts to match the tone and personality of your business.
The key is to focus on your new contact and provide them value with each message.
Use the scripts above as a guide. Pretend you’re speaking to your new contact face to face. How would you say it? That’ll help your email feel personal and less like a script.
An automated Welcome Series that feels personal is what you want.
By setting up and including these three automated emails in your Welcome Series, you can take advantage of the early stages of this relationship to capture more engagement and sales.
Don’t let this highly-engaged state of your new contacts slip away from you. Set up your series to trigger whenever someone joins your list.
Want more help with your automated Welcome Series?
Register for our upcoming Virtual Workshop: Automation: How to Create a Welcome Series to Increase Sales and Engagement on Thursday, July 28 at 2 pm ET. (Register even if you can’t attend live. We’ll send you a recording.)
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