Create a high performing welcome flow for your brand that nurtures new subscribers, introduces them to your brand, and creates loyal followers and customers for life.

Most ecommerce welcome flows go like this…

Someone signs up for your “newsletter” to get 10% off their first purchase. They get an immediate “Welcome to the Family” email with their discount code.

Then a couple days later they get a second email that’s loaded with ALL of the products they could possibly buy.

A few more days goes by and they get an email with a few customer reviews followed by a list of products.

And finally, after a few more days, they get an email saying that their code is going to expire. Except the code is a static “Welcome10” code that obviously not going to expire…

Sound familiar?

This flow will work. If your goal is simply to generate revenue from sign-ups.

But it’s not optimal. And it’s not going to generate nearly the revenue that a welcome flow is capable of.

After studying hundreds of welcome flows and writing dozens more… here are my 9 tips to create a high-performing welcome flow that not only generates revenue but creates life-long fans.

Use a Double Opt–In

This might sound counterintuitive.

Because your goal is to get as many people on your list as possible… right?

Not quite…

Your goal is to get the RIGHT people on your list.

People that are going to open, read, and click on your emails.

A double opt-in helps to do this.

Because it

• Filter out bad or fake email addresses
• Gets people in the habit of opening and clicking
• Shows that you value your email list

Simply by introducing a doubt opt-in, I’ve increased open rates from 50% to over 75%. Click rates from 2% to over 8%. And revenue has remained the same or even increased.

Best of all, these metrics only help improve deliverability, and lower costs.

Harness The Power Of Stories

Good stories stick.

But most ecommerce brands don’t use them. Because most brands focus on their product rather than their customer.

You know what the GREAT brands do…?

Focus on their customer.

And they do so by telling stories.

Stories make a connection. They paint a picture. Create emotional connections.

Your welcome flow is where you start.

Tell stories about you – the owner/founder.

Why did you start the company? What problem do you solve? What were you struggling with that prompted you to build your business?

Tell stories about the brand or company.

Who have you worked with? What causes do you support? What’s unique about your products/offerings?

And tell stories about your customers.

Before/after success stories. Brand ambassadors. 

Build each welcome email around a story.

Gather Data

Email is the most powerful when it’s built around customer data. Giving each customer the feeling that emails have been written and created just for them.

How do you do this?

Collect data.

Third party data is going to be harder and harder to collect as more privacy laws are put into place.

So how do to gather this elusive data?

Starting with your pop-up, look for ways that you can ask your list simple questions.

Now these are going to be very brand dependent… but if I was running a loose leaf tea brand, I might ask the following questions at various points between the pop-up and the welcome flow.

Have you ever tried loose leaf tea before?

Do you prefer tea with caffeine or without?

Which type of tea is your favorite? Black, Green, Oolong, Herbal, Matcha

When do you drink tea? Morning, Afternoon, Evening

Have you tried iced tea? Cold brew tea?

Any questions that can help you segment your list and craft specific messages… are a game changer.

And you don’t need to send a “survey” email. Just send an email with one question and links for each answer.

Tag subscribers based on the link(s) that they click.

Keep it Seasonal

There’s nothing more off putting that a “dead” welcome email.

The one that was obviously written years ago and has never been updated. Or the one that refers to the cold winter months… but you receive it during the heat of July.

Your welcome flow should be updated regularly. Or create two (or more) versions depending on the season.

For a footwear client we created two welcome flows. One for flip flop season and one for boot season. We toggle on/off depending on whether we are pushing boots or flops.

Don’t let your welcome flow go stale. Check on it regularly to make sure that it matches the messaging, products, and design that you have on your website and ads.

Focus On The Rule Of One

I’ve seen welcome flows that are essentially three (or four) emails crammed into one.

Don’t do this.

It creates a sense of confusion with your reader. And while you try to tell them 4 things, they end up leaving with NOTHING.

So instead…

Focus on the rule of ONE.

Each email should have ONE message, ONE theme, and ONE call to action.

If you find yourself trying to accomplish two goals… write two emails.

Provide Value – Don’t Hard Sell

You should sell with every email.

But your welcome flow shouldn’t try to HARD sell. (At least not until you get to the end. More about that in a minute.)

Your welcome flow should focus on providing value to your new subscriber.

This is because of the Law of Reciprocity.

When we are given something, we feel a need to repay the favor. 

If you focus on providing value to new subscribers first and then asking for a purchase… 

You’re much more likely to get a new customer than if you try to do it the other way around.

What does this “value” look like?

Depends on your brand.

Some brands focus on inspiration.

Some on education.

And others on entertainment.

There’s no right answer.

Depends on the “voice” of your brand.

Don’t Send Standard Campaigns To New Subscribers

This one is a pet peeve of mine.

When a new subscriber has just signed up, they shouldn’t get hit on day two with a FLASH SALE!!

I just signed up for 10% off… and now you’re telling me that I can take 25% off through the weekend?

WTF

It’s so easy to segment out new subscribers. Especially in Klaviyo.

Take a minute to create an “exclusion” segment and identify all subscribers who have joined your list in the last X days where X is the length in time of your welcome flow.

While you at it, include recent purchasers in this segment as well.

Don’t send standard campaigns to new subscribers. Let the welcome flow do it’s job.

Emotion – Logic – Urgency

As you craft your welcome flow, use the following outline:

First 40% of emails – Emotion

• Brand stories
• Customer testimonials
• Future pacing

Second 40% of emails – Logic

• Benefits
• Uses
• Cost comparisons

Last 20% – Urgency

• Welcome discount expiring
• FOMO
• The pain of doing nothing

Dynamic Codes

A second pet peeve of mine… using static codes.

Subscribers aren’t dumb.

They know that your welcome code “Hello10” isn’t actually going to expire in 5 days.

But the randomly generated 8-digit code… we’d better use that.

Not to mention that there are so many coupon scraper apps these days that’ll find every static code you have.

I found a 25% off static coupon that one of my clients had forgotten about… 

Dynamic codes are so easy. Use them for ALL of your flows and email campaigns.

Summary

Let’s recap our 9 tips to optimize your welcome flow:

1. Use a double opt-in
2. Harness the power of stories
3. Gather data
4. Keep it seasonal
5. Focus on the rule of ONE
6. Provide value – don’t hard sell
7. Segment out new subscribers from your standard campaigns
8. Emotion – Logic – Urgency
9. Dynamic codes

What Should YOU Do Next?

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3. If you need an email list manager for your brand or business, send me an email at ben@henkenmarketing.com or fill out this form and I’ll be in touch.
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