For many business marketers, the simple fact that someone has signed up to your email list, whether it be as part of a paid purchase or simply just an interest in your product or service, is a sign of great success. With an ever increasing usage of personal emails, many people are becoming more hesitant about who they hand out their address to, so by allowing you access to them, you are one step closer to gaining a new customer.
With that said, simply being on your email list will not automatically turn them in a paying client. Indeed, with the wrong set of email standards (too many, too pushy, too complex), a customer may choose to hit the “unsubscribe” button and look elsewhere. With this in mind, the first welcome email you send out must be perfect; they say that you only get one try to make a first impression, so here’s some tips on how to write the perfect welcome email:
Keep it Short
If you consider your own personal email use, where you maybe get a couple dozen emails each day, you begin to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. The main thing you have going for you is that they have consciously signed up for your mailing list, so they will definitely open it up to see what you’ve put in there. If you show respect to their busy schedule and likely volume of emails by keeping it short, you will create a positive image of your brand in their mind, making them more likely to open further emails and read them fully. A perfect welcome email should be no more than a couple hundred words at the most, preferably split into short, easy to read paragraphs. It should say hi, tell them what to expect from future emails and any steps they may need to take (registering their product, setting up log in details etc). A cheery farewell to finish and your job is done.
Make it Personal
It’s very easy to forget that in an age of faceless internet shopping, people still like to have the personal touch – to be made to feel like they exist and matter to you, rather than just being an email address that you’re trying to squeeze money out from. With that in mind, using the words “you” and “your” will bring a connection to your company, as well as starting out by thanking them for their interest. These two simple steps make people feel like they’re being addressed personally. Finally, be sure to provide a link to either an email address or a phone number where they can contact someone directly with queries. While FAQs are great, they are bland and faceless – providing real human voices in response to their queries will build that personal relationship.
Use a Real Email Address
Finally, it’s essential to think about the email address that you are sending out from. Most of the common free email providers (gmail, hotmail and yahoo in particular) now filter incoming mail for you, grouping it into personal, social and promotional emails, as well as discarding anything that looks or sounds “spammy”. An email address that contains [email protected] or [email protected] will automatically hit the promotional section, never to be seen again, or even worse will be classified as spam. Customers will get frustrated if they don’t see an email within 3 days or so, and will be even more frustrated if they have to go digging around to find it. Your best option would look like [email protected] It can still be an automated account, but it makes your customer feel like someone at the company has emailed them personally, as well as tricking the incoming filters to putting it into their personal mail sections. Make sure you complete the personal touch by signing off with someone’s name, preferably someone who can answer the calls or emails that may come in.
