The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Welcome Sequence
There are a lot of moving parts to a well-oiled email marketing machine, but one of the most important is the email welcome series, or as I call it, a welcome funnel. Yet, the number of biz owners I meet who have no welcome series or have a general series for every lead magnet makes my little copywriting heart cry 😢
Your welcome sequence or funnel is one of the most powerful parts of your email ecosystem. It does the important job of taking subscribers from brand new to warm & primed to buy. But how warm your subscribers get (and how quickly they convert) comes down to the strategy behind your funnel.
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Why your Welcome Sequence is So Important
I bet this has happened to you. You download a lead magnet and go about your life as usual. A few months down the line (or heck, even a couple of weeks), and you get an email from some rando.
You’re thinking, “Who is this? I didn’t sign up for their list.” And you immediately delete the email, unsubscribe, or mark it as spam. Little did you remember, this is the person you requested a freebie from last week - but as they say, out of sight, out of mind.
👉 The biggest risk you take by not sending a welcome funnel is becoming irrelevant and building a list of cold, disengaged subscribers.
When you don’t send an email welcome series, the people who land on your list are more likely to forget who you are, ignore your emails, and not engage in your content (which means no sales) because they literally have no reason to care. You haven’t given them a reason!
With a welcome funnel, you help a new audience get to know you, learn what to expect from you, show off your content, and build brand awareness. Sure, some people will still choose to ignore your emails. But a welcome sequence puts your best foot forward.
Writing a Welcome Sequence
So, if we want to put our best foot forward and convince people they should stick around, what kind of content should we send in an email welcome series?
Let’s look at a general breakdown -
👋 Welcome: The first one is pretty obvious: welcome them! This email should include another link to your download, an introduction to you and your brand, info about what they can expect from you, and a CTA to engage with you somehow.
This can be a short, “Reply to this email telling me about your business” or “Let me know what Netflix show you’re currently watching.” If you can get someone to respond, you’ve made an impression!
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✍️ Free Content: Part of building brand awareness is showcasing exactly what you do, where they can find you, and what you have to offer. A great way to do this is through your free content.
For example, share blog posts, podcast episodes, and more that your audience can learn from. I recommend correlating these to your lead magnet. So, if they downloaded a lead magnet about increasing engagement on Instagram, your free content might dive deep into the IG algorithm or talk about vanity metrics.
🏆 Quick Win: The truth is that a lot of people will download your lead magnet and then never use it. But we don’t want that because if they use the information, they can become a warmer audience, begin to see you as an expert, and gain awareness of your offers.
In this email, you want to give them a few quick steps in implementing something related to your freebie. For example, if you have a free guide to creating branded Canva graphics, maybe you give them a few steps to setting up their brand hub in Canva.
💸 Pitch Your Offer: Alright, you’ve been doing a lot of work to warm up your audience. Now, it’s time to pitch them. This is that salesy email. I recommend choosing one offer or product to pitch in this email, and really take the time to dive into the objections, desires, transformation, and more.
You may not get a ton of buyers on the first try because, well, this is the first time you’ve pitched them. But you still need to pitch. Your audience needs to know what you sell and develop an awareness of your offers. You never know when they might think back on that offer later.
Spacing Out Your Welcome Sequence
A common question I’m asked about an email welcome series or welcome funnel is how far apart to space the emails. Generally, I recommend sending emails 1-2 days apart. You want to stay front and center in people’s minds as you get them familiar with your brand.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how I normally space out my client’s emails:
👋 Welcome: Send immediately after they sign up
✍️ Free Content: Send 1 day later
🏆 Quick Win: Send 1 or 2 days later
💸 Pitch Your Offer: Send 2 days later
Of course, you won’t be sending this email welcome series out by hand! By setting up a sequence inside of your email provider, your emails will go out automatically. Personally, my favorite email provider is Kit*. Another popular platform that many of my clients use is Flodesk*. They both make automations super easy, and you can even tap into some of their more advanced features to better segment and serve your audience.
General Tips for Welcome Sequences
Alright, we’ve chatted about all the basics of building a welcome sequence. I wanted to address a few common mistakes I see biz owners make and common questions I get asked. These small changes can make a big impact.
#1 Tag Your Audience
When you set up the automation in your email subscriber, make sure your tagging or segmenting is really clear. Your subscribers won’t see this tag, but you will, and it can help you deliver quality content in the future.
For example, labeling a tag as “freebie” is not going to help you identify that audience's needs or desires. But labeling it as “interested in email growth” tells me what those people were looking for.
#2 It’s Not About You
A common trap people fall into when writing their email welcome series is sending a ton of “about me” emails or including a lot of “about me” info. There is nothing wrong with sharing who you are (in fact, people should be familiar with you to a degree), but they didn’t provide their email to receive a biography 😉
Instead, try to frame your “about me” info in the context of how you plan to support and help them. For example, what experience do you have? Who do you work with? What is your why?
Of course, you can also share relatable tidbits as a way of building a connection and a bond. But don’t get swept away in the “me-centered” copy.
#3 Share Your Voice
Piggy-backing on not making it all about you, at the end of the day, you are a part of your business! Some people are going to love your style and approach. Other people won’t.
The key is to show up as yourself and write in a way that attracts your ideal people. That means you need to understand your brand voice. You need to know what you sound like, how you stand out from others, and the specific type of messaging you will use.
#4 Reuse Old Content
My biggest hack and tip for writing an email welcome series is to not invent the wheel. There is no reason you have to write every email from scratch. Instead, reuse your old content!
For example, your Free Content email could be an old blog email you sent out a while back. Your Pitch Your Offer email could be an old promo email you send your audience. There is no need to rewrite your emails if you don’t have to.
Looking for Done-For-You Welcome Funnel Support?
Let’s face it - sometimes it’s not that you can’t write your own copy, but that you want to spend your time in better ways. Or hell, you want to actually see results from your funnel! That’s where a copywriter always comes in handy 😉
Let me write your welcome funnel for you! This is my done-for-you evergreen funnel service for creators and digital sellers that turns your lead magnets, webinars, ads, and content into a system that sells your offer on autopilot. That way, you can stop relying on launches and always-on marketing to hit your income goals.
Hey, I’m Branda! I’m an email marketing and funnel strategist for digital sellers and course creators who want to build lists that actually buy. Let’s warm your subscribers and turn your email list into your #1 sales tool.
Want to work together?
I’m currently accepting new clients for funnel builds, strategy sessions, and email retainers.