Timing is everything in email marketing so communicating with users at the right moment has a significant impact on open rates and the ultimate success of your email campaigns.
SG Widget is a Sendgrid opt-in form in that allows you to collect subscribers and then send a welcome email the moment someone joins your list when your brand is in their thoughts and they are ready to engage further.
SG Widget is great because you can add it to any website, shopping cart like Shopify or CMS such as Wordpress. It’s simple but powerful as every aspect can be tweaked, including adding custom fields. It’s also the only Sendgrid widget that offers double opt in and can send out a welcome email to your subscribers so that you can begin building the customer relationship right away.
Contents
- Give it a try
- How To Send Sendgrid Welcome Emails Explained
- Why Are Welcome Emails So Important?
- Optimise Your Subject Line
- Personalize The Content
- Use A Real Name In The ‘From’ Line
- Ensure The Welcome Email Looks Good
- Don’t Neglect Copywriting
- Insert Unsubscribe links
- Is There Anything You Shouldn’t Do?
- Keeping Subscribers Engaged?
- Testing Your Welcome Email?
- Conclusion
Give It A Try
Here is a live widget so add your address and view the welcome email that is dispatched:
Sendgrid Welcome Emails Explained
It's really simple.
All you have to do is register for an SG Widget account, create a widget and then in the widget settings, activate the welcome email option:
You don't even have to design the email or write the content. SG Widget offers a default email that covers all scenarios. Of course if you want to customise it you can. We even offer the ability to use custom email templates from your Sendgrid account.
Why Are Welcome Emails So Important?
The open rate of the average commercial email is anywhere from 18%, up to 25%.
Think about that - 75% of the people you send messages to won’t even open your email so there is a huge opportunity to improve on these numbers and get more value from your list without having to acquire any more subscribers.
Engaging your subscribers at the beginning is key, and this can be done with the help of a welcome email. Knowing how to craft one that hooks your subscribers from the start, keeping them coming back time and time again is a must.
It’s all too easy to add new subscribers to your list and avoid sending them an email until your next one goes out but this is a lost opportunity. As soon as a subscriber signs up, a welcome email thanking them for opting into your list is crucial. Welcome emails get around 320% more revenue than a regular promotional email, an 8^% lift in open rate, and a 196% lift in the unique click rate (Source).
When somebody signs up to your list, your business is at the forefront of their minds. Sending a welcome email straight away allows you to engage them with content and offers that they can’t refuse.
So, how can a welcome email be put together to utilise the results that we mentioned?
Optimise Your Subject Line
The subject line is one of the most important parts of a welcome email. Welcome emails have 4x the open rate and 5x the click-through rate of a standard email marketing campaign so they are some of the most lucrative communications you can send. There are many great words you can use in a subject line that will get the attention of your readers like alert, sale, video. Any kind of personalization also goes down well. Here are some tips and examples:
- Offer an Incentive - You made the list. Enjoy your discount code.
- Show Immediate Value - It’s official. You’re now an exclusive member!
- Personalise - We’re glad you’re here, John!
- Show appeciation - Thank you for joining our club
- Pose a question - Ready to know the latest seasonal trends?
The subject line is the very first thing that people see when they open their inbox, so keeping it specific and short will help people understand what the email is about. Remember to avoid spam filters. Words like '100%'' and 'free' are examples of keywords to stay away from.
Personalize The Content
Another great tactic is to get people excited by using their name. It’s a simple tactic but it works. Personalizing an email just a fraction with the reader’s name will always have a more positive effect than just calling them ‘customer’ or not using anything at all. These emails are 26% more likely to be opened.
Use A Real Name In The ‘From’ Line
As you create your welcome email, make sure the ‘from’ name is the name of the person the subscriber expects to hear from or the name of your business. This will encourage people to engage with the email further, and they may even respond. If they do, it’s a good sign.
Ensure The Welcome Email Looks Good
People tend to engage with emails that look good. Make your email easy on the eyes is responsive on all devices and your click-through rate should improve.
Don’t Neglect Copywriting
The actual content of your welcome email is one of the most important parts of engagement. The reason subscribers sign up for your emails and newsletters is so that they can receive your content. Make sure you include information that will interest your readers, and ensure it’s well written.
Insert Unsubscribe Links
Unsubscribe links are a crucial part of every email you send. Under GDPR, it's actually a regulation you have to comply with. If you send emails to users, you need to offer recipients a way to remove themselves from the list - simple. We've written a comprehensive guide on how to add Unsubscribe links to Sendgrid emails so check it out.
Is There Anything You Shouldn’t Do?
There are a few things you probably shouldn’t do. For example, you want to avoid spam trigger words that instantly turn people off like Prize, Free, Bonus, Buy, Purchase, Order.
Avoid the excessive use of exclamation points. People should know what they are getting in the email so being authentic is essential. Don’t use a clickbait subject line and then not provide value in the actual email.
Keeping Subscribers Engaged
Your welcome email is very important, but it should only be the beginning of a long relationship with your subscribers. If you want to develop a great relationship with them, staying engaging, loyal, and interesting is crucial. If you don’t, subscribers will become unsubscribers.
Ensure your main goal is to deliver the value you promised, in the beginning, every time you send out an email. Being consistent is key to your success. If you originally promised an email once a week providing useful tips, then make sure that happens. If you promised discounts, then send those too. Keeping your word is one of the most important things you can do, so don’t make promises that you can’t keep.
Getting the welcome email right means that your subscribers will look forward to all of your communications, so the quality must be there time after time. If you want to make your brand friendlier, remind them they've signed up with you to keep your business at the forefront of their minds and offer tips on how to use your service/product.
Testing Your Welcome Email
Testing your welcome email can help you to ensure that the content you are providing is doing the trick. Are you getting enough open and click-through rates? What do your conversions look like? Knowing your stats and data will help you to construct better welcome emails in the future, but you can’t do that until you know how successful your current welcome emails are to compare later.
Conclusion
Welcome emails make a huge difference to your relationship with the subscriber, so having an email sent out to them immediately after sign up will almost certainly have a positive impact on your results. SG Widget solves this problem with ease. All you have to do is flick one switch in the backend and your subscribers will receive a welcome email. Give it a try and let us know how you get on.
Daniel 07.09.2020
i was able to send welcome emails from my Sendgrid account using this article. It solved a big problem for me. Thanks for taking the time to write it.