inTouch: Creating effective welcome triggers

How three customers crafted stylish and effective automated welcome emails.

You’re probably familiar with the trigger email feature, which allows you to queue up emails that send automatically whenever a specific event occurs, instead of sending manually to a group all at once. This is such a handy tool to have at your fingertips that we wanted to spotlight a few ways to make the most of it.

inTouch allows you to set up four styles of triggers: when someone signs up to receive your emails, when someone has a birthday or other date-related event, when someone clicks a link in a campaign or when someone completes a survey. 

That first type, sending an automatic welcome email when someone signs up for your mailing list, can especially make a difference in how engaged you are with your audience.

A welcome trigger is one of the best and simplest ways to make contact with new subscribers. After all, they’ve just signed up and you’re fresh on their minds, so you know they’re interested in what you have to say. However you craft your welcome email, don’t think of it as just an auto-sender. It’s your opportunity to connect with your audience, capture their interest and set their expectations.

Ask yourself:

• Is my welcome email enticing? Check that your subject line is branded and specific, and consider including a coupon or special offer in the email.
• Does the tone of my welcome email convey my brand’s personality? (Nothing is duller than a welcome email that looks as if it’s been written by a robot.)
• Have I set expectations for what my subscribers will receive going forward?

So let’s take a look at a few examples.

1. Chinet, manufacturer of household products, created their welcome trigger at the end of May, and it’s experiencing some of the highest response rates we’ve seen across all industries: a 78% open rate and a whopping 93% click-through rate to their $1-off coupon. Which goes to show that there’s no need for extravagances — a moderate coupon can be wildly successful among interested subscribers.

2. Maggie Whitley’s welcome email is bold and colorful, conveying a playfulness that matches her website and brand. She’s the owner of Gussy, an online shop of ruffled totes, headbands, baby blankets and more, and she lets her fans know from the get-go that she’ll personally communicate with her subscribers, as well as send out audience-wide campaigns. Her email marketing is all about creating relationships. The welcome email offers 15% off any online purchase, and it’s seeing a 79% open rate and 21% click-through rate.

3. The European American Bakery Cafe offers a $5-off coupon in their welcome email and sets expectations about what subscribers will receive, including exclusive online offers, a first look at new menu items, invitations to upcoming events and shop updates. These are perks shared exclusively by new people in the bakery’s club, and their welcome email is seeing a 74% open rate and 29% click-through rate.

 *****

So is it time to develop or revise your organization’s welcome strategy? A welcome trigger that’s immediate and engaging sets the tone for future communication and paves the way for a lasting relationship with your subscribers.

For more about how to use inTouch’s welcome triggers, visit our help section.