Create Onboarding Welcome Emails That Work Using These 10 Tips

This is a guest post by KC Karnes of
CleverTap covering 10 points of great advice on
nailing that welcome email for your onboarding process. Further below is also
an infographic and links to examples of welcome messages that worked for other
companies.

Think of a new customer as a friend who just parked at your house, walked up
the driveway, and knocked on your front door.

They’ve done their part of getting there, and now it’s up to you to get them
to stay.

How can you create a good impression as you welcome them into your home?

The onboarding experience is one of the first factors that consumers use to
decide whether or not they will stay.

If your welcome message is in-genuine, awkward, boring, or impolite it’s
highly unlikely that your friend will be inclined to stick around.

Show them why they made the right choice with your business. Luckily, there
are a multitude of ways to do this — many of which can differentiate your
brand. First and foremost, optimize your onboarding process by sending fun,
personalized welcome messages that affirm the customer’s decision.

After you’ve facilitated the initial personal connection and positive
experience with your company, individualize your brand through seamless
design, mobile apps, push notifications, and exclusive content. However, none
of this matters without an immaculate welcome message.

Some companies, such as Warby Parker and Groupon, have cracked the
onboarding formula. Here are 10 ways to send effective welcome
messages that
businesses have successfully carried out:

1. Start with an amusing sign-up confirmation: Don’t miss this prime
   opportunity to show your excitement for the consumer’s attention and business.
   After someone activates an account, consider displaying lively gifs, pictures,
   or animations that will make them smile.

2. Tell the user what to expect: Explain what they should expect over the
   course of your relationship. Most onboarding emails go unread, so break up the
   text and use a casual tone to invite the customer to read.

3. Offer exclusive rewards: Give your customers something in return for making
   an account. Reward their business and they will keep coming back for more.

4. Send emails from a human: You would be surprised how many companies send
   welcome messages from a “donotreply” address. Emails from real humans deepen
   the company-consumer relationship.

5. Integrate Google or Facebook accounts: Using pre-existing accounts to
   create a new account is fast and easy for the user. Furthermore, people are
   more likely to associate themselves with the brand if they see their photo on
   the site.

6. Allow users to tell you their preferences right away: Nothing is more
   annoying to a consumer than getting bombarded with promotional emails. After
   the initial sign up, give them the option to proactively adjust their email
   preferences.

7. Let your brand voice do the work for you: Use words like “buds”, “friends”,
   and “we” in welcome messages to humanize your business. You could even crack a
   few jokes here and there.

8. Simplify the company: There is no reason to explain the complexities of
   your company to the user. Break it down into easy steps or quick descriptions
   so the customer can quickly figure out what to do.

9. Use referral marketing: Friends and family have a lot of influence over
   human decisions. You can take advantage of that by offering incentives to
   refer people. Personal onboarding is also linked with reducing customer churn
   rate.

10. Drive social media engagement: Clearly display your social media handles,
    and go one step higher by linking to your accounts. Consumers spend a lot of
    time on social media, and it is a great tool to generate brand awareness.

This is not an exhaustive list, and there are other ways to enhance your
welcome messages. CleverTap has more examples from
onboarding experts, including images of how each brand implemented engaging
welcome pages.

It’s important to remember that users creating an account is only the start of
your work. Retaining customers takes a lot of planning, time, consideration,
and even money. Your business can’t survive without consumers, so you must do
everything you can to make their “visit” as long and positive as possible.

The infographic below outlines 10 tips and best practices for welcome
messages. Scroll through it, and you’ll be ready to lead onboarding in no
time.

See the full list of 16 welcome messages for effective
onboarding.

KC Karnes

KC Karnes is a well-known marketing strategist and entrepreneur responsible
for growing some of the hottest technology companies in Silicon Valley,
including CleverTap, the Intelligent Mobile Marketing
Platform.