A welcome sequence is a simple way to build trust. Without trust, authority, and connection with your audience, it takes much longer to nurture them from leads into clients. Anyone in the financial industry will tell you that trust is one of the most important feelings your leads need to convert into clients. It’s applicable across the professional services industry.
However, time can be an issue for service providers.
So how do you create trust efficiently? A welcome sequence is one of the fundamental tools to help your new subscribers get to know you, why they should trust you, and how you can help them.
It’s a solid first impression and an opportunity to build relationships and trust with your email marketing.
What is a welcome email or sequence?
A welcome sequence, or indoctrination sequence, is an automated series of emails delivered to your new subscribers.
Welcome emails, on average, have a 4x higher open rate and a 5x higher click-through rate than standard email marketing campaigns. (Wordstream)
Here is how your typical email funnel works:
- You create awareness and interest on your website and social media channels (this may be paid or organic).
- Offer your lead magnet by providing their name and email address.
- Your email system sends them the lead magnet (or a link).
- They automatically receive a welcome email or welcome sequence (if you have set them up).
What that welcome sequence looks like, how long the delay is between emails, and how many emails are in the sequence depends on what you set up in your email marketing platform.
Why do service businesses need to welcome new subscribers?
Aside from making a great impression, not leaving them hanging, and avoiding that awkward situation of receiving a promotional email as their first email, it benefits you too. OmniSend reported that businesses with a series of three welcome emails can generate more orders than only a single welcome email.
What is an example of a welcome sequence?
A welcome sequence is an example of a drip sequence or email flow. It’s automatically sent based on the trigger. For example, a welcome email or sequence is triggered by being added or joining an email list. You don't need to manually send the email.
The first email is sent immediately (when it is delivered depends on the recipient's internet connection). You can set a delay but generally, you don’t want them to wait too long.
There is a delay between each email. For example, you might set a delay of one day. Then they would receive the next email exactly 24 hours after receiving the first email.
Here is an example of an email sequence to send your new subscribers.
- Email 1: Thank you for subscribing and lead magnet (Trigger - subscribes to list, no delay)
- Email 2: Introduce the business and its values (1 day delay)
- Email 3: Highlight a popular piece of content (1 day delay)
- Email 4: Invitation to schedule a consultation
The next email they will receive is your usual newsletter or marketing email.
How many emails should I send?
A welcome sequence is usually 3 - 6 emails. However, some brands find that their audience prefers the shorter side, and performance drops after 3-4 emails. I usually recommend starting with a 4 email sequence.
Your audience and business are unique so testing is always recommended. I wouldn’t do less than 3 or more than 6. Too short and it will lack impact. Too long and you’ll see performance drop off and people won’t finish the sequence.
How is a welcome flow different from a nurture flow?
Both welcome sequences and nurture sequences build relationships and trust. However, the nurture sequence is focused on people slightly further down the marketing funnel (closer to a purchase based on their behaviour).
A welcome sequence is designed to welcome new subscribers to your email list. A nurture sequence is designed to nurture subscribers to take a particular action. Often, that is to purchase a specific service. The goal of the welcome sequence is to bring them up to speed with who you are and what you offer quickly and naturally.
Think of it as how you would greet someone you just met. Often you’ll offer for them to work with you at the end of the sequence but the primary goal is to build trust. If they’re ready they’ll take action. If not, they now know you better. It may take a little longer for them to take the next step.
The nurture sequence is usually triggered by a behaviour such as viewing a particular page on your website or engaging with a content topic aligned with that service. The goal of a nurture sequence is to convert prospects based on actions they take on your website that suggest interest in a particular service or challenge.
Another email sequence you should know about is a sales sequence. It’s used when the subscriber is on the cusp of a sale. This may include more sales and persuasion language and include more reminders and offers to send a proposal or meet. This requires more personalization and may benefit a more hands-on approach. These are best for businesses that use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform like HubSpot.
What automation platforms should I use?
Your welcome sequence is set up in your email marketing platform. Common email marketing programmes for service-based businesses include:
- Mailchimp
- Mailerlite
- Constant Contact
- Campaign Monitor
- Brevo
- ActiveCampaign
- HubSpot
Picking the right email marketing service provider for your business requires an understanding of your budget, contacts, business, integrations, goals, and audience.
I cover picking an email marketing platform in my ‘Get Started With Email Marketing’ guide. It’s designed for beginners.
Welcome sequence examples
After subscribing to my email community, Digital Chats With Tiffany, you’ll receive my email sequence. You’ll then see what an email sequence looks like. I’ve also included a few examples in this image:
See Really Good Emails for other examples for your welcome email inspiration.
Measuring the Success of Your Welcome Sequence:
To measure the success of your welcome sequence you’ll track the usual email marketing metrics. These include open rates, click-through rates (CTR), and conversion rates.
Your email marketing platform should do this for you. Except for conversion rates for service-based businesses. That’s because conversion rates could be actions not connected to the platform e.g. proposal accepted or consultation booked.
However, the tracking is pretty basic. Some platforms are making it more visual to keep up with the expectations of customers who are used to dashboards.
This is the benefit of a CRM as you can track more and create dashboards.
I'm not an fan of benchmarks. Because I think it's better to focus on improving rather than aiming for a click-through rate you're not going to achieve when you're just starting. But in the beginning benchmarks can help until you have your own data.
Welcome sequences have been known to achieve an average higher average open rates and click through rates (CTR) . For example, the SmartInsights 2024 report list over 35% open rates, an average click through rate CTR of 4.26%, and an average click to open rate of 11.85% for automated emails.
Write a unique welcome sequence:
I’m not big on generic content. After all, if you want generic you can use ChatGPT to generate one. It won’t be great but it’s a starting point.
Like your email marketing campaigns, your welcome sequence should have that unique feeling only you can offer. Because otherwise, it could be anyone's welcome sequence template.
But if you want an email sequence that will help turn your website traffic and social media followers into clients then you’ll be interested in this freebie I’ve created for you.
Download your 24 point checklist for a stronger welcome sequence.
Tiffany Your NZ Email Marketing Strategist For Service Businesses
Hi I'm Tiffany, your email marketing strategist for service based businesses. Based in Auckland New Zealand I'm one of the few NZ email geeks for hire that offer email strategy and marketing automation for your professional services business. Turn attention into leads with a better conversion rate.