first impressions: the power of an amazing welcome email
TRANSCRIPT
DIGITAL SUMMIT: ATLANTAFirst Impressions: The Power of an Amazing Welcome Email
Speaker
Senior Manager, Customer Success, BlueHornet
@pilarbower
@bluehornetemail
linkedin.com/in/pilarbower
Pilar Bower
• 74.4% of consumers expect a welcome email when they subscribe. [source: BlueHornet]
• People that read at least one welcome message read more than 40% of their messages from the sending brand during the following 180 days. [source: ReturnPath]
• The average open rate for welcome emails is 50% — 86% more effective than email newsletters. [source: Emma]
Why A Welcome Email?Industry Stats
Welcome Emails
• Determine your goals and desired actions first o As you are mapping out your email flow
and content, the goal is to move your subscriber to the next step in the process
• Benchmark current program before launching new one!
• Engagement o Increase in Open & Click rates
o Increase Conversions
o Increase likelihood of a second purchase/upsell
o Each message in a series will have a different conversion goal based on the primary message
• TEST, TEST, TEST
• Improve sender reputationo Lower spam complaints in the long run
o Decrease in unsubscribes and non-engagement
Success Metrics
Welcome Emails
• “Once the initial welcome message has been read, read rates of subsequent messages drop dramatically. However, read rates still level off at significantly higher rates for those who did not read a brand’s welcome messages.
• In fact, those who read welcome emails tended to hover around a 50-percent read rate in the 180-day period covered in this study.
• Those who don’t read the welcome message started with low read rates and stayed there.”
Success Metrics
Welcome Emails
1) Subject line: Thank you for visiting the PUMA store.
o Content may not be different, but it reminds the subscriber where they signed up
2) Contests: Thank you for entering the St. Lucia Island Getaway sweepstakes
o Many contests include opt ins for multiple 3rd parties
o An explicit Welcome email can alleviate spam complaints and engage the subscriber
o Set expectations for future emails
By Acquisition Source
Columbia Welcome Program
Newsletter Welcome Loyalty WelcomePerformance over promotional:
• Open Rates +197%
• CTR +448%
• CTOR +85%
• Revenue per Email (RPE) +2000%
By Acquisition Source
Welcome EmailsSample Flow Chart
General Newsletter
Sign Up
Welcome 1: Intro, expectations
Welcome 2: Follow us on Social
CTA to Create AccountEnd Series
Immediately 3 days 21 days
Purchase or Loyalty Sign
Up
Loyalty Welcome 1: What it means
(no offer)
CGR Welcome 3: **Loyalty Surprise 25% Off Coupon
Loyalty Welcome 2: Social Points,
reiterate value props of Loyalty Club
End Series
Immediately 3 days 7 days 28 daysUsed
Coupon
Yes
CGR Welcome 4: Coupon Expiration
(in 2 days) Reminder
No
Purchases or Creates Account/joins
Loyalty Program
YesYes
End Series
Welcome 3: Popular Blog &/or video
content CTA to Create Account
Yes
Welcome Emails
Email 2 Content Example:
• Social Promotion: use this time to inform subscriber of your social channels
Email 3 Content Example:
• Popular or seasonal blog content
• Videos
Email 4 Content Example:
• Offer
• Cross-sell/Up-sell/Product Recommendations
Email 5 Content Example:
• Request for Product Review
Onboarding Content
Welcome Series Example
• Introduces the brand along with promoting key brand initiatives
• Tailors subsequent welcome messages around click behavior
Progressive Profiling
• Progressive Profiling: use this time to learn more about your subscribers, implicitly (click behavior) and explicitly (preference center)
• Collect profile information when you have least information, and audience is most willing to share
• Collect actionable content that will assist you with future targeting relevancy
• Focus on building relevance in messaging; engagement is a side effect
Collecting Subscriber Data
Progressive Profiling
• Campaign images allow subscribers to easily see type of messages they are subscribing for and generates a larger CTA in the welcome email
• Required fields
o Email
o Zip
o Birthday
o Gender
• New preference center led to a 17% increase in the number of subscribers who completed their profile in just two months
Profile/Preference Center
Attrition was reduced by
giving subscribers a choice
of which communications
they’d like to receive.
PacSun saw 2.86%
growth in subscribers
with a gender value.
Product Recommendations
• Insert recommended products or content in promotional emails related to user’s behavior
• Introduce new products to loyal visitors, and best-sellers to new customers!
• Use clickstream, profile, and purchase data to drive engagement, lower bounce rates
Supercharge your Customer Lifetime Value
Post-Purchase EmailsTransactional Emails Transactional Emails can be an
important part of the Onboarding
process!
• A purchase may be the first touchpoint/opt in for your new subscriber
• Optimize your confirmation emails to be part of that experience
• Ask for the opt in if not on marketing list
• Consider delaying your normal Welcome email for 24 hours
o If Customers are receiving 2 emails at the same time (transactional email & Welcome email), they will likely show more engagement to transactional emails and ignore the subsequent message
Cross-sell products related to
most recent purchase
Post-Purchase Emails
Performance over promotional:
• Open Rates +45%
• RPE +114%
Product Reviews
CLIENT SPOTLIGHTBikeBandit
BikeBandit Welcome ProgramBy Acquisition Source: Non-Purchasers
BikeBandit Welcome ProgramBy Acquisition Source: Purchasers
BikeBandit Welcome ProgramResults
BikeBandit Welcome Program
• Welcome converted to riding-style personalization, earning significant amount of additional revenue
• Because of first iteration’s success, they are continuously testing and optimizing
• Separate flows for variations of source and Preferences set vs. No Preferences set:
o Newsletter
o Purchase
o Account Registration / No Registration
o Next: Guest Checkout (Purchase, No Reg)
Progressive Profiling
BikeBandit Welcome ProgramThere’s more!
Additional Examples & Wrap Up
Welcome Email Examples
Welcome Email Examples
• Personalize your initial Welcome Email, based on acquisition source
• Understand how to map your most important content offerings into a series of Onboarding Emailso A Welcome/Onboarding Series evolves the initial greeting into a strategically designed,
calibrated series of automated messages designed to convert your new subscriber into an engaged, loyal customer in a highly personalized and systematic way
• Effectively collect & use data from your new subscribers through Progressive Profiling
• Build a framework of rules and workflow to keep your subscribers on the right track in their email communications lifecycle
• Don’t neglect your transactional/post-purchase emails
Takeaways
Session Outline
Q&A
• Enter to win a GoPro 4 or Beats by Dre headphones
• Pick up your BlueHornet water bottle
• Chat with one of our email experts
Booth 16
Visit BlueHornet!