Last updated on January 19th, 2024

Create Onboarding Welcome Emails That Work Using These 10 Tips

Pardeep Kullar
Pardeep Kullar
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.

Pardeep Kullar
Pardeep Kullar

Pardeep overlooks growth at Upscope and loves writing about SaaS companies, customer success and customer experience.