E-commerce best practices for a great Welcome Series by Isa Leeflang

Now, let's dive into the emails themselves.

Mail 0: Double-opt in mail

Timing: immediately after subscribing

Before you start sending a new subscriber any email content, you will want to ensure three things:

• That the person subscribing consents to receiving your emails
• That they are the actual owner of the email address they gave you
• That the email address exists at all

At Code, we advocate for a seamless double opt-in procedure to maintain a low bounce rate and prevent your emails from being flagged as spam. This initial email should be straightforward, inviting subscribers to confirm their subscription with a simple click. With Klaviyo, new subscribers can conveniently configure their preferences and consent on a dedicated page that reflects your brand's identity.

Now, let's address subscribers who may inadvertently sign up multiple times with the same email address. Instead of sending them another standard double opt-in email, seize this opportunity to inject some humor and engagement. Consider crafting a playful message like, "You really can't get enough of us, can you..." that aligns with your brand's tone and personality.

Create subscriber engagement by personalizing greetings based on your brand's identity. Whether opting for a casual "Hi there, Jack!" or a more formal "Dear Mr. Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck," ensure your ESP accommodates variations and seamlessly capitalizes names. Additionally, implement fallback options like "Hey garden-lover!" for instances where subscribers omit their surnames, maintaining a consistent and engaging communication style.

As you start crafting emails and flows, prioritize consistency by establishing foundational content blocks such as headers, footers, greetings, and disclaimers. An ideal Email Service Provider (ESP) like Klaviyo should offer seamless synchronization across all emails, facilitating easy updates and adjustments. This feature proves invaluable, especially during promotional periods like Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM), where uniform messaging is crucial for campaign success.

Mail 1: Welcome! Here’s your reward 

Timing: immediately after the new subscriber confirms their subscription

When crafting your welcome email to a new subscriber, prioritize delivering any promised rewards in the most seamless and user-friendly manner possible. Embed a prominent, eye-catching button within the email, ensuring that clicking it automatically applies the discount code to their checkout process.

Additionally, it's crucial to clearly communicate the validity period of the discount code. Consider displaying the expiration date directly in the email, leveraging automated features available in email programs like Klaviyo. 

For optimal effectiveness, each email should focus on a single message or call-to-action (CTA). Since the primary goal of your first email is to deliver the reward, minimize brand indoctrination at this stage. Instead, briefly highlight your brand's unique selling proposition (USP), showcase personalized bestsellers, and incorporate essential elements such as social media links and contact information. This approach lays the foundation for future engagement and allows you to gradually deepen the subscriber's connection with your brand throughout their customer journey.

Mail 2: Please allow us to introduce ourselves

Timing: On average, 2-3 days after mail 1. We recommend split-testing this for your specific audience.

This is the part where you properly introduce your brand and all it offers. Particularly for

brands with moral ambition, this is where you share your mission and seek to connect to the values of the subscribers and invite them into your community. Since this email is not focused on conversion, it doesn’t need a link to a product page: instead, invite people to take a look at your about-us page.

Mail 3: Now we’d like to get to know YOU a bit better 

Timing: 5-7 days after subscription is confirmed, depending on the result of Mail 1.

To foster meaningful engagement with your audience, it's essential to adopt a conversational approach rather than solely broadcasting your brand's message. Try to establish a two-way dialogue with your customers, periodically prompting them to share their thoughts and preferences. This not only enriches their experience but also provides valuable insights that inform your business strategies.

In our practices at Code, we prioritize gathering relevant information about our subscribers in the third email of the welcome series. We include a link to a form featuring various fields where subscribers can input details such as their age, gender, clothing size, and product preferences. Simply knowing whether they look for men’s or women’s attire, for example, has a gigantic impact on conversion. Some clients saw a 10% increase in the placed-order rate of an email when they did this! Additionally, we make it a point to request their birthdays, allowing us to tailor special offers or gifts on their special day.

When you ask customers for their data, make sure you ask for things that are relevant. We cannot stress this enough: never ask customers for information you aren’t going to use. For one thing, because too many fields are a turn-off. But even more importantly: you need to be very clear that you will use your customers’ information to better personalize your service, and nothing else. Consider offering subscribers an incentive (through your loyalty program for instance) in return for their help - that way you not only boost your data, but potentially also your revenue. 

By actively soliciting input from subscribers and leveraging this data to personalize our communications, we deepen our understanding of their needs and preferences. This enables us to deliver more relevant content and offers, ultimately fostering stronger connections with our audience.

Mail 4: Check out our collection!

Timing: 10-12 days after subscription is confirmed

We added this email to the welcome flow to introduce new subscribers to a personalized segment of a broad product catalog. Knowing what particular category of products a subscriber is interested in is vital for the brand's personalized approach.

In the third email, we asked subscribers to indicate which category or categories they would like to know about. This follow-up email makes sure to show the new subscriber a personalized product feed. Personalization is important because it yields much better results. So don’t show the subscriber random products — have your ESP add the products that your subscriber has already shown an interest in. If there is no data available, showing your bestsellers is a last resort.

Mail 5: Your discount code is about to expire!

Timing: 2-3 days before a discount code expires. Choose an expiry date that fits your product. For example: a month for a bike, 2 weeks for a pack of coffee.

For new subscribers who still haven’t used their discount code or picked up their reward, this is the last email you will send to get them to do so. Again, like the first email, make this one all about the big shiny button. As a final nudge, add a personalized product feed with some products the subscriber already showed an interest in.

The welcome series is a key component of any successful email marketing strategy. If you're ready to take your email game to the next level, we're here to help.  Give us a call, send an e-mail or drop by in Delft or Amsterdam. We’re happy to get to know you and your business! Or, of course, read our Email Marketing Inspiration Book where we share all our Email Marketing best practices for e-commerce brands.