How to Write A Welcome Series That Creates Buyers & Fans For Live

So you want to create an email welcome series that creates raving fans for life?

The number one requested topic I get (other than copywriting or funnels) is what to put in a welcome series for new email subscribers.…which makes alot of sense. 

You see the name one reason people open your emails isn’t because of a catchy subject line.

It’s because of your name. 

Think about it.

If your mom sends you an email do you really care if she using the word “this” or talking about a benefit in the subject line?

No. You open up it because she sent. 

Your email subscribers are the exact same way.

So you how to you get to mom-level open rates?

By knocking subscribers socks off, right off the bat.

Enter your welcome series. 

What is a welcome series?

A welcome series is a set of emails that automatically get send to new subcribers after they sign up for your opt-in gift.   But before we get into what you should include in your welcome series, we need to tackle why you actually need one in the first place. 

Why do you need a welcome series? (Do you really need to have one?) 

In 90.00% of case yes you need a welcome series (even if it’s just a couple of emails), so you can roll out the red carpet for your new subscribers. Showing them you care, you’re fun, you get them, you’re worth being in their inboxes.

The only time you don’t “need” a welcome series, is if you have an sales funnel leading to a paid product that kicks off AFTER someone opt-ins for one of your freebies. 

And even then after your funnel emails are over you should still send a mini welcomes as a bridge series  before dumping people in your main newsletter list. 

The other is if your freebie is a free multi-day course or challenge because you’re already showing up to people’s inboxes every day anyways.

How many emails should you have in your welcome series?

It depends.

If you know you’re the type who will hardly email her list whether your too busy, nervous about saying someting dumb or afraid of unsubscribes...have about 9-12 emails in your welcome series so you don’t leave new subscirbers high & dry. Also if you blog about a topic that doesn’t change too much like productivity or food and you already have alot of content on your site –  a longer series will work well too.

But, if you’re pretty sure you’ll email your peeps on the regular, or if your i

ndustry is always changing like Facebook ads, or you’re brand new – stick with a shorter 5 part series then build from there.

How far apart should you send your emails in your welcome series?

Remember the whole point of a welcome series to knock new subscribers socks off from the very begining.  So send your first 3 emails about 24-48 hours apart. After that you can wait anywhere from a 1-7 days inbetween.

Speaking of how far apart you should send your welcome series emails, let’s talk about how to actually set up & deliever your welcome series to your new subscribers.

How to set up your welcome series in Convertkit

Now you don’t have to use Convertkit  for your email service provider (the tool you use to legally send emails).  You can use something free like Mailerlite or Mailchimp, but honestly most people who create their own digital products almost always up switching to Convertkit at some point so I say it’s just easier to start where you’ll finish.

What to write in your welcome series

For most people I say to have at least 5 emails in your welcome series. I like to call these emails the power 5.  Because they do an awful lot, in a short amount of time.

Welcome Series Email #1:  Double confirmation email/ welcome email (As soon as they sign up. 

This is called an “incentive email” in ConvertKit and is the email your subscribers receive when they sign up to receive your freebie.  To see this is action, head on over to KateDoster.com/freebie and you’ll see in in action.  

The whole point is to introduce yourself and congratulate them for making a great choice on why people should consume your freebie and to make them feel welcome and like they are part of your tribe. 

Now I know for some of you (including me), this can be awkward at first but you want to be sure to include a picture of you – make it a fun, candid, lifestyle shot…  Let people see your face and make a connection because you’re not the only person your people are going to get info from… If you’re stuck for what to write, the Email Marketing Fairy has some great templates to give you a jump-start. 

Welcome Series Email #2: A Quick Tip in a Pickle

For the next email, you want to provide something actionable – something they can do (based off of your freebie), some kind of formula they can use right away.  To make it more personal, tell backstory about how you figured it out.. This doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out sob story or a rags to riches situation. 

Let them know how you solved the problem and give them a short-cut.  This gives your new best friends a small win that they can get back to you on by replying to your email or tagging you in a IG story… plus it creates a connection and gives them more places to hang out with you online.  

Your goals with email #2 is to:

• Show that you’re fun to be around
• You want to be someone’s favorite
• Show that you have the answers to their questions

For example, Adrian’s quick tip in a pickle… she does Shopify .. She shows how she compressed the cover image on her store so it will load faster because people won’t hang around if the site won’t load.  It doesn’t have to be rocket science or solve world peace.  It just needs to help them out.. when they’re in a pickle. 

Welcome Series Email #3: “The Rant Email”

This is your “rant” email… the one where you get to call out a stereotype you hate or something that pisses you off about your industry..  You can call BS on fake urgency or FOMO or whatever it is that ticks you off…

I know there is something about your industry (people can’t eat carbs, have to send kids to time out).

THIS is the email that you want people to UNSUB… (I know it sounds backwards but I promise you there’s a strategy to this!) 

You’re going to get a HELL YES from the right people… and the rest will just disappear. 

Every now and then, you’ll even get hate mail back… but if you do, you can just hit “delete”…  And even block them so they can’t sub again.  Problem solved. 

Welcome Series Email #4: A Money Maker 

Finally… the email everyone is waiting for… This is your “Money Maker” email.  This is when your audience has the first chance to buy from you with your “Easy Yes Offer”.

What’s this Easy Yes Offer?  Your Easy Yes Offer is a small, (usually) digital product with HUGE value for your people.  For example, when people sign up for my list, depending on the freebie, they will be offered the Email Marketing Fairy or Trello-ing for Traffic at a ONE TIME ONLY discounted rate.

Let’s be honest, I’m not making a whole lot of MONEY from my easy yes offers.  I want people to get addicted to ME and the things I create… so that way, when I launch something new or offer another product they didn’t see in their emails, it’s easy for them to say “Kate, just take my wallet”.  

Some people say you can’t sell in a welcome series and they are wrong… 

If positioned correctly, your Easy Yes Offers are just that… An easy yes!

You’re not selling a full-blown signature course for thousands of dollars.  Your easy yes offer is typically less than $50 and is a no-brainer for the right person.

If you don’t have any products or services… this is a perfect opportunity to get some affiliate income.

Make sure that the affiliate or referral you’re promoting is something that is going to help your subscribers along their journey and is in alignment with what they signed up for.  You don’t want to promote your favorite make-up line if your audience signed up to get tips on how to plant a rose garden.  They have to match. 

Quick note about affiliates with Amazon products:  With amazon, you can’t email amazon affiliate links directly. An easy work around is create a blog post or PDF with your affiliate links and send your people to that instead.  If you don’t have any set up, just let them know where you like to shop… you can always go back and update your emails later with links that help your bank account grow. Keep it to under 3 affiliate links so you don’t overwhelm your people or hit the dreaded spam folder.

Email 5 – Harry Potter Email 

The more you know your people, the better offers you can create, the better your affiliate links will be, the better emails you’ll create which means… 

• More subscribers
• More clicks
• More opens

If you’re like me, when you see those emails that ask for a survey, you just don’t have time for that – even if it’s a friend amirite?

However, if all I have to do is click “Link A” or “Link B”… I can do that.  That’s easy .

And that is exactly how you set up your Harry Potter email.  It’s a one sentence survey that helps you get to know your people and also sorts them into “buckets” or “tags”.  

If your email service provider is ConvertKit or Mailerlite, they have an excellent resource section on how to set up the tech and if you get confused, they are amazing about stepping in and help you get it sorted (see what I did there?)

When I’m creating my one question survey Harry Potter emails, I usually ask either “beginner question” or “advanced question” so I can know where they are

For example, (beginner) do you already have your hosting set up for your blog or (advanced) are you ready to get piles of new traffic?

I don’t want to be sending beginner information and emails to a more advanced audience because they will just be bored and not read it.. and I don’t want to overwhelm any beginners in my audience with information that they can’t use in their business yet. 

Also, this helps me figure out what percentage of my audience is still in the beginning phases so I can know what types of products to create (did I mention that this is going to help your piggy bank smile?)

Later on you can even create entire automations for each segment of your audience!  The possibilities of customizing your email blasts to your subscribers is literally endless!

That sums up my Power Five emails EVERY business needs for their new subscribers.  If this is floating your boa and you’re ready for more, check out The Email Marketing Fairy…  And… When Love Your List opens up, you’ll get your money back in the form of a discount!