On boarding with welcome email? 4 testing tips & examples before you jump start!

Effective customer or subscriber on boarding is one of the most vital needs your marketing communication strategy should provide solutions to. Welcome emails or welcome series as some of us might like to refer is the crucial touch point to jump start your on boarding program using email channel. With so many brands sending out tons of welcome emails (and some having sophisticated on boarding programs), it is quintessential to send out an email that is optimized for the on the go recipients and at the same time properly tested.

How do you go about a/b testing welcome emails so to increase your conversion rate? Well, We walk you through different ways you could a/b test your welcome emails.

1. How many, when and why?

Like any other email communication, timing and frequency of welcome email matters much. You ought to test whether you want to send out one welcome email on the first day and series of other informative emails at several time intervals or send out all your nurturing emails in one go. And, how do you know which is a better approach? Well, it depends on (a.) the need of subscriber (b.) the solution you are offering (c.) competitiveness in the said area (d.) preferences of the subscriber (of course) (e.) your previous test results (f.) overall objective & strategy of your on boarding program. Welcome emails targeted towards instant gratification always drive better results.

Check the frequency and timing that best engages user in a small test group and replicate the best bet out to others on your welcome list.

2. Have and Have-not’s of your welcome messaging

What works for a retailer’s welcome series might not actually work for technology services company. Hence, that said; it is ideal to test your welcome email’s messaging and copy (aka. promotional, informational, consultative etc.) If you are sending information emails, check if unexpected value addition helps. If you are sending promotional welcome, see which type of offers attract? Asking for feedback might as well be a good welcoming strategy.

Also, identify the form of content. It could be large product images, a few lines of text based copy with a CTA, humor or emotions based content with gif or video, product gallery with slider in email or it could be anything that wide. List your set of have and have-not’s, experiment a few variations to start with and conclude on things that fits well.

3. Customized on boarding

No matter if you are sending birthday invites or welcome emails, personalization works! Sending real-time welcome emails with dynamic content can attract more eyeballs. Expressing urgency using CTA might fit the bill well too. You can also customize the welcome experience by sending every single new users, subscriber or customer with his unique on boarding kit. You can even customize the look and feel along with the message depending on the user. Test which aspects of personalization normally works for your brand.

4. Would rewarding work?

Behind every successful welcome email, there is a reward. Really? Well, may be! However, incentivizing new user or customer is not too much of work anyways, so why not test a few controlled groups with incentives and giveaways. You could test if incentivizing them for their association with you helps you up sell or increase brand advocacy? If it does, keep playing the game!

How do you customize your onboarding series? If you have some excellent email template examples, please share them in the comments below.

Here are some awesome welcome email examples we could find for you: