Your welcome email is a valuable opportunity to create a 1-2-1 relationship between your business and your first time customer.
Unfortunately, for many, it’s an opportunity too often overlooked.
When the formalities of the order receipt or enquiry success are out of the way you’re provided the chance to deliver a ‘proper’ welcome.
Remember.
It’s not about you.
It’s not about presenting another reason people need to buy another product off your shelf.
It’s not about generalising the ‘news, views and updates’ people will receive from you.
It’s certainly not about telling people how great you are.
It’s about how you help people.
Specifically, it’s about how you will help the person reading that email they just received from you.
HOW NOT TO SEND AN WELCOME EMAIL
Step forward Evans Cycles.
In the offline world I made a purchase in my local Evans store.
In the online world, minutes later my receipt was in my email inbox.
A highly effective route to brand loyalty.
The next day I received my ‘Thanks For Signing Up’ welcome email. Take a look at a snippet from the email welcome, to me, a new customer:
Five points for you to consider:
- The subject field, ‘Thanks For Signing Up’. I didn’t. I shopped. Let’s keep the transaction in context.
- Customer’s don’t ‘share’ their email. This is a trust-based relationship. I trust a company with my email. I don’t share it.
- I don’t want to know everything about your business. It’s irrelevant to me at this stage. Instead, I want to know about how you’ll help me. That’s why I’m trusting you with my email address.
- I won’t be the first to know. I’m on a mailing list. With others.
- ‘A little treat’. That’s what I use to entice my children to gobble their veg. It’s not how you speak to your customers.
Evans Cycles are a large, reputable retailer. A retailer where long-term customer commitment is key to success. A store where customers will return if they receive the expected level of product and service. A store where customer communication is vital.
YOU NEED TO BE CLEAR IN YOUR CALL TO ACTION
The second part of the introductory email from Evans Cycles offered me 4 choices:
Let’s look at each of the 4 promotions in isolation.
1.) Giving people a reason to read: ‘Visit Our Blog’
It’s a hugely popular call to action. It’s also one that is rarely effective. When did you last think ‘I need to visit a blog?’. You haven’t. Right? So why ask your email reader the same question?
Consider the reason why people should visit your blog.
Why not ask people if they’d like to ‘access the very latest gear reviews, discover new trails and learn how to get the most out of your new bike with servicing tips and bike care tricks from our team of riders?’ Give people a reason to visit your blog.
2.) Giving people a reason to buy: ‘Get £5 off’
Off what exactly? Serious bikers are spending thousands on their equipment. Will £5 offer any form of purchase incentive? Instead, draw people to the area of the site where £5 off will incentivise purchase. Maybe offer ‘£5 off our range of popular biking accessories inc. lights, luggage and security equipment’?
3.) Giving people a reason to learn: ‘Read Our Buying Guide’
Behind this bland call to action is a haven of useful content for the biker. 20+ guides with recommending products and good, useful insight.
When you’ve gone to the trouble of creating great content then let people know what’s in store for them. ‘Our team of experts have compiled 20+ guides to help you choose the right products, for beginners through to experienced riders’
Again, our job is to motivate people to take action. That’s the intention of the email. That’s why we include links. To motivate people to click them.
4.) Giving people a reason to join your community: ‘join us for a ride’
Each month Evans’ organise a dozen or so rides of varying lengths where cyclists are invited to join in across the UK. It’s a brilliant way to bring people together. You’ll only know this is you clicked the uninspiring ‘join us for a ride’ button. ‘Meet local cyclists and take part in a variety of road and trail events organised by your Evans Cycles team’.
This is about the hook and the trigger. The hook creates interest. The trigger motivates action. It makes it far easier for you to link the interest with the action point. In this case ‘View your local event calendar’ will work wonders over the current ‘Go’ call to action.
Keep these two simple questions in mind for your email content;
‘what’s the hook?’ – ask what is it that you’re presenting that is of interest to your reader (and not you).
‘what’s the trigger?’ – link that hook to the action. What will people get when they click? It’s more than a simple ‘go’ or ‘find out more’ button. Direct people to where they’re heading. People are far more confident to click when they know what they will receive from you next.
YOUR INTRODUCTORY EMAIL IS A VITAL ELEMENT OF YOUR CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION. GET IT RIGHT!
For your company, for any company large or small, you have to use these small opportunities to win trust. And to do it correctly.
- Talking to your customers in their language.
- Delivering a message that you would be happy to read out to your customer. Face-to-face. Natural communication.
If you don’t do this you’re bypassing a simple, cost-free, way to breed brand trust. Scalable, yet personable.
Seriously, you have to take a moment and sanity check the messages you’re putting out to your audience.
Email should work in your favour. Email should be high on your agenda of ways to build loyalty and establish commitment to your audience.
And yet, for so many, it’s pushed to the back. Ridiculous to consider you’d spend more time and effort pumping out messages through social media where you’re lucky to receive 10% impression levels. Email works for you on the back of a customer action. An order. An enquiry. A registration. People have shared their personal information with you. You owe them more than an opportunity to ‘know everything’ about you.
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