How to Write Engaging Welcome Emails (+ 12 Examples to Inspire Yours)

Dollar for dollar, email marketing is one of the most effective channels at your disposal for making sales and generating repeat customers. Email is the backbone of customer retention and a highly effective channel for connecting with your customers, even after they’ve left your website.

A welcome email is one of the more important types of emails you’ll send to new subscribers. Welcome emails are what you receive when you submit your email address to an online store—you’ve likely seen them in your inbox after creating an account or joining a newsletter.

Want in on the action? Learn how to write a welcome email, plus discover 12 stand-out examples that’ll inspire your welcome email series. 

Free Ebook: How to Grow Your Ecommerce Business with Email Marketing

Whether you’re just getting started or dreaming up your next big campaign, this email marketing guide will provide you with insights and ideas to help your business grow.

Get the free ebook now

Get our Email Marketing guide delivered right to your inbox.

Almost there: please enter your email below to gain instant access.

We’ll also send you updates on new educational guides and success stories from the Shopify newsletter. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe.

Thanks for subscribing. You’ll start receiving free tips and resources soon. In the meantime, start building your store with a free 14-day trial of Shopify.

Get started

What is a welcome email?

A welcome email, often part of a series of onboarding emails, is the very first email communication you have with a shopper or current customer. This communication could be a subscription confirmation or, in some cases, a post-purchase email. Unlike a standard business email format, this is sent to people who have chosen to engage with your brand.

The welcome email you send sets the foundation for the rest of your communications with a new customer. Depending on the action—such as making a purchase or joining your company newsletter—your welcome message is the one broadcast everyone will see, which means the impression it leaves will compound over time.

12 best welcome email examples

We’ve collected 12 examples of great welcome emails from companies both large and small. Make note of what you like and what you’re not a fan of to inform your own broadcasts. Here’s a quick list of the companies we’re looking at:

1. reMarkable
2. Cozy Earth
3. Chipotle
4. Persona
5. Ten Tree
6. Under Armour
7. Beardbrand
8. Good Meat
9. Steven Alan
10. Future Noodles
11. Alder
12. Snack Tbh

1. reMarkable

First up on this list is reMarkable. When it comes to first impressions, reMarkable does a great job at both making you feel welcome and showing you potential next steps.

In its welcome email, remarkable first gives you a background on the company, then smoothly moves into information about its newest product (reMarkable 2). The email then has a clear cutoff to help the reader discover more about the company and products through different links.

2. Cozy Earth

Next we have Cozy Earth, a bedding and loungewear company that prides itself on having ethically produced the softest temperature-regulating fabric on the market.

In its welcome email, you get a discount code for your first purchase right off the bat, with a Shop button call to action (CTA). Underneath the coupon, Cozy Earth shows different bestselling shopping categories for you to get what you might want quicker. 

As an added note, the subject line for this email is “You won’t want to get out of bed”—and who does?

3. Chipotle

Great welcome emails don’t stop at clothing or tech brands. Chipotle offers a great lesson many brands in different sectors can learn from. 

The above email welcomes you to the Chipotle Rewards program. Right away it shows you what it has to offer and the perks you get for being a loyal customer. You also have the same CTA buttons running through the email (order food). Lastly, it makes the email personal by addressing customers by name and telling them about birthday rewards.

4. Persona

Moving into the health and wellness space, Persona is a personalized vitamin subscription service that boasts medical advisory board expertise and free nutritionist support.

In its welcome email you also get a big discount on your first month, leading you to a very clear CTA (activate 50% off). After the header, the email content takes you through some of the core values of Persona and how it lives up to them. 

5. Ten Tree

Next up on our list is the sustainability-focused clothing brand Ten Tree, which has the big goal of planting one billion trees by 2030.

In its welcome email, you’re first given a warm welcome and an introduction to this goal. It offers a discount code within the text and a Shop Now CTA button. It shows that it cares about conveying its purpose before asking you to shop. And like Chipotle, it also shows off a rewards scheme. 

6. Under Armour

If you’re into sports, chances are you’ve heard of Under Armour, the sports clothing and equipment brand. The welcome email design you’ll see below very much reflects the potential customers the brand wants to attract.

It grabs you first in the subject line, which is “It’s Official: You’re on the Team.” Then, the first thing you see are well-known athletes and the words “Welcome to the Team.” Both of these help customers feel like they are a part of a community that understands them. Beyond that, the rest of the email includes a discount code to the store, a link to download one of its apps, and a link to watch workout videos to get inspired.

7. Beardbrand

Halfway through this list, we come to Beardbrand, a male grooming company that sells products such as beard oils combs and fragrances (and is also killing it with social media content marketing). 

In this welcome email, Beardbrand offers a special product package to make its subscribers feel like they’re joining an exclusive group. While the email includes small links to its homepage, blog, and products page, the email has a clear goal of getting the customer to buy the starter package.

8. GOOD Meat

Next up is the futuristic cultivated meat company GOOD Meat. With a matching minimalist aesthetic, GOOD Meat aims to produce meat without deforestation and slaughter.

For this welcome email, you’re greeted by chicken on a fork with the bold words “You’re making history.” This email is very much about telling the story of GOOD Meat and making sure you stay in the loop for follow-up future emails.

9. Steven Alan

Coming onto the list with another short, to-the-point email is Steven Alan, a New York–based designer and curator of independent clothing labels for men and women around the world.

This welcome email is super simple and doesn’t ask much of the viewer. With a single sentence, Steven Alan asks you to shop either Men, Women, or Life, or go to the About page. The best part about this email (and future email sequences) is that the brand is named after a person, so it always seems like you’re getting a personal email.

10. Future Noodles

From super simple to super colorful, next on the list is Future Noodles. This noodle company is on a mission to make healthy plant-based, planet-healthy noodles.

In this welcome email, you’re greeted with a bowl of noodles, captioned by “Making our planet healthier, one noodle at a time.” Similar to GOOD Meat, Future Noodles uses a story-driven approach to welcome you into the club, while recommending its bestsellers.

11. Alder

Another clothing ecommerce business with a great welcome email is Alder, a feminine outdoor recreation clothing company.

Similar to others on this list, Alder opens up with a special offer discount code for customers to use on their first order. However, it also emphasizes Alder’s goal to sustainability, transparency, and diversity in the outdoor apparel industry. 

12. Snack TBH 

The final welcome email example we have for you is from Snack TBH. This company has only one product, and it stands front and center in its email campaigns.

The above simple email tells you that your toast deserves better. The great part about only having a single product is that you can have an incredibly clear CTA—which it does with the Visit Our Store button beneath the welcome text.

Free Reading List: Copywriting Tactics for Entrepreneurs

Is your website content costing you sales? Learn how to improve your website copy with our free, curated list of high-impact articles.

Get the free reading list

Get our Copywriting Tactics reading list delivered right to your inbox.

Almost there: please enter your email below to gain instant access.

We’ll also send you updates on new educational guides and success stories from the Shopify newsletter. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe.

Thanks for subscribing. You’ll start receiving free tips and resources soon. In the meantime, start building your store with a free 14-day trial of Shopify.

Get started

How to write a welcome email

According to data from Omnisend, welcome emails have an average conversion rate of 52.9%, compared to 14.26% for post-purchase emails. In addition, in the first half of 2021, email automation helped generate almost two times better average open rate results compared to promotional campaigns.

When writing a welcome email, or the first email in a welcome series, there are several key objectives to keep in mind. Let’s take a look at them below.

Showcase your value proposition

You don’t want to inundate customers with promotional messages during your only window of opportunity to create a strong first impression. Remember, you have to give before you can expect to receive. 

Ravi Davda, CEO of Rockstar Marketing, explains, “it’s the first impression a customer gets of your business, and of course, they’ve just given their email address to you, so they want to see what you have to say. It’s a great chance for your business to wow the user. And it can help to build loyalty.”

Discounts, tips, and tricks, and other customer-focused broadcasts can provide value while still encouraging users to purchase down the line.

Personalize your message

Today’s email marketing services enable you to send more targeted messages than ever before. And it’s good practice: according to McKinsey & Company, 71% of consumers expect personalization, and on top of that, 76% of them get frustrated when they don’t find it.

When it comes to personalization, Mandi Moshay, an email marketer with over a decade of experience, says, “the best marketing—regardless of channel—shouldn’t feel like marketing. Welcome messages should be personal and oriented toward the customer: make the connection between the customer’s needs and your brand, and make it easy to find the right perfect product through effective merchandising. The sales will follow.”

Send your welcome email immediately

Let’s say you incentivize joining your newsletter with a promo code for 10% off the customer’s next purchase. If someone is ready to purchase now and they don’t receive that promo code, you risk losing out on the sale for good. 

Not only that, but with an average of 5.63% click-through rate on welcome emails, you need all the help you can get to incentivize your potential customers.

The best chance you have at making those conversions is to send the email when your customer is expecting it (i.e., right after they give you their email).

Remind subscribers to remove you from filters

Sometimes, email clients will default to sending marketing broadcasts to junk email folders. Encourage your subscribers to whitelist your address so they don’t potentially miss out.

One of the examples we looked at earlier, Under Armour, does this, but only in the fine print at the bottom of the email. 

This particular strategy seems to be common (check out your inbox to see how many promotional emails have this type of text in the fine print). If you’re really worried about ending up in the junk folder, you can make this messaging bigger.

Set expectations

Let subscribers change preferences or unsubscribe easily, inform them what and how frequently you’ll be emailing new content, and remind them of how they ended up on your list in the first place.

This step is essential for building trust with your new subscribers and is easily a must for email best practices. If you have European or UK customers, you’re required to make your email marketing transparent by law, all the way from your signup form to your bottom-funnel email sequence.

Have a clear call to action

What do you want users to do with your welcome email? Do you want them to use the promo code for a purchase, or do you want them to head over to your About page to learn more? 

Whatever it is, make it easy to understand what the next step is, and avoid creating confusion with too many CTAs.

One of the best examples from our list for this was Persona, with its Activate 50% Off button in a bright pinkish color.

Making sure that your CTA is clear and not surrounded by either more text or complex visuals can help boost your chances of getting a click.

Use high-quality imagery

Whether it’s product photography or custom illustration, the visuals in your welcome email should be striking. Remember to use imagery that makes sense to your target audience—GIFs and emojis will work well for some, but not for others.

Images are also a great way to help build social proof, if done correctly. Remember the Under Armour opening image? 

With the overlaying “Welcome to the Team” text among images of famous athletes, it’s telling the customer, “Hey, these top-tier athletes trust us. You should too.” 

You can put something together that’s compelling without significant investment in email design, at least initially. Take a look first at some DIY photo-editing tools. Use photo-editing software like GIMP or Canva to write a big “Welcome” over one of your hero images and use that as a banner in your email. Or, use the collage tool of PicMonkey to put all of your products together in a collage.

Make it mobile friendly

While creating a beautiful-looking welcome email is important, it also needs to be functional across devices. Not only does it make your customers’ lives easier (and, let’s not forget, more accessible), but it also helps to improve your email engagement rates.

According to research from Mailchimp, responsive designs get higher click-through rates on all devices, but even more so (15% increase) on mobile devices.

Before you go and broadcast a new email (or create a marketing automation sequence workflow), test to see how it looks on multiple devices.

Write an engaging subject line 

The standard “Your subscription has been confirmed” or “Welcome to our email list!” doesn’t always cut it. You’ll need to be a little more creative if you want to stand out in a crowded inbox.

Not sure which subject line will work best? Try some A/B testing (with proper segmentation) to see which generates the highest open and click-through rates.

Remember, your welcome email subject line (and preview text) is the first bit of communication your potential customer will see. Make them feel something—curiosity, urgency, or belonging were common themes in our examples.

Welcome email templates

In this section, we’re going to go over a few templates to help get your creative juices flowing and kickstart your welcome email marketing strategy.

Subject line templates

Depending on the type of welcome email you’re sending, you’ll want to use a different approach to your subject line. After all, if you’re focusing on getting an urgent sale, “Welcome! Check us out on Twitter!” isn’t going to help you. 

No matter what approach you’re taking, you’ll find an idea here:

1. 10% OFF just for you!
2. Your 10% discount is waiting for you
3. Welcome to [brand], [name]! Shop now [emoji]
4. Hi [name]. Nice to have you with us
5. Welcome [name]. Here’s your [%] off on us!
6. Did you say … Discount? [emoji]
7. A hint of what’s to come [emoji]
8. Treat yourself [emoji]
9. Hey [name]. Here’s your [lead magnet]!
10. Your [brand/product/purpose] journey starts here

If none of these templates appeal to you, you can always use a tool like Omnisend’s email subject line tester to help you figure out your perfect subject line.

Email body templates

When it comes to the main email body copy, you should treat it as a landing page: simple, with one clear goal in mind. With that, we’re going to look at three basic templates that reflect the main themes seen in the above examples: telling the brand story, building curiosity, or urgent sales. 

Each of these templates are basic, in that you can customize them to your brand’s needs and offerings. Just remember that these are only small parts of the overall welcome email experience and refer back to the earlier tips to maximize their effectiveness.

Four apps to build a welcome email series

The Shopify App Store has all the apps you need to improve your store, and email marketing is one of the functionalities that’s especially well-covered.

Here are four apps that will help you create automated emails to welcome someone when they sign up for your email list. Click through to the apps to understand how they work and how they can be integrated into your store.

1. Shopify Email
2. Klaviyo
3. Constant Contact
4. GetResponse

The apps are easy to integrate into your store, and there’s a lot that you can do to send out great emails.

Lay the welcome mat for customers

Since your welcome email is often the first time your brand enters a customer’s fiercely guarded inbox, you need to earn your place there and make the message count.

While a welcome email carries a lot of weight, it’s ultimately just the first interaction in a hopefully long and fruitful relationship. Set the tone, say something compelling, and give customers and subscribers a reason to come back. Then, get to work on consistently sending great newsletters, so subscribers know giving you a chance to reach their inbox was a good decision after all.

Ready to create your business? Start your free 14-day trial of Shopify—no credit card required.