25 Welcome email lessons from top online brands

We’re going to discuss 25 lessons learnt from welcome emails of top online brands. You’ll get lessons on how you should create your welcome emails and what things you should avoid while creating them along with EXAMPLES.

Disclaimer: This content was originally published here.

A welcome email is the first communication that takes place between your brand and your customers.

That first impression needs to be ever-lasting to make sure your customers always open your mail.

When you send a welcome email to your customers, they believe there’s something essential in the email for them.

FACT: Welcome emails have 4 times more open rates and 5 times more click rates compared to the other emails.

4 Benefits of Welcome Emails for Your eCommerce Brand

Here are the reasons why you must send welcome emails to your new leads apart from getting open and click rates-

1. Bring instant conversions
2. Improve user engagement
3. Set expectations
4. Stepping stone for brand loyalty

So, let’s take some inspiration on how to create a powerful welcome email from the world’s top online brands-

1. Amazon Prime

Industry — Marketplace

We all know Amazon Prime Video is the world’s largest entertainment eCommerce marketplace. So, it becomes vital for all of us to get some lessons from Amazon on welcome emails. Here is the welcome email example that I had received while signing up for Amazon Prime-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Amazon-

1. Get an interactive welcome email design- In this age where grabbing user attention is very difficult, Amazon does something which goes in their favour like what a user can do with an amazon.com but at the same time, it can be well designed and exiting for the reader.
2. Use some graphics at least- Only text-based emails with links can bore your customers and might not open your emails ever in the future. Visuals have more recall value, instead of using text, there can be icons for various amazon services like prime movies, amazon music, kindle, etc.

2. Myntra

Industry — a Fashion marketplace

Myntra is the leading fashion eCommerce website in India. And, let’s take its welcome email as an example to learn some lessons-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Myntra-

1. Shorter welcome emails- Yes, your welcome email must not be too long that it would lose the interaction between your customers. But, how long a welcome email be? We will discuss this in the latter part of this guide.
2. Proper text aligned with graphics- Here, if you see the welcome email by Myntra, it has the white-colored text overlapping the white clothes worn by the model. This overlapping should not happen.

3. Adidas

Industry — Niche fashion brand

Adidas is one of the top footwear eCommerce brands and here is the welcome email example from the same.

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Adidas-

1. Created a mini-website experience- If you look at the welcome email design by Adidas, it seems as if it’s the homepage of the website showcasing categories, banner images, footer, and more. This design is quite impressive.
2. Add User-generated content (UGC)- Content is everything from text, graphics, to the videos. Adidas is doing amazing by adding UGC in their welcome email because that creates a lasting impression.
3. Providing discounts- Adidas knows how important is the welcome email and hence, it provides discounts so that your new lead gets converted easily and instantly.
4. Personalization should be included- Being in the top list, personalization should not be avoided.

4. MakeMyTrip

Industry — Travel marketplace

MakeMyTrip is India’s leading travel eCommerce company and to my surprise, I didn’t get a welcome email from the company, when I registered.

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by MakeMyTrip-

1. Never ignore welcome email- Though you’re one of the biggest travel eCommerce stores, you should never ignore a welcome email. The moment you get a sign-up, it becomes mandatory for you to help them go through what you offer and how you can take that opportunity to make conversions.

5. Zomato

Industry — Food delivery subscription eCommerce

Zomato is a food delivery eCommerce store that also includes a subscription-based model. Here, the subscribed members can enjoy the premium benefits in food delivery and dining experience.

So, here is the welcome email example by Zomato Gold-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Zomato-

1. Personalized subject line- Emails with personalized subject lines have 26% more chances to get open rates compared to non-personalized subject lines. Zomato knows this well and hence, no doubt that they’re one of the top food delivery eCommerce brands.
2. Size doesn’t matter when you know how to keep your audience engaged- The welcome email by Zomato is long, but the team has everything to inspire the readers to finish reading. This example has graphics, shorter sentences, effective CTAs, and more to ensure more reading scores.
3. No limit to CTAs- Did you notice this welcome email example by Zomato has three CTAs? Yes, one is referring to friends, another is choosing a restaurant to experience Zomato Gold and the last one is to download an app either on Android or iOS. So, if a user chooses any of these actions, Zomato wins. That was a masterstroke!

6. Education.com

Industry — EduTech

Education.com is an education eCommerce store where parents can download subject-wise and topic-wise worksheets for their kids from preschool to Grade 5th to practice.

Here is the welcome email example by Education.com-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Education.com-

1. Personalized email- When I signed up, I was browsing worksheets of Grade 2 and it was amazing to see the welcome email with a personalized message including everything for Grade 2. Instapage says personalized emails have an average of 50% higher open rates and 58% of higher revenues. That’s the reason why Education.com is leading the online education industry.
2. Mini website-like email- Like Adidas, Education.com has also created a mini website-like experience in their email with sections for different offerings. Good work here as well.
3. Social sharing buttons- Even marketplaces and other big eCommerce brands don’t have social sharing buttons on their welcome emails. Social sharing buttons in your welcome emails can drive more engagement compared to other emails. That was a powerful welcome email lesson by this leading online education brand.
4. Creative email content- Everything from the headline, sub-heads to content within the same consists of creative content in plain language and easily understandable for their target audience. Not all online brands are able to use creativity in such a simpler manner.

7. Coursera

Industry — Professional learning

Coursera is one of the top online professional learning and training platform where trainers and coaches across the world provide online training and coaching the people across the globe.

Here is the welcome email example by Coursera-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Coursera-

1. Using testimonial brings trust- Coursera knows that word of mouth and online reviews work better in making conversions and hence, using it in the welcome email increases the chances of conversions instantly.
2. Never use the same text across the entire email- If you see the welcome email by Coursera, it has the subject line, banner text, and sub-heading around this line, “Get Started on Coursera.” The email writing team could have done a better job here. Never take welcome email campaigns for granted as it has the highest potential of conversions.
3. A link to ‘help center’ for learners- Now this is something very important for learners to get their queries answered. Inspire from Coursera and have some FAQs or other support links in your email to help your audience with the right assistance.

8. Ola

Industry — Cab booking on-demand services

Who doesn’t know Ola? Well, irrespective of your answer, Ola is India’s largest cab booking and ridesharing network.

Here is the welcome email example by Ola-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Ola-

1. Personalized subject line & content- After my ride with Ola Auto for the first time, they have emailed me. The team at Ola has planned welcome emails for almost all types of rides. The first-time Auto riders, first-time cab riders, and more. This personalization is necessary to impress your customers.
2. Explaining benefits in short- Shorter welcome emails can also be interesting with the right design and content. Ola’s welcome email has showcased benefits of riding with Ola and that too in short. Good work here, Ola.

9. Airbnb

Industry — Accommodation and travel

Airbnb is the largest online marketplace where people can rent out their properties and can book their accommodations during their travel.

Here is the welcome email example by Airbnb-

The Welcome Email Lessons from the Welcome Email Example by Airbnb-

1. Unexpected subject line- Rather than talking about welcome, get started, Airbnb wants their readers to understand first, how they can explore and utilize Airbnb the best way possible. But sometimes, readers don’t get an idea of what the email will all about. Hence, a better subject line may work better. What do you think?
2. Genuine email address- Look at the email address- that’s really amazing. At least, they are not using some manipulated or random email addresses to send their welcome emails. I loved this part for sure.
3. Lesser text, louder graphics- Airbnb’s welcome email has images talking more than the text and I guess that is how they’re trying to catch the user’s attention. Graphics are definitely a great way to impress and express.
4. Ending line in the email- That’s what not all brands do it. It’s amazing from Airbnb.

Apply the lessons learned from above welcome emails

Now you have seen how top online brands create their welcome emails. Take good lessons and implement them in creating your welcome email and make your email better after learning from their mistakes.

Do you have an amazing welcome email to share? Send us at hello@ecomkeeda.com and we will analyze the same and publish it here for our loyal readers like you.