Welcome Emails: How to Convert Subscribers
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE
Welcome emails are one of the most misunderstood and underutilized pieces of copy in an entire funnel.
In this lesson of Funnels 101, we’re talking about what happens after someone opts in or makes a purchase, specifically the welcome emails that set the tone for your entire relationship. These emails don’t just deliver a freebie. They establish authority, signal trust, and determine whether your future emails land in an inbox or disappear into spam.
If your funnel feels like it’s underperforming, there’s a strong chance the issue isn’t traffic. It’s what happens immediately after someone raises their hand.
Why Welcome Emails Matter More Than You Think
The first email you send after someone opts in has an unusually high open rate, often between 90 and 95 percent. That number drops with each subsequent email and eventually stabilizes somewhere around 40 to 60 percent.
That means the earliest emails in your welcome sequence are the most valuable real estate you will ever have.
Ignoring that attention or saving your offers for later doesn’t make you polite. It makes you forgettable.
What the First Welcome Email Needs to Do
The first email has two non-negotiable jobs.
First, it must deliver exactly what someone downloaded or bought. The download link, checklist, video, or resource needs to be obvious and clickable. This is how get engagement on your emails, making you trustworthy to the Email Service Provider (ESP) algorithm.
Second, it needs to tell the reader what to do next. This will help your engagement and help you build trust.
This is where sales psychology comes in. Open-loop marketing works because people want completion. If the free resource solves step one of a larger problem, your job is to name step two and position yourself as the most natural way to get there.
That next step can be paid, free, or conversational.
Examples of engaging steps to take in an email might be:
Booking a call
Grabbing a low-ticket offer
Replying to the email
Joining your community
Following you on social media
What matters is engagement. Opens alone are not enough to keep people excited about working with you. Clicks and replies protect your sender reputation and train inboxes (and the people inside of them!) to trust you.
The Second Email: Reinforce the Why
People join email lists at specific moments, and then move on once their problem is solved. The second email exists to remind them why they opted in and what they were trying to solve – and to take them to the next solution.
This email should re-link the original resource, reflect their problem back to them in their language, and offer additional value. That value might be a walkthrough, a video, a related blog post, or a time-sensitive offer that builds on what they already downloaded.
This is also a smart place to introduce a tripwire or re-offer an order bump if it genuinely supports their next step.
The Third Email: The Introduction Email
Introducing yourself is important, but it shouldn’t feel like a self-centered monologue.
The strongest introduction emails position your experience only as it relates to the reader’s outcome. This is not the place for a full life story. It’s the place to say, “I’ve been where you are, I went further, and now I help people do the same.”
One of the most effective ways to handle this email is to turn it into a conversation. A short survey or self-segmentation question invites engagement, gives you valuable data, and improves deliverability. It also allows you to speak more directly to people in future emails.
The Fourth Email: Permission to Sell
By the fourth email, you’ve earned the right to be straightforward, and to position your other solutions.
This is where you clearly lay out how someone can work with you, which option is best for which situation, and how to take the next step. This can be segmented based on survey responses or written more broadly, but the goal is the same: clarity.
Selling here is helpful. People opt in because they want a solution. If they haven’t purchased a different solution from you by now, offer them alternative paths to work with you - and to solve their bigger problems.
Keep It Human, Keep It Short
Welcome emails are not essays. They are conversations.
They should be concise, skimmable, and easy to respond to. Every email should include at least one clear action, whether that’s clicking a link, replying, or moving deeper into your world.
At minimum, a strong welcome sequence includes four emails sent over the first several days. Anything less leaves trust and conversions on the table.
If you want subscribers to see you as the obvious solution, you have to show up early, clearly, and confidently.
Other Funnels 101 Episodes:
Connect with me here:
Watch episodes with subtitles on my YouTube
See my services → sales pages, emails, websites, and more.
Get on my calendar → if you’d like me to write your sales copy for you!
Opt-In Copy Bot → Write high-converting opt-in pages in minutes
Watch episodes with subtitles on my YouTube
Nomad Copy Agency writes copy that CONVERTS for service-based businesses. Inquire about done-for-you services here.
