Do you really need welcome emails in your mailing list automation?

What’s all the fuss? Get them on the list and call it a day!

Here’s the question: you sign up for someone’s mailing list and you get an automated few emails “welcoming” you to the list. Are they really necessary? The person signed up for the list, isn’t that good enough?

Well, no, it’s not good enough.

Let’s ratchet this back to why we’re building email newsletter (or mailing) lists anyway.

To connect with your fans, followers, buyers, peeps.
To keep them up to date, thank them for joining you, help them out.
To remind them that they’re now part of an inner circle or special group.
To offer them secret offerings, sneak peaks, or other goodies.
This might sound a little far-fetched, but to remind them you’re a human.
Because it’s just a little more personal. See #5.

If you’re having a hard time, as an author, wondering why anyone would be remotely interested in what you’re up to, what’s coming down the pipeline, or even how you sketch out your characters, think of a star that you really like. Let’s say it’s a musician. You’d love to know about when they’re coming to your area, how they think up songs, and what it’s like being a musician. Remember, you’re probably not a musician (or at least not a famous one) and it’s interesting to hear about that world when you’re not a part of it.

Now think of someone seeing you like that. I know, it’s a stretch.

But we writers have a bit of that mystique for non-writers. Most people don’t know how the characters come to us, whether we plot or pants, and if we also really struggle sometimes to get to work.

Share that with them. Share with them that we’re real people doing this not only because we love it, but because it’s also our work and it pays the mortgage–or at least we’d like it to.

Keep this in mind as you organize your Welcome Email Sequence. See some of the resources below for how to put it together.

Don’t Take My Word For It

Crafting a Welcome Email Sequence for your Author Email List from The Author Biz. Stephanie uses a seven email sequence over 100 days to help develop a relationship with her readers and to expose them the different series she writes.
Email Newsletters for Authors: Get Started Guide by Jane Friedman. Regular email contact with your readers creates a long string of impressions so that your name stays at the forefront of their mind.
How to Keep Readers Engaged With Email Autoresponders from Author Marketing Institute. How many marketing tools does it take to grab a reader for keeps? For some authors, the answer is one: an autoresponder sequence.
7 Great Examples of ‘Welcome’ Emails to Inspire Your Own Strategy from Hubspot. When you send off a welcome email to a new blog or newsletter subscriber, or to a new customer, you’re making a first impression on behalf of your brand.
10 Essential Elements of an Effective Welcome Email from Campaign Monitor. Several recent studies have shown why welcome emails deserve our attention. Welcome emails have an average read rate of 34%. That’s 42% higher than the average read rate of 24% for all other types of emails according to a recent study by Return Path.