The Whitelist

Once again, the numbers show that marketers are missing out on a critical touch point with their email subscribers: Return Path recently found that 60% of the companies studied fail to send out a welcome email message to a new subscriber.

We all know from our own experiences as real-life people who sign up for emails and newsletters how infrequent the welcome message is: We don’t get them most of the time! So we really notice when we do. Take note: So do your customers.

Other studies have shown that welcome emails have higher open rates than regular emails. That alone should be reason enough to make them part of your email marketing program.

But then there’s the missed marketing opportunity too. Why are email marketers so negligent of this chance to further the relationship? The person who signs up for your email has already raised their hand and said “yes, I want to hear from you.” Who better to extend a warm welcome to?

Then there’s the branding component: If you are doing welcome emails, hurray for you! You’re ahead of the crowd. But give your welcome email a critical eye: Is it boring, bland, generic? Or does it use a tone, voice and design that emphasizes your brand?

If you’re ready to up your email marketing ROI by making the most of the welcome email, also see the Email Experience Council’s Retail Welcome Email Benchmark study. It’s free only to EEC platinum members, but you can get highlights from it at http://blog.emailexperience.org/2007/09/retail_welcome_email_benchmark.html…or join the EEC. And see what kind of welcome email you get.