15 Killer Welcome Email Examples to Win New Subscribers

When a customer or potential customer walks into your store, common courtesy suggests that you greet them and kick off a friendly conversation with them. The same is true for online businesses—except what you need to get the conversation started is not greetings but welcome emails.

[...] It’s not rocket science; it’s just good manners. —Matthew Smith, Founder of Really Good Emails

Welcome emails are the first email communication you send to your new contacts, and they play a crucial role in your future relationship with the new contact. In this article, we’ve some outstanding welcome email examples for you to learn and carve your own from.So, let’s get started with the clarifications.

What is a welcome email?

As the name implies, a welcome email is a friendly and courteous email designed to welcome a new subscriber. It's the first email you send to your new leads or prospects after they've joined your email list. It offers a unique opportunity to establish a genuine relationship with them.

While marketers like to think of welcome emails as a way to make a good first impression, they're not. People subscribe to your newsletter or email list due to the positive sentiment they’ve built for your brand over time. It’s generally based on what you’ve shown them so far or a lead magnet they’ve found worthy of trading their email address for—meaning the first impression has already been made.

Why are welcome emails important?

Sending your subscribers a welcome email is the first step in establishing a long-lasting relationship with them.

Welcome emails offer you an excellent opportunity to:

• Forge the first connection with your new contacts
• Build a relationship with them
• Understand more about their needs and expectations
• Encourage future emails to be opened
• Provide additional information about your brand or company
• Guide subscribers towards a first action
• Inform them about the type of content they will receive, your products and services

Here is what a great welcome email does. As you can see, in the image below, the recipient is happy with the welcome email they received and couldn’t resist sending a thank you note to the sender.

Additionally, a welcome email comes at the exact moment when your subscribers are most receptive to your communication. An Invesp study shows that 74% of people expect to receive a welcome email immediately after signing up for your list. Not surprisingly, the same study found that the average open rate of a welcome email is 50%—much higher than most promotional emails.

So if you want to make the most of your email list, you need to make sure the content of your welcome email is up to par because this is how you start engaging with your subscribers.

We've collected 15 of the best welcome email examples to help you engage your users from your first email.

15 best welcome email examples

Keep in mind that while some emails will be particularly aligned with your business and work for you, some will not. So make sure you pick those that fit your business model.

1. AppSumo Blog

Email subject line: Oh, this is gonna be good.‍

Angle: Setting up the expectation.

‍Unique quality: Simple and fun

Our AppSumo blog has one goal: empowering Sumo-lings with unique content to facilitate their marketing efforts and help them be more successful.

This fun and straightforward welcome email does a great job of setting the expectation for new subscribers by telling them what they will be getting from us and how that’ll impact their business.

Also, this email uses a conversational tone that makes it enjoyable for the recipient. This is also a great way to set the tone for the type of content the recipient will be receiving later.

‍Key takeaway: Welcome emails are always most effective when they’re short and concise. You don't have to talk about everything you do in your business for it to be good.

2. Monday.com

Email subject line: You’re in :) quick video inside

‍Angle: Exposing their brand mission

‍Unique quality: Quick video with a conversational tone

There are a gazillion project management tools, but very few are effective at doing what they claim to do. This welcome email from monday.com states what the software does and tells the story of why it was created. This is a good way to build rapport with the readers and, at the same time, weed out those who think monday.com is not for them.

The other reason this email works is because it comes from the company's CEO and contains a personalized thank you note that makes it feel like an intimate conversation.

Also, the video uses a conversational tone, and the interaction with the voiceover gives the impression of a one-on-one conversation between the CEO and the new subscriber.‍

Key takeaways: The more conversational you can make your welcome email, the more effective it will be. Also, if you have a lot to say, it's better to opt for a video email rather than a text email.

3. Lyft

Email subject line: Welcome to Lyft

‍Angle: Getting subscribers started

‍Unique quality: Simplicity and straightforwardness

If your goal is to create a simple welcome email, Lyft is your company to learn from. The Lyft app is quite popular, and they have a lot of perks and benefits to mention in a welcome email (as most companies do). But instead of overwhelming the reader, they only focus on a one-liner welcome message, "Nice to have you on board!"

They also added an image of two users enjoying a ride together, describing the actual benefits of the app. Furthermore, they show new subscribers a preview of the app's interface to immerse them in the experience.

Finally, they end the email with a clear call to action, redirecting recipients to the app.

‍Key takeaway: Sometimes, simplicity can make the difference between a great welcome email and an unappealing one. Remember that your core purpose is to welcome the new subscriber. So, it’s perfectly fine if you only do that.

4. Asana

Email subject line: Welcome to your Asana trial‍

Angle: Getting new users started

‍Unique quality: Simply designed, making it scannable.

Just like monday.com, Asana is a leading workflow management tool. As a welcome email, Asana offers new users a 30-day free trial.

Without a good guide, a project management system can appear messy. Asana understands this and leverages its first touch email to provide three unique tips to get users up and running.

And while there are many links the recipient might click on, there is only one main call to action placed twice (in the middle and the bottom) with different wording, both taking users to the app.

‍Key takeaway: Figure out burning issues your new subscriber might face as they commit to doing business with you and solve those after welcoming them. This shows you care about them and indicates excellent customer service right off the bat.

5. Airbnb

Email subject line: How does Airbnb work?

‍Angle: Showing how the app works and breaking uncertainty

‍Unique quality: An image is worth 1000 words.

Everybody knows what Airbnb is, but only a few people are aware of the app’s capabilities. That’s why Airbnb dedicates its welcome email to building awareness about the features of their tool.

What is great about that strategy is that they use many images to illustrate their point—making the welcome email easy and fun to read.‍

Key takeaway: The more your new subscribers know about your company and its services before committing, the better off you are. The welcome email is also a good channel to explain and teach stuff.

6. Allbirds

Subject line: Welcome to the flock

‍Angle: Highlighting their unique position

‍Unique quality: Brevity and conciseness

Allbirds is a footwear and apparel brand that creates special products with a unique feel. They have designed a vibrant welcome email that shares their philosophy with new subscribers.

With the subject line, they make you feel like you are part of their playful and friendly flock of birds (Allbirds) while conveying the spirit of their brand. Inside the email, they explain what makes their products unique and use it to win the hearts of their new subscribers.

Another thing that makes this welcome email a great one is that it only contains a unique CTA that tells readers the only thing they need to do, which is to “learn more.”‍

Key takeaway: Like everyone else, you probably have many competitors. So your welcome email can help you stand out by focusing on what makes your brand unique from the competition.

7. Casper Sleep

Email subject line: Welcome to Casper!‍

Angle: Leverage social proof to earn trust.

‍Unique quality: Fun to read and scannable.

Casper Sleep studies the way humans sleep and creates products based on real customer needs and feedback.

The company wrote an easy-to-digest and straightforward email that welcomes its new subscribers and boasts about what makes them different from competitors. One look at the design and color scheme of the welcome email shows how well the company understands the cooling, relaxing atmosphere, and language needed for a good night's sleep.

The body of the email tells Casper’s story and leverages social proof to earn readers' trust.  Bonus points for puns to make readers chuckle.

‍Key takeaway: Another goal you can achieve with your welcome email is to earn the trust of new subscribers. You can do this by showcasing some of your social proof.

8. Evernote

Email subject line: Welcome to Evernote!

‍Angle: Making an offer.

‍Unique quality: Beautiful and scannable design

Evernote is a popular app for storing anything like a receipt, an article, a to-do list, or even a simple typed note digitally. The company designed a great welcome email that rolls the red carpet for new subscribers and handles everything one can think of upon signing up for a tool.

The welcome email covers the app’s main benefits and uses three different calls to action to get users to learn more, show them how the app works, and eventually get them to upgrade to a premium plan. Also, we can’t help but notice the beautiful and straightforward email design, which makes it scannable and easy to consume.

‍Key takeaway: While most people think welcome emails only intend to welcome new subscribers, it can also be a great place to share key benefits of your product or service and get free subscribers to move on to the next plan.

9. Grammarly

Email subject line: You + Grammarly = Ready for Action‍

Angle: Portraying the app as a hero

‍Unique quality: Leveraging human imagination

Grammarly is the tool that helps you fine-tune your writing. Grammarly’s welcome email helps you envision a future where all you have to do is type without worrying about mistakes. This strategy works because it makes the reader envision the after-effect of using the app.

‍Key takeaway: Your marketing strategy doesn’t need to feel like marketing to be effective. Find something that matters to your target audience, tell a story about it, and make yourself part of it.

10. Drift

Email subject line: Welcome to Drift.

‍Angle: Empowering new subscribers with resources

‍Unique quality: Text-only email.

We can all agree that this is the most simply designed email on this list. Drift is a world-class technology company, and the idea that they designed such a simple welcome email probably got you thinking. There's nothing aesthetic or magical about the email, but if there's only one thing that makes welcome emails successful, this email has it.

Drift sets itself apart from the average company by simply telling readers that they are different. Plus, the company took the time to curate their blog and select the best articles that will be most useful to new subscribers, and share them as calls to action.

Another important point is that the email is written by the company's CEO, David Cancel. This, along with bold statements such as "we're not most people" and the use of "I,” creates a certain one-on-one conversational tone and adds a human touch to the welcome email.‍

Key takeaway: Sometimes, focusing on the interactive elements of the welcome email can do more harm than good. So it's also an excellent strategy to make it all text.

11. Headspace

Email subject line: Welcome to Headspace.

‍Angle: Sharing data-backed benefits.

‍Unique quality: Beautiful design.

Headspace helps people meditate and alleviate the stress of their daily routines.

One of the highlights of this email is that it starts out fun and friendly, mentioning the subscriber's name. The bold text and emojis make the email clear and fun to read. In addition, the email is short and only has three sections—making it scannable.‍

Key takeaway: If you have a few wins or proven studies about your business you can brag about, you can mention them to convince your subscribers that they’ve made the right choice.

12. Capiche

Email subject line: Welcome to Capiche 🎉.‍

Angle: Confirming and showing enthusiasm for new subscribers.

‍Unique quality: Cool and calm look and feel emphasizing their brand.

This is one of the most straightforward emails on our list, both in terms of design and copy. Capiche is an online community for software enthusiasts who want to learn from peers. The company designed a simple welcome email that shows its enthusiasm to new subscribers and uses the dark mode visuals preferred by most software developers.

This email does a great job of mentioning what’s in it for the subscribers and sharing some resources to get the ball rolling with the community. While there are many clickable resources inside the email, it also features a bold CTA that invites the new user to explore the community.

‍Key takeaway: Showing gratitude and excitement is also a good way to show new subscribers that you care about them.

13. Framer

Email subject line: Hi there - Here’s how to get started with your first prototype.

‍Angle: Getting users started with a demo video

‍Unique quality: Fewer words plus scannability.

Framer is a tool that helps you and your team design stuff and work together. Framer’s welcome email includes two clearly designed and well-placed CTAs to get users to watch a tutorial and get started with the app. Plus, the email is easily scannable.

‍Key takeaway: If you think your product or software can be hard to use, you can create a demo video or how-to videos to get them started. And yes, it can fit in your welcome email.

14. Jira Software

Email subject line: Your free guide to setting up Jira Software.

‍Angle: Pointing the next step in the onboarding process

‍Unique quality: Straightforwardness.

Jira’s welcome email shares a guide to get new users started with the platform and points to their community as another resource for users who have further questions.

Why does this email work? It goes straight to the point by telling the recipient that they just need to follow six steps to install the software. Plus, it's short and sweet.

‍Key takeaway: Sometimes, the best way to thank or welcome your new users is to give them everything they need to have a seamless experience with your product or service.

15. InVision

Email subject line: Welcome to Invision.

‍Angle: Onboarding new subscribers with video content

‍Unique quality: Very few words, one image, one video.

The first thing you’ll notice about this email is that it is designed to show more than it tells. InVision uses only a few words to welcome their new subscribers. They keep their core message large and at the top of the email and added a video to do most of the heavy lifting.

The video helps understand their brand and get started with the tool. They also mention a few reputable companies using their software to build trust and credibility with the reader.

This email is straightforward and drives the message home about Invision's value and benefits. The original and direct approach of the email emphasizes the nature and quality of the product.

‍Key takeaway: Showing reputable companies or experts using your product/service is also a good way to tell new users what they can achieve with it.

Now it’s your turn to craft amazing welcome emails

From showing gratitude, making one-off offers, and giving your company a human feel, welcome emails can help you achieve unique goals with your new subscribers. But it is also a great way to build rapport with your fan base and make them feel like you’re a friend they can rely on.

Here are things to factor in when crafting your welcome email:

• A subject line that packs a punch.
• A personalized copy.
• A bit of humor and human feel.
• A clear call to action.

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