Templates / Welcome email sequence
Welcome email sequence template
Five emails, written out in full. Subject line, preview text and body copy for each one. Replace the bracketed placeholders and the sequence is ready to send.
Someone just gave you their email address. That is the most attention they will pay you for a while, and most brands spend it on a receipt that says thanks for subscribing.
This sequence spends it differently. Email one delivers what they asked for and sets expectations. Emails two and three earn the next open. Email four shows the work. Email five asks, once, clearly.
Everything below is real copy, not a brief. The only writing you have to do is filling in the brackets, and each bracket tells you exactly what belongs there.
How to use it
- 01Fill in the placeholder list in the first block before you touch the emails. Every email pulls from that same list, so doing it once keeps the voice consistent.
- 02Read email one out loud. If it does not sound like you talking, change the words until it does, then match the other four to it.
- 03Set the sends to day 0, day 2, day 4, day 6 and day 8, and turn off any other broadcast to new subscribers during those eight days.
- 04Replace the example in email four with a real customer story you have permission to tell. If you do not have one yet, cut email four and shift email five to day 6.
- 05Send the whole sequence to yourself first, on a phone, with images off. Check the sender name, the fallback for a missing first name, and every link.
- 06After a hundred people finish the sequence, look at which email loses the most readers and rewrite that one email. Do not rewrite the whole thing at once.
The template
Swap these first
Fill this in once. Every email below pulls from this list.
[FIRST NAME] = subscriber first name from your form. Set the fallback to there, so a missing value reads Hi there, not Hi ,
[YOUR COMPANY] = the company name the way customers say it out loud.
[YOUR PRODUCT] = the thing they actually get. One noun, not a category.
[LEAD MAGNET] = whatever they just signed up for. A guide, a template, a trial, a waitlist spot.
[DESIRED OUTCOME] = the result they want, in their words, not your feature name.
[YOUR OFFER] = the paid thing email five asks for.
[YOUR NAME] and [YOUR TITLE] = a real person as the sender. Not a team inbox, not noreply.
Email 1 of 5. Deliver the thing. Send immediately.
This gets the highest attention of the whole sequence. Hand over the goods in line one, then set expectations.
Subject: [FIRST NAME], your [LEAD MAGNET] is inside
Alternate subject: Here is the [LEAD MAGNET] you asked for
Preview text: Plus the one thing to do before you close the tab.
Body:
Hi [FIRST NAME],
Here is the [LEAD MAGNET] you asked for: [LINK]
Save it somewhere you will actually find it again. Then do one thing before you close the tab: [SINGLE FIRST ACTION, for example open the checklist and mark the three items you already do].
That takes five minutes, and it is the difference between a file you downloaded and a thing you use.
Over the next week you will get four more emails from me. One about why [YOUR COMPANY] exists, two short lessons you can use the same day, and one about [YOUR OFFER]. Then the regular schedule, which is [SENDING FREQUENCY].
If that is more email than you want, the unsubscribe link at the bottom works instantly and I will not take it personally.
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TITLE], [YOUR COMPANY]
P.S. Hit reply and tell me the biggest thing getting in the way of [DESIRED OUTCOME] right now. I read every reply.
Email 2 of 5. Why you exist. Send day 2.
The origin story, kept to one screen. It is here to make you a person, not to sell.
Subject: The [PROBLEM] nobody warns you about
Alternate subject: Why we built [YOUR PRODUCT]
Preview text: Short version: we got tired of the workaround.
Body:
Hi [FIRST NAME],
Before [YOUR COMPANY], I spent [TIME PERIOD] doing [PREVIOUS JOB OR SITUATION]. The part that wore me down was [SPECIFIC RECURRING MOMENT, one sentence].
Everyone I asked had the same workaround: [COMMON WORKAROUND]. It sort of worked. It also meant [WHAT THE WORKAROUND COST, in hours, money or sanity].
So we built [YOUR PRODUCT] to do one thing properly: [CORE PROMISE IN ONE SENTENCE].
That is the whole pitch. No transformation, no secret system, no five figure result I cannot show you. If [SPECIFIC PROBLEM] is on your list this quarter, you are in the right place.
In two days I will send you the fastest useful version of [DESIRED OUTCOME]. It takes about twenty minutes and you do not need [YOUR PRODUCT] to do it.
[YOUR NAME]
Email 3 of 5. Give the quick win. Send day 4.
Teach something they can finish today, using nothing they have to buy. This email earns the open on email five.
Subject: The 20 minute version of [DESIRED OUTCOME]
Alternate subject: Three steps, no tools required
Preview text: Start at step one. Ignore everything else for now.
Body:
Hi [FIRST NAME],
Most people attack [PROBLEM] by [COMMON OVERBUILT APPROACH]. It takes weeks, it needs three people to agree, and it usually stalls at the second meeting.
Here is the short version you can finish today.
1. [STEP ONE, one clear action]. Ten minutes. Do not research it first.
2. [STEP TWO]. Write the answer somewhere your team can see it.
3. [STEP THREE]. Do it once, then leave it alone for a week before you judge it.
That is it. It will not be perfect. Perfect is the thing that stops people from starting, and a rough version running beats a good version pending.
Step two is where most people stall. If you get stuck there, reply and tell me what you are stuck on. I answer these myself.
[YOUR NAME]
P.S. If you already do all three, you are further along than you think. Email five will be more useful to you than this one.
Email 4 of 5. Show the work. Send day 6.
Use a real customer, with permission, and only describe results you can show. An invented example is the fastest way to lose the list you just built.
Subject: How [CUSTOMER FIRST NAME] handled [PROBLEM]
Alternate subject: One example, start to finish
Preview text: What they changed, in the order they changed it.
Body:
Hi [FIRST NAME],
[CUSTOMER FIRST NAME] runs [SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THEIR BUSINESS]. When we first talked, [THEIR SITUATION IN ONE SENTENCE].
Here is what changed, in order:
1. [FIRST THING THEY CHANGED, and why it came first].
2. [SECOND THING THEY CHANGED].
3. [THIRD THING THEY CHANGED, and what it made possible].
The part worth stealing: [THE ONE TRANSFERABLE IDEA, stated plainly].
It was not instant and it was not tidy. [ONE HONEST THING THAT WENT WRONG OR TOOK LONGER THAN EXPECTED].
If your setup looks like [CUSTOMER FIRST NAME]s did, start here: [LINK TO THE MOST RELEVANT RESOURCE].
[YOUR NAME]
Email 5 of 5. Make the ask. Send day 8.
One offer, one link, one honest disqualifier. Do not stack three CTAs here.
Subject: Want to do this with us?
Alternate subject: What working with [YOUR COMPANY] looks like
Preview text: Including who it is not for.
Body:
Hi [FIRST NAME],
You have had four emails from me. This is the one with the ask, and then I will get out of your inbox.
[YOUR OFFER] is for [WHO IT IS FOR, be specific about company size, role or stage]. You get [WHAT THEY GET, ITEM ONE], [ITEM TWO], and [ITEM THREE]. It costs [PRICE] and takes about [TIME COMMITMENT] of your time.
It is not right for you if [HONEST DISQUALIFIER]. I would rather say that now than take your money and disappoint you in week three.
If it sounds like a fit: [CTA LINK]
If it does not, stay on the list. The regular emails keep coming and they stay free.
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR TITLE], [YOUR COMPANY]
P.S. Not sure whether it fits? Reply with what you are working on and I will tell you straight, including if the answer is no.
Send schedule
Paste this into your automation as the delay between steps.
Email 1: immediately on signup, no delay.
Email 2: 2 days after email 1.
Email 3: 2 days after email 2.
Email 4: 2 days after email 3.
Email 5: 2 days after email 4.
Exit rule: if someone buys [YOUR OFFER] mid sequence, stop the sequence and move them to onboarding.
Exit rule: if someone replies, pause the sequence until you have answered them.
After email 5: move to the regular list at [SENDING FREQUENCY].
Check before you turn it on
Ten minutes here saves the apology email later.
Sender name is a person, and the reply address is a mailbox somebody reads.
First name fallback is set. Send yourself a test with the field empty.
Every link opens, including the one in the P.S. and the one in the footer.
Read all five on a phone. Any paragraph longer than four lines gets split.
Physical address and unsubscribe link are in the footer of all five.
The offer in email five matches what your pricing page says today.
Nothing in the sequence claims a number you cannot show a source for.
Time the sends to arrive in the subscriber time zone if your tool supports it. If not, pick the morning of their signup time zone.
Where this usually goes wrong
- Sending the offer in email one. The sequence exists to earn the ask by email five. Moving it to email one turns the whole thing into a single ad.
- A from address of noreply or a team inbox. It kills replies, and replies are the single best signal that this list is alive.
- Leaving a bracket in. Search the finished drafts for the open bracket character before you schedule anything.
- Writing email four from an imagined customer. If you have no story yet, cut the email. Made up proof is worse than no proof.
- Letting the regular broadcast overlap the sequence, so a new subscriber gets two unrelated emails on day 3.
Common questions
How many emails should a welcome sequence have?
Five covers deliver, context, quick win, proof and offer without repeating itself. If you cut one, cut the proof email, not the quick win. If you add one, add a second quick win between days 4 and 6.
How far apart should the emails be?
Two days apart works for most lists. It keeps you in recent memory without arriving daily. Tighten to one day only if they signed up for a time boxed thing like a challenge or a launch.
Should the emails be plain text or designed?
Plain text, or something close to it. This sequence is written as one person talking to another, and a heavy template contradicts that. Save the designed layout for the newsletter.
What do I do when someone replies?
Answer personally, and pause the sequence for that person until you have. A reply is a conversation starting. Dropping the next automated email into it is the fastest way to end it.
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