What Makes a Great Welcome Email?

In marketing, first impressions can be everything. This is certainly true for email marketing; your first point of contact should represent the best of your business and keep subscribers engaged from the outset.

How is this achieved? You start with a welcome email.

A good welcome email sets the tone for your brand and builds trust early, making subscribers more likely to be receptive to future emails. What’s more: in 2025, platforms like Klaviyo can automate these emails, ensuring your customers get a great experience without you having to lift a finger.

This post from Adhesion breaks down the key building blocks of the welcome email and why it’s an essential part of your EDM strategy.

Why Welcome Emails Matter

Welcome emails are your chance to introduce your brand, set expectations, and offer immediate value such as discounts, freebies, or stories. They let you expand upon the content you’ve provided on your website or through your social media, speaking directly to users in a manner that’s highly personal.

According to 2025 benchmarking data, welcome emails have almost 4x the click rate of regular email campaigns, as well as a higher open rate. As the second-highest converting flow (after abandoned cart automations), they’re particularly valuable for ecommerce businesses wanting to drum up incentive to buy.

The Key Ingredients of a Great Welcome Email

• Strong subject line: Make it clear, inviting, and on-brand.
  
  
• Personalised greeting: Use dynamic fields to customise your emails with the first name of your subscribers.
  
  
• Brief brand story: Reaffirm what drives your business, why you exist and what makes you different from others.
  
  
• Value offer: Consider offering a discount code, free download, or other benefit to your email list.
  
  
• Clear CTA: Entice readers with links such as “Shop now” / “Learn more” / “Follow us” etc.
  
  
• Mobile-friendly, well-designed layout: Most emails in 2025 are viewed on mobile, so optimisation for different screen sizes is crucial.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Taking too much of a sales tone right away
  As this is only your first email, keeping your language light and natural – focus on the subscriber and the value you want to provide for them; you don’t want your emails to start off overly promotional or spammy.
• Sending too late
  Subscribers typically want immediate proof that their sign-up was successful. The welcome email is your first opportunity to fulfil their expectations, so sending too late (or not at all) fails to keep your brand top of mind.
• Not delivering on a promised incentive
  Whether it’s a discount code or simply a promise of regular communication, make sure you follow through on your offers. Your emails serve as a representation of your brand, so maintaining a standard of reliability is crucial.
• Forgetting to set up follow-up emails
  Consider extending your welcome email into a welcome series – a group of around three emails that expand on your brand story and offerings, providing more opportunities to convert whilst cementing your business firmly in the mind of the subscriber.

Consider Using Klaviyo

As a certified Klaviyo partner, Adhesion is familiar with all facets of the platform and how it can make your emails run not just smoothly, but smarter.

Key features of Klaviyo include:

• A built-in welcome flow template.
• Automations that immediately send to new subscribers.
• A drag-and-drop email builder with options for A/B testing.
  
• Flows that can branch based on behaviour (e.g. click vs no click).

Klaviyo not only manages your subscriber list, it provides sales data – letting you know exactly what value your business is gaining from your email marketing. With integrations between other platforms such as Meta and Shopify, you’ll be taking your email strategy into the future.

Conclusion

While it’s a little different in 2025 than it was in the past, email marketing is stronger than ever. The welcome email serves as the foundation of your email strategy, letting you integrate new customers into your brand community and form a direct channel for future communications.

Take this opportunity to audit your current welcome experience: email content, sending frequency, as well as sign-up forms. Are you providing enough incentive for users to subscribe?

Once you’ve taken these steps, you’ll be on track for creating a compelling email strategy from start to finish.

Need help setting up your welcome flow? Contact Adhesion today; no matter the platform, we’ll ensure you make a lasting first impression.