Below you’ll find an unedited version of a chapter from my new book, Email Marketing Demystified. To get your copy of Email Marketing Demystified, visit www.myemailmarketingbook.com. 

The first email that every new subscriber will receive from your mailing list is referred to as your welcome email. Sending a well-written welcome email to each of your subscribers is the first step in nurturing long-term subscribers that will always be happy to receive your email. Your welcome email should accomplish a number of different tasks, including thanking subscribers for joining your mailing list, setting expectations for the type and quantity of email they are going to receive, getting your subscribers to whitelist your email address and encouraging them to take a next action.

At the top of your welcome email, include a personal message that thanks the subscriber for signing up for your mailing list. If appropriate for your industry, use personal language as if you were writing to a new friend that you just met for coffee. Next, you should tell your subscribers what kind of email they are going to receive and how often they are going to receive it. This will help your subscribers set a mental expectation of what kind of email that they are going to receive from you. You should ask your email subscribers to white-list your email address or add you to their safe sender list so that your messages never go to their spam folder. Feel free to copy MarketBeat’s white list instructions page located at http://www.marketbeat.com/safe-sender/. Finally, you should consider what action you might want your users to take next. You might want them to read a particular piece of content on your website, have them checkout one of your products or recommend your mailing list to a friend of theirs. Include a hyperlink with a clear call-to-action at the bottom of your email and thank them again for joining your list.

Here is the copy for the actual welcome email currently being used by MarketBeat:

Hi there –

Thank you for subscribing to MarketBeat Daily

With your free subscription, you will receive a concise daily summary of analysts’ upgrades, downgrades and new coverage (delivered at approximately 1:00 PM ET).

In the meantime, be sure to add MarketBeat.com to your safe sender list or address book to ensure your newsletter gets delivered to your inbox. Click Here to Learn How.

You might also be interested in our premium email newsletter, MarketBeat Daily Premium, which provides instant email and SMS alerts for stocks that interest you, additional ratings data and delivery before the market opens.

Click Here to Learn More About MarketBeat Daily Premium.

Thanks!

Matthew Paulso

MarketBeat (Analyst Ratings Network)