Using Marketing Cloud’s welcome series should be a no-brainer. As a marketing strategy, a welcome series is an easy and effective way to introduce constituents to your organization and start building a deeper relationship from the beginning. Within Marketing Cloud, the welcome series is one of the options in the Playbook feature that is available on all accounts and it’s pretty straightforward to set up and use. Regardless of your experience and comfort level with marketing automation in general or Marketing Cloud in specific, we recommend that you begin your Marketing Cloud efforts by creating a welcome series.
Marketing Cloud’s welcome series consists of any three emails created in your account to be sent at intervals that you determine. Emails can be sent to either a list or data extension — populated by import, smart capture form, API, etc. When creating the welcome series playbook, Marketing Cloud walks you through each step in a set-up wizard, and the entire process can be done within a few minutes.
Welcome Series Email Content
As you think about the content of your welcome series emails, remember that this is your chance to make a great first impression with a new constituent that you hope to engage over a long period of time. Concentrate on education rather than asks and keep your messages short and focused.
We recommend a three email series like the following:
EMAIL 1 – THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
This should be a personal greeting from the voice of your organization (Executive Director, other leader or spokesperson.) The message should highlight the state of your organization and help educate the recipient about your unique approach and impact.
EMAIL 2 – UPCOMING EVENTS
“Events” can mean different things to different organizations, but the general goal with this email is to present specific events that offer the opportunity for new constituents to interact with your organization offline and increase their interest and involvement. Events can be information sessions, fundraising events or program activities.
EMAIL 3 – MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Offer other ways for a new constituent to get involved with your organization – online or offline. This can be through other events, advocacy, volunteering, social media, etc.
Email Timing & Coordination
Marketing Cloud lets you choose the timing of each of the welcome series emails. You should experiment with different timing options, but a good place to start is a 7-day interval between each of these emails. You should also consider other email campaigns that your organization sends such as periodic newsletters or “drip” campaigns. We recommend that you wait until the welcome series is complete with a new constituent before enrolling them in other regular communications sent by your organization.
A professional welcome series should be easy to set up in Marketing Cloud, and can set the tone for your relationship with a new constituent. If you’re unsure about how to get started or want the help of some experienced Marketing Cloud experts, contact KELL Partners. Our experts can work with you to develop a plan to implement and expand your use of Marketing Cloud using email as well as other communication channels like SMS and social media.