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Welcome messages: The definitive first impression for your mobile app.
First impressions count, both for people and products. Apps have one chance to grab a new user’s attention. This is especially true when you consider the average mobile app retention rate: Only 21 percent of users remain active after the first 24 hours of downloading an app. To raise your retention rate, it’s imperative to make a first impression that really sticks.
Both in-app and out-of-app messages can help the user along the early stages of their journey. For this reason, welcome messages are one of the most impactful tools at a brand’s disposal – but what exactly are they and how can you use them successfully?
What is a Welcome Message?
No matter how short the communication, any message meant to greet, onboard, or connect with a new user is a welcome message. Welcome messages are the perfect way to solidify a person’s first impression. By reaching users on multiple channels, they’ll have an easier time remembering your app and the onboarding experience.
However, despite the enormous potential of these messages as a key marketing tool, they aren’t always deployed effectively. Crafting the perfect welcome message is an important step for any brand – and we’re here to provide some inspiration on how to do it the right way.
Types of Welcome Messages
Onboarding
The first few interactions you have with your customer are what makes your onboarding a success. Welcome messages are the perfect way to express the core messaging of your brand and complete these goals:
- Guide customer through next steps
- Offer a contact point for support
- Resource sharing for further benefits from the service
Website Welcome
A welcome message for new visitors to your website is a big attraction point for action. If you can’t hook their interest with a prominent welcome message then you will probably lose them. Your homepage messaging is critical because you want your visitors to be intrigued enough to venture further onto your website and not just click off.
Welcome Messages to Re-engage
Welcome messages don’t have to only be geared towards fresh new faces, they can also be welcome back messages for prospects who have lost interest in what you have to say. Reminding previous visitors about what they were interested in or showcasing alternative options is a great way to revive interest and establish engagement.
Order Confirmation
Don’t just process an order and confirm it. This is a brilliant opportunity to welcome your new customer by creating awareness about other products and services. Establishing a rapport also signals the start of building customer loyalty which gives you the space to guide your customers towards what you can offer them.
Welcome Message Tips and Examples
Personalized
In exchange for your service they’ve given you their name, utilize it. Addressing someone directly always works – it makes them feel seen.
This thank you email from Kate Spade is bright and beautiful but it isn’t personal. It’s hitting so many great points in the messaging and the offer but lacking in a personal touch.
When you’re creating wonderful welcome messages or any communication with your customers at all, put in the time to make it personal to them.
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Value Proposition
Who are you? What are you all about?
Your first contact should always clearly highlight what matters to your brand and how you can support your customers.
Value propositions need to be unique, desirable, succinct, memorable, and specific. It isn’t a tagline but a focus point.
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InVision is a great example of a clear value proposition. It highlights what it is and tells the customer how it will benefit them without bombarding them with information.
Take Action
Make it easy for visitors to take action. Be clear and definitive in your call to action.
There is very little point in having a brilliant welcome message with a sloppy request for action. What you want is something that is directive, on-brand, and easy to understand.
QuizUp does a great job here – a short intro followed by a clear call to action. It’s on-brand, it makes sense and it’s easy to follow!
Leave Them Wanting More
You’ve got new prospects milling around your website and welcomed them well enough that they’re hanging around – what now?
You want them to want to engage further with your brand. Offer them a reason to come back, dangle a discount, or exclusive access to something they really want.
You can use scarcity here as a nice little teaser.
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LawTrades do a fine job here of leaving their customers wanting more. They make their prospects want to know what else they can offer. They also use scarcity by stating there is a member limit while gifting their members with a complimentary legal strategy session too.
Be on Brand
King Arthur’s welcome message email is an effective blend of brand-building and promotion. On one hand, King Arthur must differentiate its product from cheaper alternatives like store brands. The photo of freshly baked bread, along with phrases like “our kitchen” and “our passion,” brings to mind a small-scale and personal production process. Even though King Arthur is a large company, this branding makes it feel like a product from a local farmer’s market. A brilliant way to elevate your brand is to stay true to your ethos.
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Clear Unsubscribe
You won’t be for everyone and that’s okay. You wouldn’t want to waste time sending content and resources that aren’t valuable to your customer anyway so be clear on the ability to unsubscribe.
Make it visible and make it easy. No one wants to enter information four times to leave a mailing list.
Freebie
Freebies are fantastic ways to build your potential customer base. When you offer a freebie such as an exclusive download, a discount, or a free add-on in your welcome message, what you’re doing is establishing a foundation for your business to build a relationship with that customer.
A welcome message that is warm, inviting, and offers customers an incentive to continue the relationship is.
This is done really well here by Lee where they offer a discount and highlight free shipping and returns in exchange for doing a style quiz. This way, the brand gets valuable information about the customer and the customer gets a healthy discount and free shipping – everybody’s happy!
Set expectations
A well-intended welcome message is a great way to have a successful first impression. An email every hour for a week is not.
Let your customers know what to expect from you and be clear about what the communication will look like. Will you be contacting them consistently, or will it be sporadic? Is there a schedule you can share?
When you welcome a new customer, prospect, or lead into the fold you want to build trust not scare them off with over-enthusiastic communication that isn’t adding any value, so be transparent and set reasonable expectations.
How to Write a Great Welcome Message
You know what makes a great welcome message but how do you write the ideal welcome message for your brand?
Here are some insights to guide you:
Know your Target Audience
If you’re creating a welcome message for a product geared towards professional women then it’s going to be very different from a welcome message for a pre-teen product. Think about who your ideal customer is and welcome them.
Add value
The world is an increasingly busy place. We get so much spam on our mobiles, emails, and through our letterboxes. You only want to communicate if it is valuable to your customers. Will your welcome message add value to their lives? If not, rework it until it does.
Work the customer outcome angle
Benefits and features are important, but they are not the most important. When you’re writing a welcome message, think about what the outcome for your customer will be. Will they learn something? Will they be able to apply a tip to make their lives better? What is the outcome for them?
A/B Test
Test everything. Your welcome message might hit the spot with 40% of your audience but if it isn’t bringing 100% of smiles then test until it does.
Split testing is a great way to figure out what is working and how to improve upon what isn’t.
Use the right language
Your brand language is one thing, but what language are your customers using?
Learn from them. Read their feedback, monitor their discussions on social media, and figure out what language they are using because that is the language they will respond to.
There you have it: Our favorite welcome message tips. Whether your goal is branding, conversion, or user engagement, a well-timed message can nudge users in the right direction.
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To learn more about what Leanplum can do for your team, check out these resources:
- Read the Just Eat Takeaway.com Case Study to see how Just Eat Takeaway.com achieved a 17% increase in total order volume
- Read our article Ten Tips to Supercharge User Engagement
- Watch our full session with Popsa, From Batch and Blast to Personalization at Scale to learn how mobile-first companies optimize engagement, experience and revenue
- We are the only engagement platform with a focus on Subscription Apps and On-Demand & Mobile Retail
- Check out the Product Tour to see Leanplum in action
- Set up a complimentary personalized demo of Leanplum
