WELCOME SERIES
A 3-email welcome series you can copy
First, send what your signup form promised. Next, help with one product choice. Use the third email for a tip that fits what you sell.
In this guide
1. Start with one signup promise
Our sample form offers three ideas for a first notebook page. It also offers tips and product news. The first email must give those ideas.
If your form offers a code, send the code and rules first. Do not make the reader wait days for it.
Check that signup is complete in your email app. Shopify explains how these choices are saved. Joining an email list is not the same as asking for texts.
Source: Shopify: collecting marketing subscription preferences
2. Day 0: send the promised guide
The first draft puts three ideas right in the email. The reader gets help without a click. The button opens the full guide.
Send it once signup is complete. Day 2 and Day 5 below are sample gaps. They are not proven best times. Check them against your store’s other sends.
Open the guide yourself. It should not ask for another signup. Test a blank first name too. Use “Hi there” if you have no name.
3. Day 2: help with a choice
The second draft compares two notebooks. One is small enough to carry. The other has more room to write. That gives the reader a new reason to open it.
Show both sizes and prices on the linked page. Use your own product facts.
Sell just one main item? Answer a common question. Show what is in the box, how to pick a size or how to care for it.
4. Day 5: help them get started
The last draft gives a one-line idea to write about. It helps with the blank-page problem from the guide. It does not repeat the product list.
Make the tip fit your item. A plant shop could show where to put a plant. A coffee shop could explain one brew setting. Give a tip that works without a click.
If you add a deal, state its real rules. You do not need a made-up “Last chance.”
5. Check if they bought or left
Check for an order before each sales email. If they buy after email one, stop these product pitches. Care tips may help next. If they leave the list, stop sales emails.
Check other sends too. A welcome, cart reminder and sale could land on one day. Pick what matters most. Change the rules in your app.
If an item sells out, pause or change that draft. The words in a template cannot set send rules.
6. Read each email’s key lines
Email 1: “Your first-page guide” → three ideas → “Open the full guide.”
Email 2: “Pocket or desk?” → a size choice → “Compare the two sizes.”
Email 3: “Start with one line” → a short tip → “See the Pocket Notebook.”
Each has a new job. Shopify also says the preview should add to the subject. Read both in a test inbox. Some words may be cut short.
Source: Shopify: writing subjects, preview text and marketing emails
7. Test the whole trip
Join with a test address. Check that email one arrives and the guide opens. Check later drafts are queued. Use test records to check the order and unsubscribe rules.
Once it runs, read replies. “Will it fit in my coat pocket?” shows a fact you could add. Watch clicks, orders and people leaving the list too.
An order after an email does not prove the email caused it. Compare similar groups when you test a change. For a small list, fix clear snags first. Start with broken links, late codes and repeat sends.
Examples to make your own
Copy an example, then add your products, links and store name.
Email 1 · Deliver the guide
SubjectYour first-page guide is here
Preview textThree easy ways to start a new notebook.
Hi there,
Here are the first-page ideas you asked for from Field Notes Studio.
Try one today: write three things to do this week, sketch the view from your seat, or list five places you want to go.
Pick one. Leave the rest for another page.
The full guide has more prompts and a few filled-in pages to get you started. Save this email so you can find it again.
Button textOpen the full guide
Day 0, once signup is complete. This example form promised notebook prompts. Link to your real guide; if the form promised a code, send the code instead.
Email 2 · Help them choose a size
SubjectPocket or desk: where will you write?
Preview textCompare our two notebook sizes side by side.
Where do you reach for a notebook most?
For notes on the bus or lists in a shop, start with the Pocket Notebook. For plans and sketches at a desk, take a look at the larger Desk Notebook.
The page below shows both sizes beside a pen, with their page options and prices. Check the size before you pick a cover.
Button textCompare the two sizes
Day 2 is one starting point, if they have not bought. This fictional store sells two sizes. Use your own checked product facts and a page that shows the comparison.
Email 3 · Make the first step small
SubjectA blank page? Start with one line.
Preview textYou do not have to fill a whole notebook today.
A new notebook can sit empty because the first page feels too important.
Try this: “One thing I want to remember from today is…” Finish that line. You’re done for now.
If you want a notebook to keep with you, take a look at the Pocket Notebook below. Keep a pen with it so the next thought has somewhere to go.
Button textSee the Pocket Notebook
Day 5 is another starting point, for someone who still has not bought. This adds a use idea. End this sales sequence if they order or leave the list.