Mailchimp: Create an Automated Welcome Email

Before You Start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

• If you’ve never created an automated email before, it may be helpful to review About Automation.
• This article tells you how to create a welcome email campaign, which is different from the optional final welcome email in your list’s signup forms. To learn more about the final welcome email, check out Enable or Disable the Final Welcome Email.
• If you use the final welcome email and the automated welcome campaign at the same time, be sure to include different content in each email, so you don’t appear to send duplicates.

Create Automated Email Campaign

By default, the automated welcome campaign is one email that sends one day after signup. You can change the delay, or add more emails to make it a series.

1. Navigate to the Campaigns page.
2. Click Create Campaign.
   
3. In the pop-up modal, click Create an Email.
   
4. Click Automated.
5. Click Subscriber Activity and choose Welcome new subscribers.
6. On the Welcome message tab, enter a campaign name and click the drop-down menu to choose a list. We’ll send your welcome message to anyone who subscribes to this list.
7. Click Begin.

Next, you’ll set up and design your welcome email.

Edit Email

In the Emails step of the Automation Builder, you’ll design your email’s content and review its settings. The default welcome message automation includes one email that sends one day after signup.

Edit the individual email’s trigger, schedule, segment, and post-send action, or add more to make a welcome series. You can also edit the settings for the overall automation.

1. Click Design Email.
2. On the Setup step, name your email, then enter the subject line, preview text, from name, and from email address.
3. Click Next.
4. On the Template step, select your  template.
5. On the Design step,  design your email.
   If you want to see how your design will look to subscribers, click the Preview and Test drop-down menu to access powerful testing tools. To learn more about these tools, check out Preview and Test Your Email Campaign.
6. Click Save and Continue to finish up your automation.

Edit Workflow Settings

Your workflow settings include your workflow name, from name, from email address, and tracking options. To access your workflow settings, navigate to the Emails step of the Automation Builder and click  Edit Workflow Settings.

Confirm and Start

Now that you’ve designed your campaign and configured your workflow settings, it’s time to double check everything and start your automation!

1. Click Next to navigate to the Confirm step.
2. Review the confirmation checklist and click Resolve or Edit to make any necessary changes to your automation.
3. When you’re ready, click Start Workflow to start sending your automation.
4. In the pop-up modal, click Start  Workflow to confirm.

Great job! Now, anyone who signs up to your list will receive your welcome message. After the data begins to roll in, you can  view your automation report to see how it’s performing.

If you want to make any changes to your automation after it’s started, you’ll first need to pause it. To learn more, read  Edit an Active Automation.

Tips for Welcome Campaigns

A well-crafted welcome campaign helps you make a good first impression, and lets people know what to expect from your marketing emails. If you want to go beyond the basics, here are a couple of things to try.

Create a Welcome Series

When you want to give new subscribers a little extra attention or guidance, add more emails to your automation to make it a welcome series. We also offer subscriber activity automations that are specifically designed for onboarding and education.

Edit an Active Automation: Add an Email

Automation Types: Subscriber Activity

Promote Your Products

If you have an online store, try adding a promo code or product recommendations to your welcome message to encourage new subscribers to check out your items right away.

Use Promo Code Content Blocks

Add Product Recommendations to a Campaign