Welcome Greeting Message for New Customers: Best Examples and Templates
Are you about to create a greeting message for new customers but want to see how other companies are doing it first?
You’re in the right company. In this article, we’ll explore what a welcome greeting message is, why SaaS companies need it, and examples from some of the best companies. You’ll also see how user onboarding software makes the process much easier.
TL;DR
- A welcome greeting message is your first communication with customers to welcome them to your platform.
- There’s a slight difference between a welcome message and a greeting message: you can welcome users without greeting them, and a greeting message can precede a welcome message sometimes.
You should consider welcome messages because they:
- Help you make a good first impression
- Have higher open rates
- Drive more engagement
- Enable you to segment users properly
- Things to avoid to make your welcome message engaging: don’t be too salesy, avoid being generic and impersonal, and stay away from jargon or complex language.
- Use a combination of channels to ensure users don’t miss your messages.
13 best welcome message examples
- Userpilot sends a personalized greeting email with useful links customers can visit when stranded.
- Userpilot onboards customers with a warm welcome message before prompting them to take any further steps.
- Slack adds value with short, informative, and action-driven in-app messages.
- Mailchimp congratulates customers on completing the account opening step.
- Blinkist sends specific thank you notes to customers that just signed up.
- Lyft uses a single, central CTA to show users the next steps in their onboarding.
- Evernote uses clear and straightforward headings to show customers the benefits of using the app, not just the platform’s features.
- Drift’s greeting email is filled with informative links to guide users further.
- MobileMonkey sends a welcome back message to returning customers.
- Philips surprises new customers with a welcome gift.
- Airbnb sends a short user sentiment survey to get customer opinions.
- The Hustle adds humor to its newsletter.
- Miro showcases numbers as social proof to engage customers.
- Welcome message templates help to create powerful welcome messages for new customers easily.
What is a welcome greeting message?
As the name suggests, a welcome greeting message is your first communication with customers to welcome them to your platform. A personalized greeting message makes customers comfortable and eases them into your product.
Welcome greeting messages are also used for new employees, but our focus in this article is on new customers and the onboarding process.
Welcome message vs. greeting message
Both terms are mostly used interchangeably or combined (i.e., welcome greeting message).
However, they can have a slight difference in meaning depending on the situation. For instance, you can welcome users without greeting them. And in some cases, a greeting message can precede a welcome message. We’ll be using the terms interchangeably in this blog post since there’s no significant difference.
Why are welcome messages important for brands?
A well-crafted welcome message for new customers is an important part of the onboarding experience with many benefits. Some of those benefits include:
- High open rate: Welcome emails have 86% higher open rates than any other marketing email. Because this email is the first a customer receives from you after signing up, they’re eager to open it.
- First impression: You only have one chance to make a good first impression. A well-crafted welcome email ensures you don’t blow it up.
- More engagement: Welcome messages are great for opening up conversations and motivating customers to take the right action, which leads to increased engagement.
- Customer segmentation: Adding a few questions to your greeting messages will help you learn more about customers and segment them based on goals and preferences.
How to write a great welcome message for new customers
A great welcome message is warm, personalized, and creates a connection with the reader.
You can make your welcome message effective by including the following elements:
- Company logo and/or name
- Personalization (e.g., customer’s name)
- Explanation of the product value
- Microsurvey to understand the new user’s job to be done
- CTA to prompt action
Of course, not all welcome messages need all of the above (depending on their length, platform, and goal), so tailor the list to your company’s needs.
What should you avoid in a welcome message?
While welcome messages are nice for building customer connections, they can have counter effects when misused.
You generally should avoid the following in your welcome messages:
- Don’t be too pushy or salesy. You can do that later in the user journey. This communication is only for greeting and providing valuable prompts.
- Avoid being generic and impersonal. Customers will appreciate it more if your message feels like you’re talking to them alone.
- Don’t use jargon or complex words. In other words, keep your communication short, simple, and to the point.
What channels can you use for welcome messages?
Your welcome messages can be sent in different forms, depending on the channel. Below are the five most common channels and how to use them.
In-app greeting messages
Greeting messages sent in-app are a great way to engage customers from the get-go instead of showing them a blank screen. These in-app messages could be delivered as modals, banners, checklists, tooltips, etc.
Welcome pages
Use welcome pages in place of empty states to greet users and quickly show them the next thing to engage with.
Your welcome page is also a great opportunity to showcase your product through demo content or sample data. The sample data option is most common when your product needs data before the customer can see the value (e.g., analytics tools).
Mixpanel, one of the most powerful SaaS analytics tools, uses this onboarding approach. Its welcome screen prompts users to start by importing data or use the product with sample data. This approach lets customers quickly see how effective the product will be when they begin using it.
Welcome emails
As mentioned earlier, a welcome email is the first email the user receives after signing up for your product. You can be as creative and resourceful as you want with this. Feel free to include videos, useful resources, special offers, or just a friendly text.
In the example below, HubSpot uses a real-person video to welcome users. And below the video is a prompt to ensure users don’t leave the email without taking action.
Live chat
Live chats and chatbots are commonly used to deliver personalized welcome messages to visitors.
Companies use this option because it feels natural and unintrusive since the customer has to be on your platform to see the message.
Messengers
Whatsapp Business and Facebook Messenger are other popular ways to connect with customers with a personalized welcome message. Both platforms have in-app messaging bots that can be utilized for welcoming users.
Here’s an example:
13 best welcome message examples
So far, we’ve shown you the channels for delivering your welcome message and some key elements to make it impactful. Now, let’s go over practical examples to fill your mind with inspiration as you go ahead to create yours.
1. Offer help
The best way to properly onboard customers is to get out of your head and try to think like them. You’ve been with the product for months or years; you know every aspect of it, but your customers are just coming.
Your greeting message shouldn’t sound like you’re talking to a colleague, but someone completely new to the product. Think of yourself as a virtual tour guide when crafting this.
Consider the following example from Userpilot. Notice how the greeting email provides a personal touch, gives users an extensive list of knowledge base resources, and invites them to send a message if they are confused about anything.
2. Onboard with a warm greeting message in-app
Showing users your onboarding page immediately after signing up can be rude, don’t you think?
How about a little greeting to show them you care?
Your greeting message could also contain snippets of what they can expect from the onboarding process. You can liken this to the small announcement crew members make before takeoff—it helps ease you and lets you know every staff onboard is there for you.
A warm welcome message is even more needed for self-serve onboarding because all the customer encounters during the self-serve process are flows, bots, checklists, etc., with no human touch.
Your onboarding greeting could be a chat welcome message, an in-app welcome screen, email, or all.
For example, Userpilot sends a greeting message before prompting users to install the Chrome extension builder and begin learning to use the product.
3. Add value with in-app messages
Users have gotten a foot into your app. Your next task is to contextually guide them to ensure they don’t lose their way around, and that’s where in-app messages come in.
The image below shows a welcome message example from Slack that does this. Observe how short, informative, and action-driven the in-app message is.
Also, note that your in-app messages are great for showcasing your brand personality. If you want the customer to perceive your brand as rugged, funny, spirited, etc., showcase it through your messages.
4. Congratulate on completing a step
Messages like “subscription successful,” “account created,” and so on are part of the onboarding process. The average SaaS customer uses more than one SaaS tool, so your customers are already used to receiving messages like this after completing a step. Not getting such messages from you can make them panic, and you don’t want that.
Mailchimp sends an account creation message after users have completed the step.
5. Thank your customers
Your customer chose you out of the sea of SaaS options. That’s something to thank them for!
You might argue that your tool solves their problems, so it should be the other way around, but remember, many tools can do the same thing as yours. And, even if you don’t have competitors customers could have switched to, it’s still worth appreciating them—you make them feel valued and increase your chances of winning them over as loyal fans.
Your thank you note should be personalized and genuine. Also, ensure to tailor the message and specify what you’re thanking them for.
The Blinkist screenshot below is a good example. The company was specific in its thank you note and ended the message by telling customers an added benefit they just gained from subscribing.
6. Show the next step with a CTA
Every greeting message for new customers should be accompanied by clear CTAs that show the user the next action to take.
It’s best to have one primary CTA; too many calls to action will only confuse the users. Also, your primary CTA should be something that makes new users experience the product’s value.
Lyft uses a single, central CTA encouraging the user to explore the app. Lyft is a ride-hailing platform, so it makes sense that its CTA prompts users to take a ride—that’s the primary value of the app.
7. Highlight the benefits
When guiding new users, companies make the mistake of highlighting features rather than benefits.
The customer doesn’t care about your features. They want to know what they can do on your app and how you’ll make their lives easier. The way to communicate this value is by prioritizing benefits over features.
In the example below, Evernote uses clear and straightforward headings to show its biggest benefits.
8. Share important resources
A new user has a lot to learn about your product. So, share helpful resources to help them start at the right place on their product onboarding journey.
However, be careful not to spam or confuse customers with too many links. Pick only the essential ones.
Drift’s greeting email is informative, yet it still feels informal and personal.
9. Welcome returning customers back
Returning customers are not technically “new,” but they can still benefit from personalized welcome messages.
This welcome-back message can be delivered through email or webchat, and adding a personal touch lets your returning customers know you still remember them.
MobileMonkey is good with this kind of stuff. Here’s an example showing how they do it:
10. Surprise with a welcome gift
Everybody loves gifts. They’re unexpected, (mostly) useful, and you don’t have to pay anything for them.
Your customers will always appreciate it when you surprise them with a nice welcome gift, exclusive access, or discount. That’s rare for now, so it will be an experience they won’t forget in a hurry.
Philips smartly leverages this technique by giving 15% off as a welcome gift.
11. Ask for their opinion
Asking for customer feedback is a win-win: you gain helpful info, and the customer feels heard and appreciated.
A new customer might not have a lot to say since they’re new to your brand, but asking the right questions can reveal a lot—e.g., how they found out about your business, what made them subscribe, how they found the experience, etc.
Airbnb sends a short user sentiment survey to generate feedback from new customers and improve.
12. Add a bit of humor (or a lot)
A funny message always stands out, no matter the situation. And for new customers, it breaks the ice and establishes a friendly relationship from the get-go.
Humor gives personality to your brand. The only precaution here is to ensure the funny message you’re sending matches your overall brand image.
Here’s an example of The Hustle being cheeky in their first newsletter.
13. Showcase numbers
A bit of social proof can go a long way in making customers excited about your product. There are different types of social proof you can use, but numbers work best for this situation.
Ideas on how to use numbers: showcase community size, number of partners, statistics, results, etc.
Here’s a great example from Miro:
Welcome message templates: How Userpilot can help
Creative juices not flowing or you don’t have the time? Use in-app templates to create a powerful welcome message for new customers easily.
Here are the different ways Userpilot can help:
In-app welcome screen template
Userpilot is a no-code, plug-and-play tool you can use to create in-app welcome screens quickly.
Once you sign up and download our Chrome extension, you’ll have access to multiple templates that you can tweak to meet your needs. Of course, there’s also the option to create from scratch if you want.
For a welcome screen, you can choose a modal or a slideout and personalize every pixel on it:
Personalize the in-app experience
Don’t just stop at greeting users; also ensure to deliver fantastic product experiences.
With Userpilot, you can build in-app flows and connect them to your welcome screen. You can also set different flows to be triggered based on user actions.
Track events and improve adoption
You can’t know how effective your tactics are if you don’t measure them.
Userpilot allows you to track how users engage with the product and the in-app experiences. That way, you can uncover insights that will enable you to drive more adoption.
Conclusion
Welcoming customers is an important part of the onboarding process. Take advantage of it to begin building an emotional bond with them that can later translate to retention and loyalty.
However, don’t just create nice welcome messages for customers; also ensure to keep the momentum by providing fantastic product experiences.
Hopefully, this article has given you the best practices and examples you need to kickstart your own process. But before you go and start implementing…
Userpilot can help you build welcome messages for customers with ease. Our no-code tool is built with many templates that you can just edit and begin using immediately. Book a demo to learn more.
