Welcome email examples for small businesses

Someone gave you their email address a minute ago. Right now they remember you. In a week they might not.

That first email is the one most people open. It is also the one most small businesses never write, because it has to be ready before the first person signs up.

This post gives you five welcome emails you can copy and change, one each for a yoga studio, a café, a salon, a coach and a shop. Then a three email series for when one email is not enough, and the steps to set it up so it goes out on its own.

Why the welcome email matters most

GetResponse looked at more than 4.4 billion emails its customers sent in 2023. Welcome emails had an average open rate of 83.63%. Newsletters had 40.08%. The average across every email in the study was 39.64%. Numbers from GetResponse's 2024 Email Marketing Benchmarks, checked September 28, 2026.

Opens are only half of it. The same report shows people click in welcome emails far more often than in anything else you send.

Read open rates with some care: Apple Mail opens many emails by itself when they arrive. The click numbers do not have that problem, and they show the same gap.

What a good welcome email has

Look at the five examples below and you will see the same five parts in each.

1. A subject line that says what it is. "Welcome to Riverside Yoga, here is your first class" beats "Hello!". People signed up a minute ago. They are looking for your name.
2. A thank you in one line. No story about how you started. That can come later.
3. What they get from your emails, and how often. "One email on Sundays with the week's classes." Now they know what to expect, and a Sunday email will not surprise them.
4. One next step. Book a class, visit the café, see the menu, reply with a question. One button, with words that say what happens: "Book your first class", never "Click here".
5. The gift, if you promised one. If the form said "10% off your first order", the code goes in this email, near the top.

Keep it short. Each example below is 100 words or fewer, and that is enough.

Five welcome email examples you can copy

Change the names, times and offers to yours. Keep the shape.

A yoga studio

Subject: Welcome to Riverside Yoga, your first class is on us Preview text: Pick any class this week. Bring water, we have mats.

Hi, and thanks for joining. Every Sunday you will get one email from us with the week's schedule and anything new: a workshop, a teacher on holiday, a class that moves. Your first class is free. Pick any class this week and show this email at the front desk. Come 10 minutes early so we can show you around. Bring water. We have mats and towels. [Book your free class] Not sure which class fits? Reply to this email and tell us a bit about you. Maya reads every reply. See you on the mat, Maya and the Riverside team

A café

Subject: Your free coffee at Bean & Barrel Preview text: Show this email at the counter, any day this month.

Thanks for signing up. Here is what you get from us: one short email a month with the new seasonal drink, the pastry of the week and the days we are open late. That is all. Your first drip coffee is free. Show this email at the counter any day before the end of the month. [See this week's menu] We are at 214 Main Street, open 7 am to 4 pm on weekdays and 8 am to 2 pm on weekends. Sam

A salon

Subject: Welcome to Studio Nine, and $15 off your first cut Preview text: Your code is inside. Book online in two minutes.

Welcome, and thank you for joining. We send one email a month with open chairs, new services and the odd last minute slot. If a spot opens up with your stylist, you will hear it here first. Your code for $15 off your first visit: NINE15. It works on any cut or colour, once. [Book your first appointment] Before your visit: bring a photo of the look you want, even a screenshot. It saves ten minutes of explaining. Jordan, Studio Nine

A coach

Subject: Here is the 5 day meal plan you asked for Preview text: Download link inside, plus what comes next.

Thanks for signing up. Here is your plan: [Download the 5 day meal plan] Over the next two weeks I will send you three more emails. Each one takes two minutes to read and has one thing to try that week. After that, you get one email every other Tuesday. One question for you: what is the hardest meal of your day? Hit reply and tell me. I read every answer, and the most common ones become my next emails. Talk soon, Chris

A shop

Subject: Welcome to Harbor Goods, 10% off inside Preview text: Your code works in the shop and online.

Thanks for joining the Harbor Goods list. Once a month we send new arrivals, the restock dates for the things that sell out, and first access to our sales. Never more than two emails a month. Here is your 10% off code: HELLO10. It works in the shop on 5th Street and online, on your first order. [See what is new this month] Our best seller right now is the linen apron, $38. It sells out every restock. Ellie and Tom

None of them has a list of ten links or a company history. Each one fits on a phone screen.

When one email is not enough: a three email series

A single welcome email works for most businesses. If you sell something people think about before they buy, like a class pack, a coaching program or a salon treatment, a short series gives them a few days to decide. Here is one for a yoga studio. It works for a coach or a salon with small changes.

Email 1, right after they confirm. The welcome from above: thank you, what they get, the free class, one button.

Email 2, two days later. Subject: "What to expect at your first class". Answer the questions beginners are too shy to ask. What to wear. Where to park. Whether you need to be flexible (no). What happens if you arrive late. End with the same button: book your free class.

Email 3, seven days after they joined. Subject: "Still thinking about it?" A short story from a real member, in their words and with their permission. Then an offer with a date on it: "Your first month is $49 instead of $89 if you start before Sunday." One button.

Then stop. After the series, they get your normal emails.

Two rules make a series feel helpful instead of pushy:

• Stop when they buy. If someone books after email 1, they should not get "Still thinking about it?" five days later. Tag the people who book, and let the tag end the series.
• Space them out. Two days, then five more. Three emails in three days reads like a sales funnel, because it is one.

Set it up once in Postfjord

Postfjord's email part, postmail, is in testing, and sending is in early access: Postfjord switches it on per workspace. You can write the emails before that. The steps below come from the help pages for Signup forms and Email automations.

A welcome email for a signup form

1. Go to Email, Campaigns, and press Email settings at the top.
2. Under Signup forms, press New form. Open Edit the form to write the heading, text and button, and to pick tags for the people who sign up. Press Save form.
3. If you promised a gift, write it under Thank-you gift, for example "HELLO10 for 10% off your first order". It shows on the page right after someone confirms, and it is put into the welcome email when you write it.
4. Under Welcome email, press Write a welcome email. It opens in the email editor, in your brand colours. Paste in one of the examples above and change it.
5. Press Continue, then Start on the automation, or Switch on under the form.

From then on, everyone who confirms through that form gets the welcome email within about a minute. Everyone confirms by pressing a button in a short email first, so the welcome email only goes to real addresses of people who said yes.

Share the form's link in your Instagram bio, in a post or on a poster by the till as a QR code. Or paste the Code for your website into your site. For more ways to fill the list, read How to build an email list from your Instagram followers.

A three email series

1. Go to Email, Automations, and press New automation.
2. Under What starts it, pick Someone confirms through a signup form, for any form or one.
3. Under Emails, set the waits: 0 for the first, 2 days for the second, 5 days for the third. Each wait counts from the email before, so the third arrives a week after they joined.
4. Press Edit email to write each one. An automation holds up to 10.
5. Under When emails go out, pick Only at these times if you want them to land in daytime, for example 8 am to 8 pm. An email that falls outside waits for the next open hour.
6. Under Stop when the contact gets this tag, pick the tag you add when someone books. They get nothing more from the series.
7. Press Save changes, then Start. Postfjord checks every email first, and tells you which one to fix if something is wrong.

You can change the text of a running series. People already in it get the new version of each email that has not gone out yet.

If you already have a list somewhere else, bring your contacts in first. Imported contacts start an automation only after Postfjord has cleared the import.

FAQ

What should a welcome email include?

A thank you, what the reader will get from you and how often, one next step with a button, and any gift you promised on the form. Your business name belongs in the subject line so people recognise it in the inbox.

When should you send a welcome email?

Right away. The person signed up a minute ago and is still thinking about you. In Postfjord, a welcome email with no wait arrives within about a minute of the confirmation.

How long should a welcome email be?

Short enough to read on a phone without scrolling much. The five examples in this post are between about 80 and 100 words. Save the longer story for a later email.

What is a good open rate for a welcome email?

In GetResponse's study of emails sent in 2023, welcome emails averaged an 83.63% open rate, about double the 40.08% for newsletters (source). Your number depends on your list, and Apple Mail's automatic opens make every open rate look higher than it is. Clicks on your button tell you more.

Should a welcome email have a discount?

Only if you promised one, or if a first visit is the step people hesitate over. A free first class or a free coffee often works better for a local business than a percent off, because it gets people through the door.