How to Build a Welcome Series Flow That SELLS (Full Strategy Explained)

0:00Someone just signed up to your email list. They wanted the 10% off, so they entered their email, and 30 seconds later, your first welcome email lands with the discount code. Great. Most brands get that part right. The problem is what happens after that. Because right now, that person is probably still shopping. They might have two or three other tabs open with brands selling something very similar to what you sell, and they're trying to decide who to buy from. Maybe they buy from you, but maybe they buy from someone else. But there's a very good chance that they're making that decision today or tomorrow. And

0:36then, what do most e-commerce brands do? They wait 2 days and send an email about the founder story. And then, another 2 days before the next one. And by that point, a lot of the people who were ready to buy have already made their decision. So, in this video, I'm going to show you exactly how I would structure a welcome series for an

0:57e-commerce brand in 2026. So, we'll go through the timing, how many emails I would send, what each email is actually supposed to do, and I will build the automation with you so you can copy the structure for your own e-commerce brand. And a quick introduction, if you're new here. So, my name is Emil, and I'm the founder of Magically, which is an email and SMS

1:20marketing agency for e-commerce brands. Over the last 7 years, we've worked with more than 150 e-commerce brands and generated over 300 million in email and SMS revenue. So, the structure I'm showing you today is based on what we're actually building and testing for our own clients. And at the end, I will also show you one thing I would do before writing any of these emails, because it makes deciding what to actually put inside the flow a lot easier. All right, let's start with the part that most e-commerce brands get wrong, which is the timing. So, the moment someone subscribes is usually one of the highest intent moments you're going to get from

1:58that person, right? So, they just found your brand. They were interested enough to give you their email address. And in a lot of cases, they ask for an offer because they're actively thinking about buying from you. So, you really don't want to waste that window of opportunity. And you can actually see this in your own data. We use a tool called Hire Analytics for this, but the exact numbers will actually be different for every brand, but the pattern is

2:24normally pretty clear. A lot of the purchases happen very soon after the sign-up. And then the likelihood drops as more as time passes, which makes sense, right? Someone who subscribed an hour ago is usually much more interested in your brand than someone who subscribed 12 days ago. So, when I see welcome series automation stretch across two or three weeks, I usually think they're way too slow. So, you're saving some of the strongest messages for a point where a lot of people have already purchased from you, bought from a competitor, or simply moved on. And the same thing happens with urgency. So, if you gave someone a

3:03discount when they signed up and then you wait until day 13 to tell them that it's about to expire, that urgency isn't nearly as strong anymore. So, they might barely remember signing up in the first place. So, I would much rather have the entire core welcome sequence happen within roughly 5 to 7 days with most of the important emails front-loaded into the first few days of your welcome series automation. And to be honest, this is usually the part that makes

3:31people nervous. On day one, I often want to send two emails. So, the first one goes out immediately after sign-up, and then another one roughly 4 to 8 hours later. And whenever I suggest that to an e-commerce founder, the first reaction is usually, "Isn't that too much?" But the context matters here. So, I'm not saying that you should send every subscriber to campaigns every single day forever. This is someone who literally just asked to hear from you, usually because they want a discount and they

4:02are considering buying from your store. So, this is of course a very different situation. So, if there's ever a time where someone is likely to tolerate and actually benefit from hearing from you twice in one day, it's right after they subscribe. So, the mistake I see much more often is the opposite. So, brands are so worried about sending too much that they're barely communicating during the exact period where the customer is most interested. So, instead of spacing six emails across three weeks, I would rather send the most important ones while the intent is still there. So, let me show you exactly how I set it up. All

4:41right, let's actually build this welcome series automation and I'm going to do it inside Omnisend today, which are also sponsoring this video. So, if you want to try Omnisend yourself, there's a link in the description below and if you're new customer, you can use the code "magically" to get 30% off your first three months. So, inside Omnisend, we're going to head over to automations and create our welcome series automation. So, we're

5:07going to hit automation over here. And then in the top right corner, we're going to hit create workflow. And then of course, there are already some pre-built automations by uh by Omnisend, so we can already see a welcome automation over here. So, if we click on that, we can customize the workflow over here and then you can see all the different settings. So, uh customers enter the workflow when they subscribe to marketing and [snorts] they exit the workflow when they place an order because obviously when someone has placed an order, you don't want them to

5:37receive the rest of this automation. So, trigger filters, channel subscribe to is email and a subscription method is sign up form and the first subscription is true. So, if someone is resubscribing, they won't receive this flow, which is exactly what we want. So, this is already like a good setting that we can use. So, instead of building it

5:56from scratch, why wouldn't we use this? So, let's hit for the right settings. So, first of all, wait for 1 minute. To be honest, you can just send it immediately. Of course, you can select it that as well. So, let's hit immediately. And then we have the first email over here. And what we're going to build out is like the the recommended strategy that that I oftentimes use for our clients. So, of course, email one is

6:20sent immediately. Then we're going to add another time delay. We're going to drag it in here. And the second email, I want to send it on the same day as I just mentioned, typically around 4 to 8 hours after the initial email. So, let's select hours and make this 8 hours. There we go. And then we're going to add another email over here, which is going to be email 1B, as I like

6:45to call it. Let's call this 1A. Let's put it in the subject line just for the convenience of this video. So, that's what we're going to do. And then we're going to add another time delay. And then starting the next day, then we're going to send one email a day, of course. So, then

7:00we're not going to send multiple emails. You can do it if you're like pretty aggressive in your marketing, then you can also test having two emails on day two or day one, basically, because the first day is day zero. But in this case, as an example, I'm just going to use one email a day. So, we waited 8 hours. So, if you want to send it 24 hours later, then of course, we're going to hit do it after 16 hours. So, we're going to

7:23change this to hours, make this 16. There we go. And then we're going to add in the next email, which is going to be email two. Then another time delay. And again, now we can just keep it at one day over here. And we're going to add another email, email three, and another time delay. Just duplicate this one because we're lazy, right? And we can just add another

7:51one. Here, email four. And the rest of the sequence is kind of basic, I would say, in terms of like structure. So, we just going to add one more email. So, typically, for an e-commerce brand, I would recommend around the five emails. In the past, if you're a true follower of this YouTube channel, you know that I sometimes recommend like longer sequences of like seven emails or even longer. But nowadays, since we are seeing in the data that most subscribers are really buying within the first three days, we're just going to front-load it with two emails on day one or day zero again, and then afterwards one email. And typically, at

8:29this point, we're like uh 1 day further, 2 days further, 3 days further, 4 days further. So, we're at day four already when they're getting this email. So, then typically, like the conversion will be like 0.1% max. That's what what we're typically seeing, especially for a brand with a product that doesn't need like a lot of explaining. Like sometimes, you have brands with like high AOVs or a brand that needs a little bit more explaining on why they should use the product, then the welcome sequence can be a bit longer. But otherwise, I would say it's really not necessary because keep in mind, these people will also receive

9:06your email campaigns. So, typically, what we see with brands using like long welcome series sequences is that they're getting zero conversion or maybe 0.1%, but their unsubscribe rate is becoming really high. So then, I think it's better to just cut down on the volume of your welcome series flow, so your unsubscribe rate won't be as high, and people will still receive your campaigns, which you can use as a conversion mechanism. So, this is really like the basic structure that I would recommend. So again, make sure that on

9:37day one that you're sending two emails. Where for the first email of course, we're just going to give away the discount that we promised. For the second email on day zero, I would recommend you use a plain text email. Again, if you're a follower of the channel then you know I'm a big fan of plain text emails to use it on strategic moments and I think this is a strategic moment where you send a plain text email out of name of the founder where you just give them a reminder on the discount code and give them a reason to

10:05buy now. So this is like the recommended structure that I would use for your welcome series automation. Now let's get into some examples of emails that you can actually send because of course we now build a structure but what kind of emails should you send? So before we get into the email examples and while we're still in Omnisend, one quick thing for anyone who's currently using another

10:28email platform. So depending on your list size and the plan that you're comparing it against, comparable email plans can come in up about 35% lower. Omnisend also currently has a 4.7 plus rating and if switching platforms sounds like a headache, Omnisend offers a done for you migration service as well. And according to Omnisend that normally takes around 5 days and they will move your data and your automations across and there is not an extra migration fee for it so they do it completely [music] for free. So if you want to take a look, the link is in the description below and again you can use the code magically for

11:0730% off your first 3 months with Omnisend. All right, now that we've built the structure let me show you what I would actually put inside the emails of this welcome series automation. So here we have a couple of email examples of emails that you could send in your welcome series automation. So first we have email one where we're just going to give away the discount code as we promised them in the sign up form of course. So a couple of examples, as you

11:31can see, it's pretty straightforward. So, we just wanted to say what the discount is, what the discount code is, and a big CTA in the above the fold section. As you can see, there are a couple of examples over here, and all three cases are doing the same thing. So, immediately when people open the email, they can see exactly what the discount code is, and they can shop immediately. Then after that, we have like a middle section where we tell a little bit about the brand and a

11:56reminder of the discount code. And then we go into like things like best sellers or product categories or whatever fits your brand best with a final CTA, and sometimes even a reminder of the discount code as well. So, over here, we show them four products with a show best sellers a button. Over here, we start with the best sellers as well

12:18with a shop all button. And over here for Steer Clear, check out the best sellers, again three products and with uh and another thing that we have over here, which is join the podium to earn points and exclusive rewards with every order. That's like a promotion that we did for this brand. So, really simple, clean, pretty designed, just showing the best sellers and give people like a thing to do with the discount code that we just gave them. But of course, with the rest of your welcome series automation, you want to use different angles for people to buy, which I will go more into a bit

12:50later, but I just want to show you a couple of angles. So, first of all, of course, we have the reviews angle, which is always like a good angle where we can lead with a good review in the header section, as you can see over here, and we can show some more reviews after that, linked to specific products, or it can be like store reviews as well, of course. And we do want to make sure that in every single email, we give them a reminder of the welcome discount that we gave originally. So, we can do that with a top bar, as you can see over here, but

13:19also throughout the email, as you can see at the bottom over here, and also in this second email for Sabers Pro, we did it at the bottom. So, this is like a good angle that you can use and it works for a lot of e-com brands, of course, since social proof is just so important. Another angle is the frequently asked question or questions. So, for example, for Monila, we had the question everyone asked, will it tarnish? Will it turn a skin green? Fair questions, here's why the answer is no, and we just answered their question with a simple email like this with again a reminder of the

13:53welcome discount over here. Same for Kryptek Outdoor, where we answered like multiple questions over here. So, this email was a bit longer, but again, a reminder of the discounts. And over here for Seven Organics, where instead of like the typical frequently asked question angle, we just answer a question but in a different format. So, we say we freeze dry everything and we explain why we do that

14:15and why that is important for your dog. So, that's also an angle that you can use. Then, of course, the best seller angle always works well. So, for example, for Sabers Pro, we show a lot of user-generated content since this is a brand with a lot of user-generated content. So, that's already like a great way to start the email, and then we show the actual best sellers over here with

14:38again a reminder of their discount code. And for Minky Blankets, our community most loved picks. That's a really good angle as well. So, sitting outside, go with the Siteline Cape. Tired of being cold outside, go with the Extreme Weather Blanket. Or furniture protection, go with the furniture cover. So, that these are all slightly different angles, but they're basically best seller promotions. And same over here for Omiana. So, meet the most loved ones with shop now buttons for each product. So, the key is that we don't want to show too many products because then we see that the conversion rates are actually dropping. So, you really want to stick to three to five

15:14products, I would say. And of course, if you only have like one big best seller, you could just make the email fully towards like one specific product as well. Another example is an email in the welcome series automation where we focus on the USPs. So for example, with this email for tea, we say, "Once you go loose, you'll never go back." So the USP of the SRT is that they have uh like loose leaf tea. So why should people buy

15:37loose leaf tea instead of bagged tea? That's what this email is all about. So what is the USP of this brand? Another example for Magic Linen. So why would people buy linen stuff? So did you know linen is breathable is anti bacterial, etc., etc. So again, we talk about the USP of this brand. Another example, so Empower Nutrition are selling supplements. So the difference is what's inside, hint only the cleanest ingredients. So we talk about that for this brand. Mailbakes. So they're basically sending cake with uh like a card in it. So better than a bouquet, flowers wilt, Mailbakes sticks with them. So why would they buy Mailbakes as

16:14a gift instead of flowers and cards? As you can see, that's what we answer in this welcome series automation. And another example, Seven Oaks & Greetings. Why would you buy this way doc instead of like just regular kibble? So nine ingredients, all organic, and uh we explain what uh the ingredients are and why this is so important. So all angles where you can highlight your USPs. The founder story, if you have like a true founder story, this is like a good thing as well. You can see a couple of examples over here. For example, Empower Nutrition, which is a brand that's heavily stated around the founder. So

16:49Nicole, so then of course the founder story email really makes a lot of sense. But also for like a startup like Ria for example, and also for a brand called Sir Coco, they had like a founder which is like really important for the brand, and then it makes sense to have like a founder story email in the welcome series automation. Then one last example is the urgency card. So at the end of your welcome series automation, of course you want to lead with urgency at um you see a couple of examples over here. So last call 20% off, where we also show the most love blends with like

17:18a product feed, another urgency email over here, but then with a review, another urgency email with another review over here, same over here, and same over here. So, and then over here we also say as seen on YouTube with 15 million plus views, TikTok 4.6 million, etc. etc. So, there are like different angles that you can use even with those three basic urgency emails. So, these are a couple of examples of emails that you can use in your welcome series automation. So, yeah, now that you understand the timing of the welcome series automation and the structure of it, this is the part that actually makes or breaks the actual automation. So,

17:55every email, as I just showed you, needs a job. So, you don't just want six emails that all basically say, "Hey, don't forget about your 10% off." So, the first email is there to deliver what they asked, as I just showed you, and to get them back to the site as quickly as possible, but the next few emails should give them reasons to choose you instead of one of the other brands that they're

18:17probably looking at at that same time. So, that might mean showing your strongest products, your best sellers, explaining what makes them different, dealing with common objections, showing social proof, or answering the questions that usually stops somebody from buying in the first place. And then, of course, towards the end of the sequence, as I just showed you, that's where you want to increase the urgency around the offer with like a last chance email and stuff like that. So, the exact content will depend on your brand, based on your product, based on your customer. But, the most important thing is that every email moves the decision forward. So,

18:51you're not just filling space because some template or email guru told you a welcome flow should have seven emails. You're always asking yourself, "What does this person still need to know before they are comfortably buying from me?" And then, each email answers one part of that. That's basically what you want to do with your welcome series automation. And this is the thing that I mentioned at the beginning of this video. So, before you write a single email, you want to spend 10 minutes writing down the main reasons people buy from you and the main reasons that they don't. That's it. So, what do customers

19:24care about most? What makes your product different? What questions do people ask before buying? What are they worried about? What objections show up in reviews, support tickets, sales calls, comments, DMs? Because that's your welcome series automation. So, you don't need to sit there trying to invent seven or five clever email ideas from scratch. Your customers are already telling you what they need to hear. So, if shipping time is a major concern, address shipping. If people don't understand which product is right for them, help them choose. If they are worried about quality, prove the quality. If your founder story actually explains why the product is different or

20:06better, then absolutely use it. But, don't just send a founder story email just because someone told you every welcome series automation needs one. So, you really want to build the sequence around the actual buying decision. That's the main thing that I want to make clear in here. So, yeah, that's the welcome series structure that I would recommend

20:26e-commerce brands in 2026. So, you want to keep it relatively short, front-load the most important emails while the intensity highest, and you want to give every email a specific job, and you want to build the content around the questions and objections that are actually stopping people from buying. And remember, even a really good welcome flow is still only one part of your email marketing. So, if your campaigns are random, your segmentation is weak, your other automations aren't built properly, and nobody is consistently testing anything, the welcome series automation ends up doing way too much of the work by itself. So, that's not really a system at that

21:05point. So, if your e-commerce brand is doing more than 50k a month and you want my team at Magically to build and manage this entire system for you, there's a link in the description below where you can book a call with me personally. And then we can discuss if potentially we could help you out. And if you want to keep doing this yourself, then you can watch this video next where I show you how you can use AI to help with your email marketing. So, click on that one

21:30and I'll see you over there.