Knowing how to write high-converting welcome emails is an absolutely essential skill for any course or digital product creator looking to stand out in the online learning marketplace.

After all, your welcome email–a.k.a. your “freebie delivery” email–is the first real impression of you and your work that your subscribers get after signing up your lead magnet.

As such, it’s one of the most important pieces of your online sales ecosystem.

So how should you go about writing these high-converting welcome emails? Let’s find out.

How To Write High-Converting Welcome Emails As A Course Creator

Element #1: A Crystal Clear Subject Line

People’s inboxes are crowwwwded. Your freebie delivery email is competing with everything from Amazon order confirmations to Aunt Linda’s 47th cat meme of the week. 

Before you know it, your welcome email has been lost to the dreaded abyss of “I’ll just get through this later.” (Spoiler alert: They didn’t.)

Therefore, a crystal clear subject line is non-negotiable if you want your freebie to get found (and put to good use).

One way to nail this? Make sure the copy you use on your opt-in page matches the copy you use in your email subject line. 

Here’s what I mean:

If someone is scanning their inbox for “5 Quick Tips To Banish Overwhelm” they might not immediately recognize an “overwhelm workbook” as the thing they signed up for.

Match your language, and you’ll make it easier for them to connect the dots.

💡 Another pro tip: Use the Preview Text (the little snippet under the subject line) to remind your subscribers why they signed up for your freebie in the first place.

Here’s a simple subject line + preview text formula I love:

Subject line: [free training/workbook/mini-course] How To XYZ

Preview text: BENEFIT = your new reality <emoji>

Example:

It’s simple, it’s clear, and it works.

One final tip: Adding an emoji (as long as it matches your brand voice & tone), can also help your freebie delivery email stand out in people’s inboxes. 👋🏻

Element #2: A Swift Delivery Of The Thing They Asked For

Despite what some folks will tell you about using storytelling in your emails…

The opening line of your freebie delivery email is usually NOT the place to launch into a five-paragraph rendition of your life story. 

➡️ My advice? Get to the point, fast.

You can start your welcome email with a simple:

“Hey, <NAME>!”

Here’s a link to that <FREE THING> you asked me about.”

^^ Sometimes this can be 80% (!) of your welcome email. 

So if you’re short on time–or if your brand values brevity–you can do this + ask them to reply with any Qs they have.

Welcome email, done & dusted–in 5 minutes flat. 

(Psst: Still working on your finishing up your freebie? Here are 5 lead magnet ideas that still work in 2025.)

Element #3: A Quick Reminder Of Their Why

As much as we’d like to believe we’re the center of our subscribers’ universe… We are not.

Chances are, your new subscriber already has 35 tabs open on their laptop–and 47 more just in their head.

So how can you make sure that they actually USE the freebie they just signed up for?

✏️ Simple: remind them why they wanted it in the first place.

If your opt-in page already has a punchy list of benefits, great! Copy-paste them into your email, right after the link to the freebie. 

It would look something like this:

The <NAME OF YOUR THING> will help you:

• Benefit #1
• Benefit #2
• Benefit #3

<LINK WITH A CALL TO ACTION>

For example:

^^Yep, that’s a second link. 

(Give your audience more than one link to the freebie in your email! They will probably miss a couple the first time around.)

Element #4: A Dash Of Personality

By now, you’ve delivered the lead magnet you promised and reminded your new subscribers why they need it.

But there’s one more ingredient that will keep them engaged for weeks to come:

YOU.

We want your subscribers to start caring about YOU as a person–not just how you can help them solve their problems.

🎨 A few fun ways to do it:

• Put a face to the name by adding a GIF of yourself to the email
• List 3 fun facts about yourself–bonus points if they go deeper than your regular coffee order
• Share a 3-5 sentence story of how YOU managed to accomplish the thing you now teach about

The goal? Make them feel like they’re learning from a real human (not a faceless internet “expert”).

Element #5: A Simple Ask

Normally I subscribe to the “one email, one job” rule–but the freebie delivery/welcome email is a bit of a special case.

It’s one of the points in your customer journey where the person is most likely to engage with you (e.g. hit reply to your email).

In addition to establishing rapport, it also tells Google that your emails are wanted, which will make it easier for you to escape the Promotions tab–or worse, the dreaded Spam folder.

So at the end of your freebie delivery email… Ask your subscriber to hit “Reply.”

❓ Here are a few things you can ask them:

• “What brought you into my world? What are you struggling with?”
• Something tangentially related to what you teach (e.g. their favorite productivity hack)
• Something completely unexpected/just for fun (e.g. their favorite color)

Don’t be afraid to tell them you are (at least partially) doing this to get on Google’s good side.

Most people appreciate the honesty, and will be more likely to engage with you if you are open about what you’re doing.

Bonus Q: What Software Should I Use To Send These High-Converting Welcome Emails? 💌

As a small business owner who has tried them all over the years–or seen the back end of things during client projects–my vote goes to Kit (formerly ConvertKit).

It’s simple to understand, easy to use, and super affordable–which is a must when you’re just starting out.

Get your 14-day free trial here (aff).

Your Next Steps

There are a thousand-and-one ways to write high-converting welcome emails–but the one I shared with you here is a great starting point. Go try it out for yourself!

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👋🏻 Oh, hello there! Have we met yet? (Zoom meetings count, although I will always prefer a good brunch + coffee outing myself.) 

I’m Ieva–a launch strategist & copywriter for course + digital product creators.

If you’ve found my content helpful/relatable/mildly entertaining, here are some things you can do to keep the good vibes going:

Book a 60-minute Sounding Board Session with me. Not sure what your next step is, marketing-wise? I’ll help you untangle your thoughts, make sense of your ideas, and figure out what to do next.

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Hire me to write your sales pages & emails. I’m really good at zeroing in on my clients’ unique magic & brand voice–so if you’re looking for sales copy that actually sounds like you, I’m your gal. 

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