• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, November 28, 2016

Hopefully, brands seeking to drive up their email lists to prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been getting good traction with those new sign-ups, as well as existing customers, of course. However, just in case you were wondering what would be the best way of embracing new sign-ups and hopefully turning those lookers into bookers, Campaigner has some sage advice.

To be brutally frank, it's not the most surprising piece of news you're likely to hear today, but it does at least serve the purpose of, at the very least, confirming what most email marketers already suspect but with the bonus of a statistic or two. 

So if you're welcoming a new customers and want them to turn that "Hi" into a "Buy," the most successful tactic is a voucher code. The great thing about a code is that it's not always a generic offer. It can be tailored as "Welcome10" to give new customers, say, a 10% discount on their first order after signing up to hear from you. It also has the very obvious benefit of being a time-limited offer. A customer knows they are only a new customer for so long and so it's perfectly reasonable, and indeed expected, that a "hello" offer should be time-limited. 

Saying hello, then, has the dual benefit for a brand of of not having to discount to a huge audience and instead passing on an offer to an individual who knows the voucher code has a limited life expectancy. And so for the statistic, in case it comes in handy during a discussion about email strategy. According to Campaigner, a welcome email with a voucher code has a 2.5x higher transaction rate than one without. Also, in general, nearly nine in ten, or 85%, of consumers say that an everyday email from a brand with a voucher code to unlock an offer would increase their propensity to buy.

It's the same with free shipping. Some 93% of email recipients "take action," according to Campaigner, when tempted with free shipping. 

So again, it's not the biggest surprise in the world, but the findings do at least show that a coupon with a welcome message will more than double the amount of newcomers you convert with the first email. Then, as the relationship develops, there's nothing quite like an offer of free shipping or a money-off code to get nine in ten customers sorely tempted to engage and make a purchase.