This article was originally published in my Digital Tip-A-Month Newsletter. Sign up to get more tips like this in your inbox once a month.
First impressions matter. But when is the last time you thought about the first impression you’re making on new supporters? When is the last time you looked at the content you’re using to welcome people to your email list? (Hint: if your org does any sort of political or legislative work, who was president when you last looked at this content? It might need… a change in tone.)
Usually, we look at content like our sign-up pages, thank you pages, and welcome emails when we change technologies, but our databases and websites rarely change on the same cycle as organizational priorities. Brands change over time, too. It gets treated like “set it and forget it” content, but over time, thousands of people will see your sign-up content as their first interaction with your organization, and first impressions stick.
There can be a lot of moving parts to the sign-up process, too. For example: while setting up this newsletter, I had to build a new sign-up page on my website, but that wasn’t all. I had to decide what tone I wanted to convey, adjust language on other pages on my site, set thank you content, decide on an opt-in process in Mailchimp (one step or two step?), and revise or disable a surprisingly large number of baked-in confirmation emails.
If you haven’t revisited that process for your own list in a while, it’s worth taking a look to see what might need to change.
Half-Hour Exercise: Be Your Own New Supporter
Try walking through your own sign-up process as if you were brand new to your organization:
- Make a quick list of all the ways people can join your email list.
- Take a moment, shut your eyes, and imagine you’re a new supporter looking to get involved. You’re visiting with fresh eyes, and few preconceptions.
- Sign up for your own list using the top methods, preferably with a new email address.
(Tip: if you use Gmail, you can easily “create” an alias address by adding “+” and some text to your username. If your address is frodobaggins@gmail.com, sign up with frodobaggins+testuser@gmail.com and you’ll join the list as a new user, but emails will come right to your regular address.) - Read all the content, from the sign-up page to the thank you page to any welcome emails you receive. Are they relevant? Up-to-date? Do they convey a good sense of what your organization is all about? What first impression do they give?
If you’ve got a few extra minutes, do this same process with any other channels where you communicate with supporters. What do people see when they first visit your Facebook or Twitter page?
Use these insights to revise and adjust your content and welcome your new supporters with a better user experience.
Intermediate Level
Once all your basic content is in good shape, consider setting up an email welcome series, if your technology allows for it. A welcome series is a set of 1-4 emails that go out automatically to new supporters within their first couple weeks on your list. These messages can reinforce your mission, build relationships, and convey what you most want new supporters to know or do, whether that’s make a donation, take action, or simply learn about your work.
(Note: not every nonprofit needs a welcome series. They’re periodically quite popular, but there may be good reasons why it’s not right for you. Maybe your list is so busy, and your content so timely, that you don’t want to hold people out of your regular communications in order to “welcome” them. That’s fine!)
Advanced Level
If you already have a welcome series, and its content is current and relevant, have you tested it? You probably A/B test many of your regular outgoing emails, but just as many people will see your welcome series over time. You could test subject lines on individual messages, the content or order of the messages, or even whether having a welcome series boosts engagement at all.
Whatever level your program is at, your goal should be to give new supporters a positive experience, and the right first impression.