Despite the proven benefits of welcome emails in building your brand and connecting with your subscribers, plenty of businesses still don’t take advantage of them. If you’re among those who have yet to implement a welcome email as your first point of contact with a new subscriber, take a look at these reasons you should add one to your email lineup.

It boosts open rates.

Most people will be more likely to open a welcome email than a standard marketing email. And if you can demonstrate superb value with that initial contact, you may see a difference in your open rates for future emails as well.

It increases deliverability.

Asking subscribers to add your email address to their address book right from the get-go can ensure better deliverability rates down the road.

It gives you a chance to show appreciation.

Whether the subscriber is a new customer, a business contact, or just someone interested in your company, they deserve a sincere thank you for signing up. And while just saying the words can go a long way toward building a relationship, you can also sweeten the deal by offering a discount or other gesture of appreciation.

It’s automatic.

When you use automatic triggers or email auto-responders to generate your welcome emails, you don’t have to worry about adding any extra steps to your email campaign. Just set up your trigger/ auto-responder to send an email upon completion of a purchase or registration.

It reinforces the opt-in.

That first email can act as a reminder to the subscriber that they’ve opted in to receive communication from you. This is a smart move when it comes to decreasing the number of subscribers who hit the spam button or opt-out when they receive your messages.

It gives you a chance to up-sell and cross-sell.

If your welcome email is responding to a purchase, you can suggest other items of interest or highlight special deals the subscriber might be interested in. You can also remind customers of items they may have added to the shopping cart without completing the purchase.

These are just a few of the benefits a welcome email can bring to your online business. Can you think of any others, please share them with below? As you start work on the design of your welcome email, you’ll find all the tools you need in your eConnect Email account. Set up automatic triggers, monitor open rates, and use our custom design templates and tools to make sure your subscribers receive compelling messages from the very first day they register.

As 2011 draws to a close, email marketers should already be planning their strategies for the 2012. While 2011 saw the establishment of new technologies as mainstream, 2012 will enable us to deepen our engagement with these technologies, thereby catering more effectively to an ever more mobile and connected audience. Without further ado, let’s dive into the top email strategies for the new year.

• Deeper Customer Engagement

By engagement, I mean two-way conversation. Email marketers must focus more stringently on involving subscribers in dialogue, speaking with them, rather than at them.

• Relevant Content

List segmentation will take top priority in 2012 as subscribers expect email messages to increasingly reflect their personal preferences and needs. Creating targeted lists based on subscriber behavior such as email clicks, website browsing, and previous purchases will enable businesses to send content that remains high on the subscriber’s priority list.

• Mobile Optimization

As people increasingly use mobile devices to check email, businesses will need to create messages that acknowledge the unique aspects of mobile design. Single columns, larger fonts and buttons, and increased space between clickable elements all make emails easier for mobile users to navigate.

• Automated Campaigns

While many businesses already use triggered responses for email receipts and welcome letters, automation will gain a whole new level of sophistication in 2012. Increase customer engagement with your brand by using automation for cross sell and up sell offers, birthday/anniversary greetings, purchase recommendations, and more. By utilizing multiple triggers for your automation campaign, you can keep loyal subscribers engaged on a consistent basis.

• Social Media Integration

No longer will email and Facebook operate in parallel universes. Social sharing will become an intrinsic part of email marketing strategies in 2012 as businesses seek to create multi-channel communication. Enabling subscribers to share message content via social media icons will increase the likelihood of your message reaching an ever broader audience of targeted prospects.

• Email Marketing Becomes More Important, Not Less

Ultimately, despite speculations that email is dead, email marketing will gain greater importance in 2012 than ever before. Email messages will be more personal and relevant based on subscriber data, making them an integral part of a multi-pronged approach to overall customer engagement.

eConnect Email remains on the cutting edge of email marketing technology and stands ready to help you incorporate these vital elements into your strategy. By starting out on the front edge of evolving email technology, you’ll be ready for whatever new developments 2012 brings your way.