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You know the drill: you opt-in to someone's list, and soon you receive a confirmation email from them, welcoming you to the list, newsletter or whatever you just signed up for. The fact that we are expecting these emails is a primary reason why they are usually opened. But how does the sender craft these emails for best effect?

What elements are necessary to not only welcome them, but also identify what they can expect and what you have to offer them during their time with you?

Here are 7 ways you can optimize your welcome emails to set the stage for a lasting, profitable relationship.

7 Ways to craft effective welcome emails

Don't batch: send them immediately – While it might be more server-efficient to batch your emails to send out together, its poor form to do so with a new subscriber. Demonstrate that you care a little by sending these right away.

Use a working email address – Using a no-reply email address will only do one thing for you: give you a no-response customer. People are going to want to email you. Don't make it hard.

Test subject lines – Email autoresponder software makes it very easy to split-test subject lines. Do this for better open rates!

Use your social media channels – Encourage your subscribers to follow you on your social media channels, and even help them by ensuring that you have links and buttons on your email template.

Personalize your welcome emails – If you've collected names, you're going to want to personalize your welcome emails to help you get the relationship off to a warm and fuzzy start. Don't get overly cozy, but friendly and polite is good.

Perhaps offer an incentive – Many times companies choose to include an incentive to start the relationship off on the right foot. Perhaps a percent off coupon?

Optimize for mobile – Nowadays over half of all emails are being read on a mobile device, so wouldn't it be a good policy to use a responsive design so that your emails can be read anywhere, anytime?