How to set up a welcome sequence in ConvertKit
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So you’ve taken the time to write an awesome welcome sequence and now you need to plug it into ConvertKit and get it delivered to your subscriber! How do you do that? Easy-peasy… I ‘ll show you the exact steps you need to take as well as the most vital part… setting up the trigger.
How to set up a welcome sequence in ConvertKit – that’s also GPR compliant!
Emails are great! They are one of the main drivers for revenue in any e-commerce business so why not take full advantage of ConvertKit’s automations and get your subscribers on board with your mission and buying your products with a welcome sequence. If you’re wondering WHY you need a welcome sequence, check out this other post here.
In this post I’ll be showing you the exact steps you need to take to make sure your newly written welcome sequence gets delivered to the right people (hello GDPR compliance). If you’re not sure how to get started on your welcome sequence, why not watch over my shoulder as I write my welcome sequence here.
So let’s get into it. Watch the video to see how to set up your welcome sequence in ConvertKit below.
There are two phases:
Creating the sequence (watch from the beginning)
Setting up the trigger (skip to 9 MINUTES and 15 SECONDS)
How to set up your newly written welcome sequence in ConvertKit so that it actually works
Phase 1 : Create your ConvertKit Sequence
Tip: Have your email copy ready (for example in a Google Doc)
STEP 1: Navigate to Automations > Sequences > click New Sequence (red button). Name your sequence and press Create.
STEP 2: Add the number of emails you want as part of your sequence in the left hand column.
STEP 3: For each email, add the subject line, email content and make sure you link all relevant copy to outgoing links using the link button (Tip: make sure links open in a new tab → see example at 3 MINUTES 15 SECONDS)
STEP 4: If you want preview text for the pre-header, use this code (substituting your copy in the xxx area) and add it to the email using the HTML button.
CODE: <div style="display:none;font-size:0;line-height:0;max-height:0;mso-hide:all">XXX</div>
STEP 5: Select the delay you want for each email in terms of when you want them delivered. Depending on your trigger, you might want the first email to go out 1 hour after your trigger (this is what I do, as the trigger is my subscriber receiving their initial opt-in).
STEP 6 : Select all the days if you ‘re happy for your emails to go out on any day of the week. If you want to restrict emails being sent on weekends make sure Saturday and Sunday are not selected. This may be something you want to consider if you want to send newsletters out on a weekend while people are still in a sequence.
Related article: What’s the difference between Broadcast email and Automation emails?
STEP 7: Make sure all your emails are set to active rather than draft so that the sequence is primed for sending.
Phase 2: Setting up your sequence trigger
STEP 1: Consider first when you want your email sequence to send. What are the parameters you want in place to make sure the right people get the sequence.
Note: In Converkit subscribers can only go through an email sequence once (they are internally tagged once they have gone through a sequence so you don’t have to worry about them receiving the same sequence twice if they opt in through multiple entry points.
My sequence triggers as soon as someone subscribes to any of my forms in Converkit. THey receive a tag “New Subscriber” which is the trigger for my automation sequence.
STEP 2: Go to Automations> Click New Automation (red button) and name it what you want.
STEP 3: Add the trigger to the start of the visual automation – in my example I use:
Event > when a subscriber is tagged with “New Subscriber”
STEP 4: Add in any conditions you want in place. For GDPR compliance I make sure to filter out anyone who is in the EU that hasn’t selected the checkbox that says they want to receive emails from me. These are the condition filters I use.
Condition 1: Is subscriber in EU? (ConvertKit identifies these subscribers via the IP address they signed up with).
If Yes: go to Condition 2
If No: Action> Add subscriber to a sequence “my-new-welcome-sequence”
Condition 2: Does subscriber have tag “GDPR: Email Consent” (this is an automatic tag that ConvertKit adds when subscriber is using the GDPR consent boxes on opt-in forms).
If Yes: Action> Add subscriber to a sequence “my-new-welcome-sequence”
If No: Action> Add subscriber to a tag “tag-for-deletion”
This way I can identify new subscribers in my account that have not consented to receiving emails and can filter them out in my broadcast sends and also delete on a regular basis since I don’t want to be paying for subscribers who don’t want to hear from me (they still get their lead magnet delivered though).
STEP 5: Decide whether you need to tag your subscribers once they have completed your sequence so that this triggers something else (if you want it to). Otherwise that is the end of your automation.
STEP 6: Set your automation to LIVE (green toggle in top right of visual automation screen).
Test before you celebrate
As with any tech and automations, you must test the whole process to make sure it delivers as you want it to.
If you have any questions about emails, copy or tech, then please add your question to the form on the contact page and I ‘ll do my best to help you out!
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