Update Your Welcome Flow For The Holiday Season To Maximize Your Sales

Hey it’s Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

Your welcome flow gets the highest open rates you'll ever see.

60-70% open rates. 15-25% click rates when done right.

But the problem is your welcome flow was built for normal months.

And this isn't a normal month.

If you're sending the same welcome flow you sent in May, you're leaving thousands on the table every single day.

Here's what needs to change, and you can fix it in 20 minutes.

Key Takeaways:

• Holiday shoppers have 3x higher purchase intent and compressed timelines

• Compress your welcome sequence from 7-14 days to 4-5 days maximum

• Lead every email with gift-giving language and shipping clarity

• Create a separate fast-track path for people who join after Dec 15

• Expected lift: 15-30% increase in welcome flow conversions

The Problem: You're Nurturing When You Should Be Converting

Holiday shoppers have some of the highest buying intent out of any time of the year.

They don't have time to read your 7-day nurture sequence about your brand story, your founder's journey, and why your product is special.

They're thinking "I need gifts NOW" not "I'll browse later and maybe buy next month."

Your welcome flow may be designed to build trust slowly over 1-2 weeks, but holiday buyers have compressed timelines and 3x higher purchase intent.

The Fix: Compress Your Welcome Sequence

A 7-14 day welcome flow is fine for January through October.

But during the holiday season, you need to cut that in half.

Here's the structure that works:

Email 1 (Immediately): Welcome + Gift Guide

• Deliver the pop-up discount immediately

• Lead with "Find the perfect gift" not "Treat yourself"

• Include your top gift-worthy products or bundles

• Add shipping cutoff dates right in Email 1 (this addresses the #1 holiday objection upfront)

Email 2 (Day 2): Shipping Deadlines + Urgency

• Reminder of the discount

• Heavy focus on "Order by [date] to get it in time"

• Highlight express shipping options

• Social proof (reviews, testimonials, "trusted by X customers")

Email 3 (Day 3): Final Nudge

• Last chance for the welcome discount

• Extreme urgency on shipping deadlines

• Can be text-based from founder or support team

• "We don't want you to miss out" angle

And that’s all you really need. Three emails over 2-3 days instead of 7 emails over two weeks.

Lead Every Email with Gift-Giving Language

This is the easiest change you can make and it has massive impact.

Go through every email in your welcome flow and swap out the self-purchase language for gift-giving language.

Bad (normal year-round copy): "Treat yourself to better sleep" "You deserve this" "Upgrade your routine"

Good (holiday season copy): "Find the perfect gift for the coffee lover in your life”, "Gifts they'll actually use (and love)", "Holiday bundles that make gifting easy"

The shift is subtle but it completely reframes the purchase decision.

And include shipping clarity in every single email. The #1 objection during the holiday season is "Will it arrive in time?"

Answer that question before they even ask it.

Include shipping cutoff dates in Email 1. Remind them in Email 2. Make it impossible to miss.

Update Copy for Late Joiners (After Dec 15)

If signs up on December 18th and gets the same 7-day welcome flow you've been running all year, you’ve completely dropped the ball.

By the time they get to Email 3, it's December 21st and standard shipping is already closed.

You just lost that sale.

Instead, create some different copy for welcome flow for anyone who joins after December 15th.

Late Joiner Welcome Flow (2 emails max):

Email 1 (Immediately):

• Deliver discount

• Lead with express shipping and same-day delivery options

• Highlight digital gift cards as the hero solution

• Make it crystal clear: "Order today, arrives by Christmas"

Email 2 (Next Day):

• Final push

• Focus entirely on gift cards if physical products won't arrive

• "Still need a gift? Digital delivery in 5 minutes"

Instead of using a flow designed to nurture a potential customer, give them the fastest path to a solution.

That customer WILL remember and appreciate how they were able to get their favorite product in time for the holiday season. That’s value.

Update Your Pop-Up to Match

Your welcome flow is only as good as the traffic feeding into it.

If you're still running a generic "10% off your first order" pop-up during the holiday season, you're missing the entire point.

Update your pop-up to feature your holiday offer and collect both email and phone number.

What your pop-up should say:

• "Black Friday Exclusive: BOGO Free" (or whatever your actual offer is)

• "Holiday Gifts: Free Shipping on Orders $50+"

• "Find the Perfect Gift: 25% Off Sitewide"

Bonus points if your offer is seasonally relevant and focuses on gifting.

And yes, people will sign up even though they don't technically need to opt in to get the deal. You'll still grow your list, and those subscribers will convert at a higher rate because you can now hit them with daily reminders and abandonment flows.

Real example: One of our clients updated their pop-up to feature their Black Friday offer and got 32% opt-in rate and 17,000 new subscribers in 7 days.

The Numbers: What This Actually Gets You

Let's say you're running paid traffic to your site during the holiday season.

You're getting 5,000 new email subscribers in November and December.

Your current welcome flow converts at 8% (which is pretty standard for a year-round flow).

That's 400 customers.

Now you update your welcome flow for the holiday season using the changes above.

Your conversion rate jumps to 10% (this is the real number we saw with a client who made these exact changes).

That's 500 customers. 100 more customers than before.

At an $85 average order value, that's $8500 in additional revenue.

For 20 minutes of work updating three emails and a pop-up.

What to Do Right Now

Go into your email platform and pull up your welcome flow.

Ask yourself:

• Is this flow optimized for holiday shoppers or year-round traffic?

• Does every email lead with gift-giving language?

• Are shipping deadlines mentioned in Email 1?

• Is the flow compressed to 4-5 days instead of two weeks?

• Do I have a separate path for people who join after Dec 15?

If the answer to any of these is no, fix it today.

You're about to get more site traffic than any other time of year. Don't waste it with a welcome flow built for May.

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand: Notice Hair Co

Email Design: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NTRJCRLzpkvGg2dHOEVkpEGOq9ZEWPu_/view?usp=sharing


Notes: This email incorporates subtle gifting language which is perfect for the holiday season. The hero section is bold, has a strong offer, and is very enticing.

Template of The Day

If you want access to a bank of 134 mix and match templates like this equating to over 5,000+ possible email designs, click here » 

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max | Well Copy Email & SMS Marketing

PS - If you run a 7-9 figure ecommerce brand and you want to have a free email strategy consultation, book a call here » 

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