Welcome Series Email Flow: 2 Copy-Ready 5-Email Sequences (2026)

A welcome series email flow is an automated set of emails that starts the moment someone joins your list and stops when they buy, book or stop engaging. The two flows below are ready to copy: a 5-email ecommerce welcome flow and a 5-email B2B or service-business welcome sequence, each sent on day 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7, with subject lines, full body copy and the branch rules that decide who gets what. It is worth the setup time: in Klaviyo’s 2026 benchmark report (110,000+ customers, published October 2, 2026), the welcome series averages $5.75 revenue per recipient and a 6.5% click rate, and the top 10% reach $13.27 and 13.3%.

Both flows at a glance. Day 0 is the moment the person joins the list (after they confirm, if you use double opt-in).

The 5-email ecommerce welcome flow (day 0 to day 7)

Trigger: added to your main newsletter list (popup or footer form). Goal: first order. Top-of-flow split: “Has Placed Order at least once over all time.” People on the NO path have never bought and get the discount; people on the YES path are existing customers who just subscribed and get the same emails without a code. This is the split Klaviyo’s own welcome series guide (updated October 7, 2026) uses for first-purchase discounts. Replace every bracketed field.

Email 1 (day 0): deliver the code

Hi [First name | there], welcome to [Brand]. Here is your code: [CODE]. It takes [10]% off your first order and works until [date, 7 days from today]. Not sure where to start? These are the three products new customers buy first: [Product 1, one-line reason], [Product 2, one-line reason], [Product 3, one-line reason]. [Button: Shop the starter picks]. What to expect from us: about [2] emails a week, mostly [new releases, how-to guides, restocks]. Reply to this email if you have a question; a person on our team reads every reply. [Brand], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

YES-path version: same email, but the first line becomes “Thanks for subscribing, and thanks for being a customer” and the code block is replaced by a link to what is new since their last order.

Email 2 (day 1): why it is different

Hi [First name | there], quick story. We started [Brand] in [year] because [the specific problem with existing products, in one sentence]. Three things we do differently: 1. [Material or ingredient fact with a number]. 2. [Where and how it is made]. 3. [How it is tested, or the guarantee]. That is why [hero product] costs [price] and lasts [specific claim you can back up]. [Button: See how [hero product] is made]. Your code [CODE] still works until [date]. [Brand], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Email 3 (day 3): proof

Hi [First name | there], we asked customers what changed after a month with [product]. Three answers, unedited: “[Review 1]” ([Name, city, verified buyer]). “[Review 2]” ([Name]). “[A 4-star review that names a small drawback]” ([Name]). The third one matters: [one sentence on how you fixed or explain the drawback]. [Button: Read all [number] reviews]. [Brand], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Use only real reviews you have permission to publish. Including one honest 4-star review makes the other two more believable.

Email 4 (day 5): objections

Hi [First name | there], the questions we get most before a first order, answered in one line each. Shipping: [free over $X / $X flat], arrives in [X to X] business days. Returns: [X] days, [free / prepaid label], no questions. Sizing: [one rule, e.g. “between sizes, size up”], full guide here: [link]. Still unsure? Reply with your question and [Name] will answer today. [Button: Shop with [CODE]]. [Brand], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Email 5 (day 7): last call

Hi [First name | there], a short reminder: [CODE] for [10]% off your first order expires tonight at midnight [time zone]. After that it is gone, and we do not resend it. [Button: Use my code]. If now is not the right time, no problem. You will keep getting our [weekly] emails, and you can unsubscribe below whenever you like. [Brand], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Ecommerce branch rules: purchased, clicked, suppress

One setting to change: Klaviyo’s Smart Sending skips anyone emailed in the last 16 hours by default, and Klaviyo’s Smart Sending guide (updated October 22, 2026) says skipped messages are not sent later. Someone who gets a campaign and then signs up an hour later would never see their code. Turn off “Skip recently emailed profiles” on email 1 only. The cart flow itself, with timing and discount math, is in the abandoned cart email guide.

The 5-email B2B and service-business welcome sequence

Trigger: a guide, checklist or newsletter signup form. Goal: a booked 20-minute call or a reply. Entry filter: exclude anyone whose lifecycle stage is already customer; existing clients get a client update, not a sales sequence. If you still need the thing they sign up for, the lead magnet ideas for coaches include a scorecard with scoring bands that drops straight into email 1.

Email 1 (day 0): deliver the asset

Hi [First name | there], here is the [guide name] you asked for: [link]. If you only have five minutes, read page [4]: it covers [the single most useful section]. From here on you’ll get one email every [Tuesday] about [topic], each under a 3-minute read. One question: what made you download this today? Reply with one line; I read every answer and it shapes what I write next. [Name], [Title], [Firm], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Email 2 (day 1): one quick win

Hi [First name | there], the mistake I see most in [area] is [specific mistake, with the number attached, e.g. “pricing on hours instead of outcomes”]. The fix takes about 10 minutes: 1. [Step with an exact action]. 2. [Step]. 3. [Step, with what “done” looks like]. Page [X] of the guide has the worksheet. [Link: The full walkthrough]. [Name], [Firm], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Email 3 (day 3): the method

Hi [First name | there], if you hired us to fix [problem], this is what the first 30 days look like. Week 1: [diagnostic, with the deliverable named]. Weeks 2 to 3: [the build or change]. Week 4: [the review, and the number we report]. [If you have a real, permissioned client result: “For [client type], that meant [specific result] by [month].”] [Link: See how we work]. [Name], [Firm], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Leave the result line out if you do not have a real one you are allowed to share. An invented case study is worse than none.

Email 4 (day 5): price and fit

Hi [First name | there], most firms hide this until the third call, so here it is. Engagements usually run [$X to $Y] over [X months]. We are a bad fit if: 1. [revenue or size floor], 2. [you need it done in under X weeks], 3. [you want someone to execute without a strategy]. If none of those apply, the next step is a 20-minute call. [Link: Pricing and scope]. [Name], [Firm], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Email 5 (day 7): the ask, in plain text

Hi [First name], a direct question: would 20 minutes on [problem] be useful? On the call we’ll look at [your numbers / your current setup], and you’ll leave with [a fee range / the first three fixes], whether or not we work together. Pick a time here: [booking link]. If a call is not convenient, reply with your question and I’ll answer by email within one business day. [Name], [Title], [Firm], [postal address]. [Unsubscribe]

Send email 5 with no images, no header and no button. It should look like the email a partner would type themselves.

B2B branch rules: booked, replied, clicked, suppress

The 120-day lapse rule matches the B2B lapse row in the triggered emails guide, so the two systems hand off cleanly. The re-engagement sequence itself, with a 3-email sunset, is in the email drip campaign examples.

How to set up a welcome series flow in Klaviyo, Mailchimp and HubSpot

The steps use the labels in each vendor’s help center on the dates shown. Prices are USD list prices from each vendor’s pricing page on November 1, 2026.

Klaviyo: list-triggered welcome series

1. Go to Flows, click Create Flow, then Build your own. Name it and click Create Flow. (New accounts can instead click Create welcome series, pick the trigger list and click Next, per the welcome series guide.)
2. Select Added to list, choose your main subscriber list and click Done.
3. Drag Split from the Logic section under the trigger and set the first path to “Has Placed Order at least once over all time.” Klaviyo’s multi-branch split guide (updated October 7, 2026) allows up to 20 paths, checked in order, with “Everyone else” last.
4. Drag an email onto each path, click it, then Configure Content. Add time delays of 1, 2, 2 and 2 days between emails to land on days 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7.
5. Add the profile filter “Placed Order zero times since starting this flow.” Klaviyo’s flow trigger documentation (updated October 7, 2026) says profile filters are checked at entry and again before each action, which is what makes the purchase exit work.
6. Open email 1 and turn off Skip recently emailed profiles.
7. Click Update status, select Live, then Save. A flow left in Draft does not send.

Three Klaviyo rules catch people out. A contact gets a list-triggered flow only once, so someone who unsubscribes and resubscribes will not get the series again. Before importing contacts, set the flow to Manual, or Klaviyo schedules the first email for every imported profile “even if they subscribed months ago,” then switch it back to Live. And keep the SMS welcome series separate from the email one.

Mailchimp: welcome automation flow

1. Click Automations, then Flow templates. Search “welcome” or scroll to Find & welcome new contacts, click a template and Use this flow, choose the audience and click Continue. Or click Build from scratch, enter a Name, choose the Audience and click Choose a trigger (Mailchimp help).
2. Choose Signs up for email. Decide whether to include newly added and imported contacts; for a welcome series, leave imports out.
3. Click Filter who can enter this flow if you need to exclude existing customers, then Save Trigger.
4. Use the plus icon to add Time delay and Send email steps, and a Conditional split (up to 5 conditions, Standard or higher) for the purchase and click branches, per Mailchimp’s flow overview.
5. Click Continue, then Turn flow on.

With double opt-in on, a contact enters the flow only after clicking the confirmation link; people who never confirm never get email 1.

HubSpot: welcome workflow

1. Go to Automation > Workflows, click Create workflow, then From scratch (HubSpot guide, updated October 16, 2026).
2. Click Trigger enrollment for contacts and choose the Form submission event for your guide form, or Met filter criteria for list membership (enrollment trigger guide). Add a filter that excludes lifecycle stage customer.
3. In the Settings tab, leave Re-enroll off so each contact gets the welcome once, and set unenrollment criteria for meeting booked or lifecycle stage changed.
4. Click + and add Send email with an email saved for automation, then a Delay of a set amount of time (1 day, then 2, 2 and 2). HubSpot’s delay options include a business-days checkbox; leave it off for email 1.
5. Add a Branch based on one property or action output after email 4 for the pricing-click rule, with a Create task action on the clicked path.
6. Click Review and publish, choose to enroll only contacts who meet the trigger after you turn it on, then Turn on workflow.

HubSpot cannot trigger on something that did not happen: its guide states “it is not possible to determine if an event did not occur.” “Clicked pricing but did not book” is therefore a delay plus a branch, not a trigger.

Deliverability rules for new subscribers

A welcome flow is the first mail a new address gets from you, so it sets your complaint rate and your engagement history with the mailbox provider. Three decisions matter: how people opt in, whether you meet the Gmail and Yahoo sender rules, and whether the emails meet US law.

Double opt-in: pros and cons

My view: use double opt-in for discount popups, where fake and mistyped addresses are common. A B2B guide form that delivers the guide only by email already proves the address works, so single opt-in is a reasonable choice there. In Klaviyo the switch is Audience > Lists & segments, open the list, Settings, Consent tab, Opt-in process.

Gmail and Yahoo bulk sender rules that apply to welcome flows

These are the same rules our win-back campaign guide applies to lapsed customers. For a welcome flow, the risk is a list import or a big giveaway that sends thousands of welcome emails in one day.

Both providers also say never to pre-check the opt-in box or buy lists. The DNS records themselves are covered step by step in the email deliverability guide.

CAN-SPAM basics for welcome emails

A welcome email that promotes a product or service is a commercial message under the FTC’s CAN-SPAM compliance guide, even though the subscriber asked for it. Every email in both flows needs:

1. Honest From, Reply-To and routing information that identifies your business.
2. A subject line that matches the body. “Your code expires tonight” must mean the code really expires.
3. A valid physical postal address: a street address, a registered PO box or a registered private mailbox.
4. A clear way to opt out, which you honor within 10 business days and which keeps working for at least 30 days after you send.

“The law makes no exception for business-to-business email,” and each violating email can cost up to $53,088. CAN-SPAM is an opt-out law, but the Gmail and Yahoo rules above still expect people to have opted in. Canada, the UK and the EU require consent before you send. This is not legal advice.

High-converting welcome sequences: 4 settings that matter more than copy

1. No first delay. Klaviyo’s pre-built series sends email 1 with no delay after the trigger. Every hour you wait, more people forget they signed up.
2. Smart Sending off on email 1. Skipped messages are never resent, so the code or guide would simply never arrive.
3. One call to action per email. Each email in the tables above has one goal and one button or link; a second link competes with it.
4. The goal exit is checked before every email. A buyer who still gets “your code expires tonight” learns your emails are not about them.

On length, Klaviyo’s guide recommends just 3 emails over about a week (day 0, day 3, day 7). The 5-email versions above add a proof email and an objection email in the same 7 days. Run both and keep whichever earns more revenue per recipient for you.

How to measure success of a welcome email sequence

Measure the flow on the action it exists to cause, per person who entered it, and compare with published data from a named source. Do not grade it on opens. Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection “prevents senders from seeing if you’ve opened” an email, but it “does not extend to links,” so clicks stay countable.

Klaviyo and GetResponse measure different datasets in different years, so compare within one source only, and treat the 83.63% open rate as directional for the Apple reason above. For how these sit against campaign averages by industry, see the email marketing benchmarks.

Worked example (ecommerce). A store adds 1,200 subscribers a month. At Klaviyo’s average welcome RPR, 1,200 x $5.75 = $6,900 a month from the flow. At the top-10% figure, 1,200 x $13.27 = $15,924. The $9,024 monthly gap is what better copy, offers and branch rules are competing for. Check your own RPR in the flow’s analytics after 30 days.

Worked example (B2B). A firm gets 80 guide downloads a month and 4 booked calls from the sequence: 5 calls per 100 entrants. That is your baseline, not a benchmark. Split it by signup source, because a pricing-page signup and a newsletter signup are different buyers. If the number is low and you want a second pair of eyes on the flow, you can book a consultation.

Test plan: 10 pass/fail checks before you turn the flow on

Use two test contacts: one who has bought before and one who has not. Any fail means the flow is not ready.

After launch, test one thing at a time, in this order: email 1 subject line, then discount versus no discount on the never-purchased path, then 3 emails versus 5. Klaviyo’s welcome guide suggests A/B testing flow branches for delays and messages. My rule of thumb: let each variant reach at least 1,000 recipients before you call a winner on clicks, and more before you call one on revenue.

Frequently asked questions

What is a welcome series email flow?

A welcome series email flow is an automated sequence that starts when someone joins your email list and ends when they buy, book a call or stop engaging. It usually runs 3 to 5 emails over about a week. Klaviyo's pre-built version sends 3 emails on day 0, day 3 and day 7; the flows on this page use 5 emails on days 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7.

How many emails should a welcome email sequence have?

Three to five. Klaviyo's help center recommends three emails over about a week, sent immediately, after 3 days and 4 days later. A 5-email version adds a proof email and an objection-handling email in the same 7 days. Test both on your own list and keep whichever produces more revenue per recipient or more booked calls per 100 subscribers.

How do you measure success of a welcome email sequence?

Measure revenue per recipient for ecommerce and booked calls or replies per 100 people who entered for B2B, plus click rate and spam complaints. Klaviyo's 2026 data puts the welcome series average at $5.75 revenue per recipient and a 6.5% click rate, with the top 10% at $13.27 and 13.3%. Do not grade on opens, because Apple Mail Privacy Protection hides real opens.

What is a good click rate for a welcome email flow?

In Klaviyo's 2026 benchmark report of 110,000+ customers, email welcome series average a 6.5% click rate and the top 10% reach 13.3%. GetResponse's 2023 data, from 4.4 billion messages, shows welcome emails at a 16.6% click-through rate. The two datasets define and sample differently, so compare your flow with one source at a time.

Should a welcome series include a discount?

For ecommerce, often yes, but only for people who have never ordered. Klaviyo's welcome guide splits the flow on whether the contact has placed an order before and shows the coupon only on the never-purchased path. B2B and service firms rarely need a discount; a clear fee range and a short call offer usually do the job better.

Should I use single or double opt-in for my welcome flow?

Klaviyo makes lists double opt-in by default because it prevents fake and mistyped addresses, and Yahoo recommends confirmed opt-in. The cost is that people who never click the confirmation link never get your welcome email. Double opt-in suits discount popups; a B2B guide delivered only by email already proves the address works, so single opt-in is reasonable there.

When should the first welcome email be sent?

Immediately. Klaviyo's pre-built welcome series has no delay before email 1, and with double opt-in the clock starts when the subscriber confirms. In Klaviyo, also turn off Smart Sending on that first email, because a message it skips is never resent, so a new subscriber who just got a campaign would never receive their code or guide.