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Email subject lines

Welcome Email Subject Lines

The one email where the reader knows nothing about you yet. Every line below is scored against the same welcome profile the tester below uses: short, warm, no manufactured urgency.

27.9% average open across 17,427 OnVoard welcome sends.

Aggregate across every OnVoard merchant running a Welcome Series, not a single store, and it moves with list quality: the same snapshot shows a 2.7% hard-bounce rate on welcome sends, higher than any other flow we measured, which points at new-subscriber list hygiene more than at the subject line.

What works

  • Short and warm. The welcome profile wants roughly 20 to 40 characters and 3 to 6 words: enough to say hello and say what happens next, nothing more.
  • Say what happens next. "Here's where to start" or "three things to know" sets an expectation the reader can act on immediately.
  • A welcome offer is fine to name directly ("10% off your first order," "your code is inside"). Nothing here is a discount word stacked three deep, which is the only thing the scorer actually penalizes.
  • One emoji can work in a welcome email. The profile allows it (unlike review requests, where it is a hard no) because a first hello is allowed a little warmth.

What to avoid

  • Manufactured urgency. Nothing is expiring in a welcome email, so "last chance" or a countdown reads as false the moment the reader notices nothing is actually running out.
  • A merge tag with no fallback. A subject line that opens with a missing first name is worse than one that never tried personalizing at all.
  • Shouting the offer. Capitals or a stacked "!!" on the welcome code is the fastest way to make a first impression read like an ad.

First impression, and the only email where the reader knows nothing yet. Be warm, be short, and say what happens next. Every line below is scored against this exact profile in the subject line tester.

31 welcome series subject lines

Grouped by purpose. Every line scores 85 or higher against the welcome profile, with no red checks. Click "Test this" to see why, or to try your own version of it.

The first hello

What happens next

  • Here's what to expect from usA short note before your first order
    Test this
  • Three emails, then we'll leave you alone
    Test this
  • A quick guide to getting started
    Test this
  • Before you shop, three things to know
    Test this
  • Here's where to start browsing
    Test this
  • New here? Start with these picks
    Test this
  • What to expect in your inbox
    Test this
  • A short tour of what we make
    Test this

The welcome offer

Brand voice

OnVoard sends the Welcome Series too.

These are the subject lines. OnVoard runs the Welcome Series workflow itself, from the first email to the last, so it goes out automatically when someone joins your list.