Heads up: This article assumes that you’re already familiar with how journeys work in Attentive. If not, you may want to review the following before proceeding:
Welcome journeys let you send triggered messages to subscribers when they sign up to receive messages from you. You can send both text and email welcome messages in the same welcome journey or create separate journeys for each. Welcome journeys are most often used to welcome new subscribers and send them offers for your store, but you can also use them to build brand awareness and loyalty — or just to say hello.
Welcome journeys work similarly to other journeys in Attentive. They use the same steps and rules, and you can see their performance in the same way. Before you get started, review the following to understand important details about how welcome journeys work in Attentive:
- A legal text message is required: The first text message you send to new text subscribers must include certain language required by carriers. All welcome journeys you create automatically include non-editable language consistent with these requirements.
- An active sign-up unit is required: Welcome journeys are triggered when someone signs up to receive messages from you through one of your active sign-up units. You may want to create a new sign-up unit or decide which sign-up unit to use with your welcome journey before you get started. Learn more about sign-up units.
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Contact cards are automatically included: When you create a new welcome journey from a template, your journey automatically includes a follow up text message with your contact card. Subscribers can tap your contact card to add you as a contact in their device. You may optionally remove the contact card. Learn more about contact cards.
Note: A contact card sends as an MMS message.
- Variables can’t be used with messages in welcome journeys. This helps ensure that welcome messages are always sent in a timely manner when a subscriber opts in to receive messages from you. Learn more about variables and dynamic links.
- You can optionally add a separate welcome message for resubscribers: If a subscriber opts out of your messages and later signs up again, you can send more personalized welcome back messages that don’t include an offer code. Learn more about resubscribe welcome messages.
- You can create welcome journeys for both text and email: Your default welcome journey can be customized to also send emails, or you can create separate welcome journeys for each channel. Learn more about email welcome journeys.
- Check out welcome journey best practices first: You can use prebuilt welcome journey templates to get started quickly, but you’ll build the best welcome journeys if you keep some best practices for offers, journey names, and more. Learn more about welcome journey best practices.
Create a welcome journey
- From Journeys, click + Create journey.
- Select one of the Welcome New Subscribers templates, and then click Get started. Welcome journey templates include:
- Welcome New Subscribers: A text message journey welcoming subscribers to your brand.
- Welcome New Subscribers (Conversational): A text message journey welcoming subscribers to your brand that asks for customizable preferences to improve your target. Learn more about conversational welcome journeys.
- Welcome Subscribers - LiveSMS: A text message journey that engages new subscribers in conversation with your Concierge agent. Learn more about Concierge and LiveSMS.
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Welcome email subscribers: An email message journey welcoming new email subscribers to your brand. Learn more about email welcome journeys.
After selecting a template, click Get started.
- Click the Send welcome text message step.
For more on working with steps, see Add steps to a journey. Also, be sure to check out our welcome journey best practices! - Optionally:
- Edit the welcome text message. To include an offer, click the { } Personalization icon, and then add an offer code or link.
- Add a separate message for resubscribers. For more, see Add a welcome back message for resubscribers.
- Give your journey a unique name to make it easier to find later. To name your journey, click the three dots next to the Turn on button and click Rename.
- Make any other desired changes to your journey and then click Turn on in the upper-right corner.
- Next, assign your newly created welcome journey to a sign-up unit. From the Sign-up Units tab, find the sign-up unit you want to assign to your new welcome journey.
- Click the three dots next to the sign up you want to add and select Reassign.
- Click the SMS Welcome Journey dropdown and select the new welcome journey you turned on earlier.
- Click Reassign.
Add a welcome back message for resubscribers
You can use resubscribe welcome messages to send personalized welcome back messages if a subscriber opts out of messages from your brand and then later signs up again for the same channel (email or text). You customize the message sent to each type of subscriber and choose if either, both, or neither are sent an offer or coupon code for signing up to messages from you.
For example, your welcome messages for first-time subscribers can include an offer for 15% off their first purchase, and omit including an offer for returning subscribers.
You can also use the Has only signed up once branch within any journey to send more personalized messaging to subscribers, like sending your contact card only to first-time subscribers.
Add a resubscribe message to a welcome journey
- From Journeys, create a new welcome journey or open an existing welcome journey.
- Click on the first Send welcome text message step.
- Below the Legal text message, click the Welcome Resubscribers tab, and then toggle Enable alternate messaging for returning subscribers.
- Enter the message that you want to send to resubscribers. As with other journey messages, you can optionally add emojis, shortlinks to your store, and offers to your resubscribe welcome message. For example:
Welcome! We’re so glad to have you back. You’ll start seeing special offers, product drop announcements, and the best seasonal deals soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out our hottest summer deals: [link to your store]
When you’re finished composing your welcome message for resubscribers, click Save.
If you want to send the same subsequent messages for your welcome journey to new and returning subscribers, you can turn your journey on now. If you want to send different subsequent messages to new vs. returning subscribers, follow the steps in the next section.
Add branches to send different subsequent messages to new vs. returning subscribers
- Click the dot below your first Send text message step and click Branch.
- From the side panel, set the following for your branch, then click Save:
- Condition: What action the subscriber has taken
- Action: Has signed up only once
- Channel: Choose text or email
- Your journey now has two branches: one for new subscribers, and one for resubscribers. You can add steps like Send text message and Wait to each branch.
- When you’re finished adding steps to each journey branch, click Turn on in the upper right corner to enable your journey.