WPBeginner

Beginner's Guide for WordPress

  • Blog
    • Beginners Guide
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Showcase
    • Themes
    • Tutorials
    • WordPress Plugins
  • Start Here
    • How to Start a Blog
    • Create a Website
    • Start an Online Store
    • Best Website Builder
    • Email Marketing
    • WordPress Hosting
    • Business Name Ideas
  • Deals
    • Bluehost Coupon
    • SiteGround Coupon
    • WP Engine Coupon
    • HostGator Coupon
    • Domain.com Coupon
    • Constant Contact
    • View All Deals »
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Products
X
☰
Beginner's Guide for WordPress / Start your WordPress Blog in minutes
Choosing the Best
WordPress Hosting
How to Easily
Install WordPress
Recommended
WordPress Plugins
View all Guides

WPBeginner» Blog» Plugins» How to Send A Custom Welcome Email to New Users in WordPress

How to Send A Custom Welcome Email to New Users in WordPress

Last updated on January 21st, 2020 by Editorial Staff
226 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Free WordPress Video Tutorials on YouTube by WPBeginner
How to Send A Custom Welcome Email to New Users in WordPress

Do you want to send a custom welcome email to new users in WordPress? If you allow user registration on your WordPress site, then each new user receives an email to set up their WordPress password.

However, they don’t receive a proper welcome email specific to your website. For instance, an email message that guides them about your community, links to the next steps, etc.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily send a custom welcome to your new WordPress users. We’ll share two methods, and you can choose one that best suits your needs (we like option #2 better since it’s more reliable).

Sending a custom welcome email to new WordPress users

Why Send a Custom Welcome Email to New Users in WordPress?

By default, WordPress sends an email to new users when they sign up. However, this email is not customized to fit each individual website or blog.

Here are some common scenarios when a welcome email can help you set up a proper onboarding process for your new users:

  • If you run a WordPress membership website, then you may want to educate users about where they can find all the benefits that come with their membership plan.
  • On an eCommerce website, you can direct users to products they would like, their account settings, or shopping cart page.
  • On a multi-author website, you can point new authors to your style guide, ask them to fill in their bio and social links, or show them how to get started.

A custom welcome email can improve user experience and ensures that users don’t forget about your website after creating an account.

That being said, let’s take a look at different ways to easily set up a custom welcome email for new users in WordPress.

Method 1. Setting up a Custom Welcome Email using a Plugin

This method is easier but it is not the most flexible. You’ll be able to send just one welcome email to new users when they register on your website.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Better Notifications for WP plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Notifications » Add New page to create your custom welcome email.

Creating new user welcome email in WordPress

First, you need to provide a title for this new notification that helps you easily identify it.

After that, select ‘New user – post registration email’ next to the ‘Notification for’ option. You can then start writing a custom welcome email by entering email subject and message.

Pro tip: Click on the find shortcodes button for a list of shortcodes that you can use inside your email message. For example, to display the user’s name, you can use the shortcode [email_user_display_name].

Once you are finished writing your custom welcome email, you can click on the save button to store your changes.

Save your welcome email notification

The plugin also allows you to send your self a test notification. Just click on the ‘Send me a test email’ button, and it will send you a test notification to the email address in your user profile.

Send a test email

You can also test the email by creating a new user account.

Ensure Email Deliverability in WordPress

By default, most WordPress hosting companies do not have the mail function configured properly. To prevent their servers from abuse, many hosting companies even turn it off completely.

This means that your WordPress emails will fail to reach users.

Don’t worry, there is an easy fix.

You’ll need to install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. It allows you to use an SMTP server to send your WordPress emails.

For more details, see our guide on how to fix WordPress not sending email issue.

Method 2. Send Custom Welcome Email to New Users via Constant Contact

The first method only allows you to send emails when users perform an action on your website. This is somewhat limited and does not give you full control.

This second method will allow you to send a welcome email and even set up your own welcome funnel with multiple onboarding emails.

You will also be able to communicate with users regularly, which helps you bring them back to your website.

For this part, we’ll be using Constant Contact which is the best email marketing service for small businesses. The same thing can also be done with other email service providers like SendinBlue, ConvertKit, Drip, and more.

First, you need to sign up for a Constant Contact account. Once you have signed up, go to Contacts page and click on the create button next to email lists.

Creating new email list in Constant Contact

An email list is where you store all the email addresses of your contacts. Simply enter a name for your email list and click ‘Add List’ button.

Name your email list

Next, you need to install and activate the Constant Contact Forms plugin on your website. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

This plugin acts as a connector between your website and Constant Contact.

Upon activation, you need to visit Contact Form » Connect Now page and click on the ‘Connect Plugin’ button.

Constant Contact connect

This will take you to Constant Contact website where you will log in with your account to connect your website.

Once you are connected, you need to visit Contact Form » Settings page to configure plugin settings.

Constant Contact advanced optin

Scroll down to Advanced Optin section and check the box next to ‘Add a checkbox to the WordPress user registration page’ option. After that, select the email list you created earlier from the dropdown next to ‘Add subscribers to’ option.

Below that you can add a message that users will see on screen.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save changes’ button to store your plugin settings.

You can now visit your WordPress website’s registration page to see it in action. You’ll see a checkbox for users to sign up for your email list when they register for an account on your website.

Email list sign up with user registration

Pro tip: You can create a completely custom WordPress user registration form with our guide that also seamlessly integrates with Constant Contact.

Now, let’s create the welcome email that users will receive when they sign up.

Simply go to your Constant Contact dashboard and click on ‘Create’ button under the Campaigns tab.

Create campaign

We’ll be setting up an automated sequence of emails for new users. To do that, you need to select ‘Email Automation’ campaign.

Select email automation campaign

On the next screen, click on the ‘Create Automated Series’ button to get started.

Create an automated series of welcome emails

Next, you will be asked to provide a name for this automated series. Use a name that helps you easily identify this campaign later on.

Welcome email funnel name

After that, you need to select a trigger. Select ‘A contact joins a list’ from the dropdown menu and then check the box next to the email list you created earlier.

Choose when to trigger this funnel

Click on the Save button to continue.

Constant Contact will now set up the automated series for you. Next, you need to select when you want to send your first email and then create your new custom welcome email.

Select when to send email and create email

Constant Contact comes with dozens of professionally designed email templates to choose from. You can start with one and then use a drag and drop builder to compose your email.

Compose your email message

Once you are done writing your welcome email, click on the Continue button to save and exit the editor.

You can now simply click on the ‘Activate Button’ to make this funnel go live.

Set up Subsequent Emails in The Series

The best part about using Constant Contact and an automated welcome email funnel is that you can set multiple emails.

After your first email, you may want to check how the user is doing? Maybe they need a little help.

Let’s set up a second email in the series.

Simply click on the ‘Add to series’ button and then choose how long to wait before sending this email message. After that, click on ‘Create New Email’ button to compose your second email in the welcome series.

Second welcome email message

Once you are done creating your welcome email sequence, click on the activate button to apply these changes.

Activate funnel

Constant Contact will now set up your welcome series and new WordPress users will get your custom welcome email messages.

We hope this guide helped you send a custom welcome to new users in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on the best WordPress plugins and the best business phone services for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

226 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Popular on WPBeginner Right Now!
  • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

    How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

  • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org

  • Google Analytics in WordPress

    How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners

  • How to Start Your Own Podcast (Step by Step)

    How to Start Your Own Podcast (Step by Step)

About the Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi. Trusted by over 1.3 million readers worldwide.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

6 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Adam Smith says:
    Oct 17, 2020 at 7:27 am

    Nice article. The problem with method 2 is that if users don’t check the box, they don’t get the custom email…

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Oct 19, 2020 at 10:07 am

      That is correct, you would require the user’s consent to send them an email.

      Reply
  2. Riccardo says:
    Sep 29, 2020 at 10:35 am

    Hi! Thank you for this tutorial, it really helped me. I have a question about the Method 1: when I use Better Notifications to set a custom post-registration email, the plugin overrides the original one containing the set-password link for the new user. How can I get this link in order to insert it in the new email?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Sep 30, 2020 at 10:02 am

      You would want to check the plugin’s shortcodes for what is able to be included in the email.

      Reply
  3. Mujahid Aftab says:
    Jun 23, 2020 at 11:35 am

    Nice tutorial. You are doing a fantastic job. Can you Please tell me what should I do so that every time customer receive my customized email like my name and address at the end of each email?
    Thanks.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jun 24, 2020 at 8:40 am

      Depending on what you’re using you would want to see if there’s an option to add a signature. If you’re using the plugin from this article, you should be able to manually add that information.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

Over 1,320,000+ Readers

Get fresh content from WPBeginner

Featured WordPress Plugin
RafflePress - WordPress Giveaway and Contest Plugin
RafflePress
Giveaway and Contest Plugin for WordPress. Learn More »
How to Start a Blog How to Start a Blog
I need help with ...
Starting a
Blog
WordPress
Performance
WordPress
Security
WordPress
SEO
WordPress
Errors
Building an
Online Store
Useful WordPress Guides
    • 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)
    • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress
    • Why You Need a CDN for your WordPress Blog? [Infographic]
    • 30 Legit Ways to Make Money Online Blogging with WordPress
    • Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
    • Free Recording: WordPress Workshop for Beginners
    • 24 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
    • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
    • 5 Best Contact Form Plugins for WordPress Compared
    • Which is the Best WordPress Popup Plugin? (Comparison)
    • Best WooCommerce Hosting in 2020 (Comparison)
    • How to Fix the Internal Server Error in WordPress
    • How to Install WordPress - Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial
    • Why You Should Start Building an Email List Right Away
    • How to Properly Move WordPress to a New Domain Without Losing SEO
    • How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting for Your Website
    • How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform (Comparison)
    • WordPress Tutorials - 200+ Step by Step WordPress Tutorials
    • 5 Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugins Compared
    • 5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins (Compared)
    • 7 Best Email Marketing Services for Small Business (2020)
    • How to Choose the Best Domain Registrar (Compared)
    • The Truth About Shared WordPress Web Hosting
    • When Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?
    • 5 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared
    • How to Switch from Blogger to WordPress without Losing Google Rankings
    • How to Properly Switch From Wix to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • How to Properly Move from Weebly to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • Do You Really Need a VPS? Best WordPress VPS Hosting Compared
    • How to Properly Move from Squarespace to WordPress
    • How to Register a Domain Name (+ tip to get it for FREE)
    • HostGator Review - An Honest Look at Speed & Uptime (2020)
    • SiteGround Reviews from 4196 Users & Our Experts (2020)
    • Bluehost Review from Real Users + Performance Stats (2020)
    • How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a WordPress Website?
    • How to Create an Email Newsletter the RIGHT WAY (Step by Step)
    • Free Business Name Generator (A.I Powered)
    • How to Create a Free Business Email Address in 5 Minutes (Step by Step)
    • How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners
    • How to Move WordPress to a New Host or Server With No Downtime
    • Why is WordPress Free? What are the Costs? What is the Catch?
    • How to Make a Website in 2020 – Step by Step Guide
Deals & Coupons (view all)
Churnly Coupon
Get 30% OFF on Churnly WordPress automated churn-busting plugin.
AccessPress Themes
AccessPress Themes Coupon
Get 15% off on AccessPress Themes collection of premium WordPress themes and plugins.
Featured In
About WPBeginner®

WPBeginner is a free WordPress resource site for Beginners. WPBeginner was founded in July 2009 by Syed Balkhi. The main goal of this site is to provide quality tips, tricks, hacks, and other WordPress resources that allows WordPress beginners to improve their site(s).
Join our team: We are Hiring!

Site Links
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • FTC Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Free Blog Setup
  • Free Business Tools
Our Sites
  • OptinMonster
  • MonsterInsights
  • WPForms
  • SeedProd
  • Nameboy
  • RafflePress
  • Smash Balloon

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 WPBeginner LLC. All Rights Reserved. WPBeginner® is a registered trademark.

Managed by Awesome Motive | WordPress hosting by SiteGround | WordPress CDN by MaxCDN | WordPress Security by Sucuri.