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, related links to the next steps, and so on.

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

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 of their membership plan.
• On an eCommerce website, you can direct users to products they would like, their account settings, or their 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 ensure that users don’t forget about your website after creating an account.

That being said, let’s 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 will 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 the Notifications » Add New page to create your custom welcome email.

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 start writing a custom welcome email by entering the 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.

The plugin also allows you to send yourself a test notification.

Just click on the ‘Send me a test email’ button, which will send a test notification to the email address in your user profile.

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 them off completely.

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

But don’t worry. There is an easy fix.

You will 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 set up your welcome funnel with multiple onboarding emails.

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

For this part, we will use Constant Contact, which is one of the best email marketing services for small businesses.

The same can be done with other email service providers like Brevo, ConvertKit, Drip, and more.

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

An email list is where you store all the email addresses of your contacts.

Simply enter a name for your email list and click the ‘Add List’ button.

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 the Contact Form » Connect Now page and click on the ‘Connect Plugin’ button.

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

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

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

Below, you can add a message that users will see on the 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 will see a checkbox for users to sign up for your email list when they register for an account on your website.

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 users will receive when they sign up.

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

We will be setting up an automated sequence of emails for new users.

To do that, you need to select the ‘Email Automation’ campaign.

This will take you to another screen.

Here, click on the ‘Create Automated Series’ button to get started.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 thing 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 the ‘Create New Email’ button to compose your second email in the welcome series.

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

Constant Contact will 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 check our other WordPress guides to grow your site.

Best WordPress Guides for Your Website

• The Best WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
• How to Create a Free Business Email Address (in 5 Minutes)
• How to Get a Free Email Domain (5 Quick and Easy Methods)
• Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Email Marketing Automation
• How to Properly Configure Your WordPress Email Settings
• How to Use Contact Form to Grow Your Email List in WordPress

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