Retention.com Welcome Email Flow: A Practical Guide

• Start with 3–5 emails, sent soon after the visit: For cold website visitors identified by Retention.com, a short, fast-paced welcome series works best.
• This quick cadence keeps your brand fresh in their mind while they still remember visiting your site. (In contrast, a typical subscriber welcome series might include 3–5 emails over several days or weeks​) – but with cold leads, you don’t want to wait too long.)
• Send the first email ASAP: Trigger the first welcome email immediately or within a few hours of the visitor’s session.
• Hitting their inbox the same day they visited increases the chance they recall your brand and open the message.
• For example, you might use a segment-triggered flow: when a new profile is added to your “Retention Leads” segment, send Email #1 right away​.
• Send a second email about 1 day later, and a third email the day after that .
• Each email should build on the last.
• After 2–3 emails in as many days, if the lead hasn’t open any email, you can pause further emails – additional emails are likely to have diminishing returns.

Since these contacts didn’t explicitly subscribe, the tone and content of your emails should re-introduce your brand, provide value, and build trust – essentially turning a cold lead into a warm prospect.

Keep the messaging friendly and helpful, not overly salesy or assuming too much.

Here are key tips:

• Craft curiosity-piquing subject lines: Your subject line is critical to getting opens, especially for a cold audience.
• Reference their recent visit or shopping intent in a casual way.
• For example, subject lines like “Still looking?”, “Thanks for stopping by!”, or “Did you find what you were looking for?” work well​.
• These remind the person that they browsed your site and invite them back without feeling spammy – a Retention.com study of “active on site” emails found subject lines focusing on “looking” or “stopping by” performed strongly​.
• Always A/B test a couple of subject variations to see what resonates.
• Acknowledge why they’re getting the email: In the opening lines of the email, remind them that they visited your site. For example, “You stopped by our website recently – here’s a quick hello from [Brand Name]!” This context reduces confusion (“When did I sign up for this?”) and makes the email feel relevant. Keep the tone warm and thank them for checking out your site.
• Introduce your brand and best offerings: Use this flow to showcase what your brand offers and why it’s great. Since they may not know you well, highlight a few bestselling or new products they might like, and briefly mention what makes your brand unique​.
• For instance, share a couple of bullet points about your value props (“Handcrafted locally”, “1000+ five-star reviews”, etc.) or a snippet of your brand story. This helps build interest and trust.
• Retention.com notes that reminding visitors of your top products and what sets you apart can effectively draw them back​. You might even include a short customer testimonial or quote for social proof (“⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Amazing quality!’ – Happy Customer”)​.
• Provide an incentive to shop: Consider offering a special discount or free shipping for first-time customers to spur action.
• Cold leads often need an extra push. Many brands include a promo code in the first or second email (e.g. “Here’s 15% off your first order, just for you”). In fact, Retention.com suggests using an incentive as a hook in these flows – for example, give new prospects a % off (while perhaps offering a different perk to any returning customers) so everyone gets something valuable​.
• Make sure the incentive is prominently displayed (in the headline or a bold call-out) and easy to redeem. This can significantly improve click-through and conversion rates.
• Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Every email should have a single, clear CTA button or link that drives the lead back to your site.
• Examples: “Browse New Arrivals”, “Shop Best Sellers”, or “Claim Your Discount”. Place the primary CTA high in the email (and repeat it at the end if the email is long).
• Keep the design simple and mobile-friendly – large buttons and minimal clutter.
• The goal is to make it effortless for a curious reader to continue browsing on your website​.

Tone:

• Helpful and personable: Write these emails in a conversational, helpful tone.
• Position your brand as a friendly resource, not a pushy salesperson. For example, you might say “We noticed you were checking out [Product Category] – here are a few popular picks you might love,” rather than “Why didn’t you buy? Here’s 10% off.” The latter can feel aggressive.
• Focus on being welcoming, offering help (“Let us help you find the perfect ___”), and inviting them to engage further. This warms the lead up gradually.
• Vary content across the series: If you send multiple emails, don’t repeat the same message each time.
• For instance, Email 1 could be a broad “Welcome/Thanks for visiting + here’s what we offer”,
• Email 2 might highlight top products or categories (with images and brief descriptions),
• and Email 3 could share customer favorites or testimonials and remind them of the incentive.
• By the final email, you might introduce a slight urgency (“Your 15% welcome discount expires soon”) if appropriate.
• Each touch should add new value or information about your brand to build familiarity.

Personalize when possible:

• Even if these contacts only gave you an email, you can use what they browsed (if tracked) to personalize product recommendations in the emails.
• If personalization data is limited, at least ensure the emails address them by name if you have it (Retention.com may supply name if available) and reflect the context (visited site recently).
• Generic “Dear subscriber” language should be avoided – make it feel one-to-one.

Adding third-party collected leads to your email program requires careful list management to maintain good deliverability.

Treat Retention.com contacts as a separate segment initially, and gradually integrate them into your main list as they engage.

Use these strategies:

• Use a dedicated segment or list for Retention.com leads: Don’t lump these contacts blindly into your general subscriber list.
• Instead, tag them or add them to a “Retention.com Leads” list/segment in Klaviyo upon sync.
• This allows you to filter them into a dedicated welcome flow and exclude them from other automations until appropriate.
• For example, the Retention.com integration for Klaviyo/Omnisend suggests creating a separate Welcome Flow triggered when a contact enters the “Retention.com” segment​.
• This way, you can tailor the content (as discussed) specifically to cold leads and avoid any messaging meant only for people who opted in.
• Gradually “warm” these contacts in your sending: If you acquire a large number of Retention.com emails, avoid blasting them all with big campaigns right away.
• Sudden high volume to cold addresses can hurt your sender reputation.
• Instead, start with the welcome series (which staggers messages over a couple days), and hold off on including them in regular newsletters or promotions until they show some engagement.
• If you plan to send to all retention leads at once, consider splitting into smaller batches. Klaviyo notes that warming up a new or cold IP/domain by throttling volume can improve deliverability.
• Even if your IP is established, treat these new contacts with care until they’ve engaged.

Monitor engagement closely: Pay attention to how these leads interact.

• Track open rates and click rates on the welcome emails.
• It’s normal that engagement will be lower than your fully opt-in subscribers, but it should be decent if your content is on point (Retention.com case studies show surprisingly high open rates when done well​).
• After the welcome series, segment out those who engaged vs. those who didn’t.
• For example, create an “Engaged Retention Leads” segment (opened or clicked at least one email) and a “Unengaged Retention Leads” segment.
• Suppress or sunset unengaged contacts: To protect your sender reputation, do not keep emailing leads who show no signs of life.
• For any Retention.com contacts who never open/click your welcome emails (and subsequent emails), consider removing them from future sends or putting them into a re-engagement attempt later.
• Continuing to send to unengaged recipients can drag down your deliverability​.
• Klaviyo explicitly recommends excluding unengaged contacts from most campaigns, as they’re unlikely to respond and can hurt your metrics​.
• You might implement a sunset policy: e.g. “if no opens after 3 emails, mark as unengaged and stop emailing them.” This helps keep your list healthy.
• Use engaged segments for ongoing campaigns: As you merge these leads into your main list, leverage engagement-based segmentation.
• For instance, only include them in broadcast campaigns if they have opened or clicked an email in the last 30 or 60 days.
• Many senders break their list into 30-day, 60-day, 90-day engaged tiers and focus sends on the most recent engagers.
• Applying this to Retention.com contacts ensures you’re emailing only those who have shown interest, which will maintain higher open rates and better inbox placement.

Keep an eye on bounces and complaints: Retention.com leads are supposed to be valid emails, but you should still watch for any bounce messages or spam complaints.

• Klaviyo’s reporting will show spam complaint percentages – keep this well under 0.1%​(industry guideline).
• If a particular campaign to these leads generates unusual bounces or complaints, pause and diagnose.
• Remove any addresses that hard bounce (as they could be old or invalid) and immediately honor all unsubscribes (more on compliance below).
• Quick pruning of bad contacts will improve deliverability going forward.

Make unsubscribe easy and obvious: One of the best deliverability safeguards with cold leads is to let uninterested people remove themselves easily.

• Always include a clear “Unsubscribe” link in the footer (as required by law) and consider making it more visible than usual (e.g. say “Click here to unsubscribe or manage preferences” in a normal font)​.
• You don’t want frustrated recipients who can’t find the unsubscribe to instead mark your email as spam.
• By providing an easy opt-out, you’ll catch those who aren’t interested and prevent spam complaints​. (Those who unsubscribe can be suppressed in Klaviyo automatically.)

Monitor sender reputation: If you use dedicated sending domains or subdomains, keep an eye on their reputation via tools like Google Postmaster.

• If you see any dips (increased spam placement, etc.), adjust your strategy – possibly slow down sends to these leads or further tighten your engaged segment criteria.
• Generally, if you follow the above steps, you can safely incorporate Retention.com leads without deliverability issues, as many brands have done successfully.

Emailing leads collected via a third-party (like Retention.com) raises important legal considerations.

Regulations vary by country on whether you can send marketing emails to people who haven’t explicitly opted in.

Here’s what you need to know to stay on the right side of the law:

United States – CAN-SPAM Act (Opt-Out model): In the U.S., it is legal to send cold marketing emails to consumers as long as you follow CAN-SPAM requirements. The U.S. is an “opt-out” jurisdiction, meaning you can send first-time marketing emails until the recipient opts out​.

• However, you must comply with CAN-SPAM rules in every email:
  Include a clear unsubscribe link (and honor opt-out requests promptly)​.
• Include your physical mailing address in the email (usually in the footer).
• Use an accurate “From” name and email – don’t use deceptive sender information.
• Don’t use misleading subject lines (they should reflect the content)​.
• If the email is promotional, it’s wise (and in some cases required) to identify it as an advertisement​ – usually a small “You’re receiving this because…” disclaimer in the footer is used.
• Essentially, treat these emails with the same compliance rigor as your normal marketing emails.
• Also, ensure the recipient hasn’t previously opted out of your emails. (Retention.com helps with this by not collecting emails from users who already unsubscribed from your list or from sites that prohibit address capture​.)

European Union (GDPR & ePrivacy) and Canada (CASL) – Opt-In required: Do not email Retention.com leads in jurisdictions that require opt-in consent.

• In the EU and places following similar laws, you must have explicit permission before sending marketing emails.
• Sending to people who have not consented would violate GDPR/ePrivacy (and likely attract fines).
• The same goes for Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) – it requires express consent for B2C marketing.
• Retention.com is aware of this and limits its data to US contacts only; their system geofences to avoid collecting EU/Canadian visitors​.
• If your business operates internationally, segment or filter out any non-US visitors to ensure you’re not sending unlawful emails.
• In practice, this might mean only deploying the Retention.com script on your US site or suppressing any contacts with non-US domains.
• Always err on the side of caution – if someone from Europe somehow ended up on your Retention list, do not email them without consent.

State privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA and others): Even within the US, privacy laws are evolving. California’s CCPA/CPRA (and similar laws in Colorado, Virginia, etc.) give consumers rights over their data.

• If you’re using Retention.com, you need to disclose this in your privacy policy and honor consumer requests.
• Specifically, California considers the act of identifying and emailing an anonymous visitor as a form of “selling” or “sharing” personal information (since you’re using it for targeted marketing)​. You should: Update your privacy policy to explain that you use third-party services to collect visitor email addresses for marketing. Include any required language that these state laws mandate (Retention.com provides template language for this purpose).
• Provide a “Do Not Sell or Share My Info” link on your website (if applicable to your business size/scope), since using Retention.com could be deemed as sharing data for marketing​. This gives California consumers the chance to opt-out of this data collection.
• Be prepared to delete an individual’s data if they request it. If a customer contacts you asking what data you have on them or to remove them (a right under CCPA/GDPR), you must comply. Work with Retention.com’s tools (they have a Database Opt-Out​ and privacy portal) to remove that person’s info from your records.

Ensure your terms with Retention.com classify them properly (most likely as a service provider processing data on your behalf), and that you’re not violating any contractual terms.

Consent and transparency: Because these leads did not explicitly sign up on your site, it’s extra important to be transparent in the emails themselves about why you’re reaching out. While not legally required in the US, a simple line like “You visited our website recently, so we’re reaching out to say hello!” can go a long way in establishing legitimacy. It sets the context and can mitigate knee-jerk spam complaints.

Double Opt-In: If your normal list-building uses double opt-in (where subscribers confirm their email), note that Retention.com leads will not go through that process. They will be added directly to your database via the integration.

• Sending a double opt-in confirmation to these contacts is not recommended (they would likely ignore it).
• Instead, treat them as already opted-in (from a legal perspective, you’re relying on opt-out laws).
• Be sure your Klaviyo settings don’t accidentally send confirmation emails to these contacts or drop them into a double opt-in waiting status – configure their entry via segment as “subscribed” or similar.
• Essentially, handle these leads in a separate flow (as described) with single opt-in, and if they engage, you can later merge them into your main list of subscribers.

Respect unsubscribes and opt-outs: This is worth repeating – if any Retention.com contact unsubscribes (or replies asking to be removed), honor that immediately.

• Klaviyo will automatically suppress those who click “unsubscribe” in your emails, but ensure you don’t upload or resync them by accident later. Retention.com offers an “opt-out” database; make sure you utilize features that prevent already-unsubscribed individuals from being re-added​. Keeping a clean list of who not to contact is just as important legally.

Keep records: Document that these contacts came via Retention.com (e.g., tag profiles in Klaviyo with a custom property like “Source = Retention.com”).

• If ever there’s a question of why you emailed someone, you can identify the source and confirm it was obtained via an identity resolution service.
• Also, maintain logs of consents and opt-outs as required by law.

Important: This guide is for general best practices – always consult your legal advisor for specific advice, as laws can change. Retention.com provides guidance and features to help with compliance (for instance, they only operate in an opt-out framework and exclude EU data​), but the ultimate responsibility lies with you as the sender.

When done right (and lawfully), emailing these leads can be a legitimate growth tactic in the US. Just be sure to cover your bases on transparency and opt-out methods.

In summary, creating a Klaviyo welcome flow for Retention.com leads is a best practice for B2C ecomm marketers who want to maximize value from their paid traffic.

Treat these contacts thoughtfully: hit their inbox quickly with a friendly hello, showcase your brand’s best side, offer help or a deal, and always give them an out if they’re not interested.

By following this guide – optimizing email frequency​, messaging for cold leads​, smart segmentation​, and strict compliance​– you can turn “nearly cold” visitors into warm subscribers and customers.

Done right, a Retention.com welcome series can become a significant revenue driver for your business, all while building goodwill with new contacts. Happy emailing!