In email marketing, when someone subscribes to your list or downloads your content, they’re showing an intent. A well-crafted welcome email series helps you capitalize on that moment by introducing your brand, sharing valuable resources, and guiding new contacts toward the next step.
HubSpot makes this process simple and scalable. Instead of sending individual welcome emails manually, you can automate the entire journey using Workflows and Automated emails inside Marketing Hub. With the right setup, each new subscriber receives personalized, timely, and compliant emails that build trust and drive conversions.
In this blog post, we’ll outline exactly how to create a welcome email series in HubSpot and the best practices you must follow to manage it effectively.
Before getting started, let’s understand what a welcome email series is and why it is important for businesses.
What is a Welcome Email Series & Why is it Important?
A welcome email series in HubSpot is an automated series of marketing emails sent to new subscribers. It is built using Workflows and Automated emails, adds timing delays, sets clear enrollment triggers, and tracks engagement metrics such as opens, clicks, and conversions to improve results.
The average open rate for welcome emails is around 91.43% and they deliver an 86% higher unique open rate than standard campaigns. Overall, welcome emails record 42% higher read rates than typical marketing emails.
Welcome emails consistently outperform regular campaigns because they’re sent at the peak of a subscriber’s interest. This is your chance to make a great first impression and introduce your brand story with clarity.
Research from HubSpot and Campaign Monitor shows that welcome emails generate up to 4x more opens and 5x more clicks than traditional campaigns. The early engagement often translates into higher lifetime value and stronger brand loyalty.
A good welcome series helps you:
- Build trust and familiarity from the start
- Educate subscribers about your product or service
- Guide users toward the next action (trial, demo, or content engagement)
- Reinforce your brand’s tone and personality
- Segment and qualify leads based on early engagement
Read More: Top 6 B2B Email Automation Workflows for 2025
7 Steps to Create a Winning Welcome Email Series in HubSpot
Here is the step-by-step process of creating a successful welcome email series in HubSpot:
Step 1: Map Your Welcome Journey
You should begin by sketching out the entire flow before logging into HubSpot.
Ask yourself: what’s the single most important action you want a new subscriber to take?
Common goals include:
- Starting a product trial
- Booking a demo
- Reading educational content
- Joining a webinar
Each email in your series should support that goal.
For instance:
- Email 1 (Day 0): Welcome and thank them for joining.
- Email 2 (Day 3): Introduce your core offering or guide.
- Email 3 (Day 6): Share a customer success story.
- Email 4 (Day 10): Offer a quick win or resource.
- Email 5 (Day 14): End with a clear action (try, buy, or book).
By mapping this flow first, you’ll create a smoother, more intentional customer journey.
Step 2: Create Automated Emails in HubSpot
In your HubSpot portal:
- Navigate to Marketing → Email → Create email.
- Choose Automated so it can be used inside a Workflow.
- Design each email using HubSpot’s drag-and-drop editor.
- Save and Publish your emails so they appear as workflow actions.
Now, it is available to select inside a Workflow action. This is the documented route for automated welcome sends.
Writing tips:
- Use friendly, human language.
- Include your brand logo and consistent footer.
- Keep the first paragraph short (under 3 sentences).
- Add one strong call-to-action (button or link).
Personalized and segmented emails consistently outperform generic ones. According to Epsilon, 80% of customers are more likely to buy from brands that personalize experiences.
Step 3: Build the Workflow
Navigate to Automation → Workflows → Create workflow → From scratch (Contact-based).
- Set Enrollment Triggers
Choose “Joined active list: New Subscribers” or “Form submission: Newsletter signup.” - Add Actions
- Send automated emails (Email 1–5).
- Add Delays between sends (2–5 days).
- Add If/Then branches to tailor content.
- Set Goal Criteria
End the workflow when a contact meets your target condition (e.g., booked a demo or became MQL).
Before publishing, test with an internal email address to confirm timing and logic.
HubSpot’s editor follows this exact flow of actions. The Send email action uses automated emails. Delays and branches are added from the left panel.
Step 4: Use a Proven Cadence
| Day | Email Type | Objective | Example CTA |
| 0 | Welcome Email | Introduce brand & expectations | Confirm subscription |
| 3 | Value Overview | Show what makes your solution unique | Watch the demo video |
| 6 | Educational Resource | Offer actionable help | Read guide |
| 10 | Social Proof | Build credibility | View case study |
| 14 | Conversion Invite | Encourage the next step | Start free trial |
A well-paced cadence prevents fatigue while maintaining engagement. Therefore, you should avoid sending multiple emails within 24 hours unless there’s an urgent time-based offer.
Step 5: Add Smart Branching for Personalization
Branching logic ensures each contact receives relevant follow-ups. Inside the Workflow editor:
- If opened Email 1 → Send “Getting Started” email.
- If it didn’t open Email 1 → Resend with a new subject line after 3 days.
- If clicked CTA → Move to “high-intent” path, update Lifecycle Stage, and alert your sales team.
This adaptive design keeps your automation human and responsive. As per Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.
Workflows support property updates, internal notifications, and goal criteria, allowing the series to end when a contact converts.
Step 6: Ensure Compliance and Deliverability
Every marketing email must meet CAN-SPAM and HubSpot’s email policy.
Therefore, you should follow a simple checklist:
1. Accurate “From” and “Reply-To” address.
2. Honest subject line that matches content.
3. Visible unsubscribe link.
4. Physical business address in the footer.
HubSpot automatically includes these fields in the email footer for marketing sends, but you can customize the text and style.
Step 7: Track and Optimize Performance
Measure progress weekly or monthly using HubSpot’s analytics dashboard.
Key metrics you should track:
| Metric | What It Means | Action to Improve |
| Open Rate | Subject line and send timing | A/B test subject lines |
| CTR | Message relevance | Simplify copy and CTA placement |
| Conversion | Campaign effectiveness | Add stronger incentives |
| Unsubscribe | Audience fatigue | Adjust frequency or refine targeting |
Keep optimization simple: test one element at a time and measure its impact before moving on.
5 Best Practices for Managing HubSpot Workflows
Here are five best practices to manage HubSpot Workflows that every team should follow:
1. Keep Your Workflow Goals Clear and Measurable
Every workflow should serve one purpose, such as onboarding new users, re-engaging leads, or following up on demos. You should avoid combining multiple goals into a single workflow, as this can confuse both your team and your audience.
Use HubSpot Goals to define clear outcomes, such as booking a call or completing a sign-up form. Once set, review performance in your Workflow dashboard to see which steps move leads toward that outcome.
Also, you should track completion rates for each step. If contacts consistently drop off before your final email, consider revisiting the timing or subject lines to improve the flow.
2. Regularly Review Performance Metrics
HubSpot’s reporting tools provide detailed analytics for workflows, including open rates, reply rates, click-through rates, and goal conversions. You should set a monthly review routine to identify which emails are performing well and which need updates.
| Metric | Why It Matters | Optimization Action |
| Open Rate | Test subject line appeal | A/B test wording and preview text |
| Reply/Click Rate | Measures engagement quality | Refine CTA or message tone |
| Unsubscribe Rate | Detects fatigue or over-sending | Space out emails or adjust targeting |
3. Update Email Content Quarterly
Your content must adapt to the subscriber’s behaviour shift. Therefore, you should conduct a thorough review of templates quarterly to ensure the tone, design, and offers are relevant, engaging, and impactful.
You should update:
- Links to new case studies or resources
- Brand messaging and visual design
- Outdated calls-to-action
Additionally, fresh content prevents your emails from feeling repetitive, especially for contacts re-entering your nurture flows. This also helps maintain deliverability as stale templates can hurt engagement and lead to spam filtering.
4. Align Marketing and Sales Teams on Enrollment Rules
Sequences and Workflows both manage contact communication. To prevent overlap, clearly define who owns each.
- Marketing Workflows: handle bulk automation like welcome or nurture emails.
- Sales Sequences: manage one-to-one follow-ups and lead qualification.
Before enrolling a contact in a Sequence, check if they’re already in a Workflow or another Sequence. HubSpot limits each contact to one active Sequence at a time to avoid duplicate messaging.
A short internal checklist or shared dashboard can prevent accidental overlaps and mixed signals.
Read More: 9 Strategic Benefits of Sales and Marketing Automation
5. Maintain Compliance and List Hygiene
Compliance keeps your reputation intact. Follow HubSpot’s best practices and U.S. CAN-SPAM regulations for every sequence:
- Include an unsubscribe link and business address in every marketing email.
- Avoid misleading subject lines.
- Update or remove bounced and unengaged contacts every 90 days.
- Re-verify your email-sending domain if deliverability drops.
Additionally, healthy lists improve open rates and protect your sender score. HubSpot’s email health dashboard helps track bounce rates and engagement trends so you can act quickly when deliverability declines.
How Can Automation Strategy Group Help?
As a certified HubSpot Solutions Partner, Automation Strategy Group helps businesses build smarter marketing systems that drive measurable results. Our team specializes in designing, implementing, and optimizing HubSpot workflows, sequences, and lifecycle automation tailored to your business goals.
Whether you’re launching your first welcome sequence, improving lead nurturing, or integrating CRM automation across teams, we ensure every workflow is efficient, compliant, and data-driven.
If you’re ready to improve your HubSpot email marketing strategy, book a free consultation with our experts to discuss your goals and explore the best setup for your business.
Final Thoughts
A welcome email series in HubSpot turns first interest into real momentum. When you build it with Workflows and Automated emails, every new contact gets timely guidance, clear next steps, and a path to conversion.
You keep the message short, the cadence steady, and the goal simple. That approach improves opens, clicks, and booked demos.
You now have a complete plan to launch and manage your series. Map the journey, publish 3 to 5 automated emails, enroll with an active list, add smart branches, and measure the results each week. Keep your footer compliant, your timing consistent, and your content fresh.
