#2 - How Extra.ai sends onboarding email
New tools are awesome,New friends are even better.Hello, Liam! :wave:---Extra.ai is a new social media tool that is currently in the works. You can sign up for a beta here. And if you do sign up, you will be privy to a really neat onboarding email campaign that serves to nurture a beta list until the product is ready.I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the Extra.ai list for a few weeks now, and I’d love to share what they send. Here is what I received when I signed up for a beta of Extra.ai earlier this year.
How often Extra.ai sends email to new signups
The first 35 days
Total: Seven emails sent, counting the email confirmation. Mostly 1x per week, except for the last week
My best guess at Extra.ai’s onboarding strategy
Apart a few outliers (signup confirmation email, welcome email, and a one-off email here and there), most email from Extra arrived like clockwork: 10:00 a.m. Pacific every Monday morning.The Monday theme was so strong in fact that my official welcome email arrived on a Monday, despite my signing up on a Saturday. It ended up being a neat way to get into a cadence. I would guess this is the way it works: You sign up and get a double opt-in email right away; then no matter the day you sign up, you get a welcome email the next Monday and then regular communication every Monday after.The regular communication is a really nice touch: Weekly emails from the founder, letting him know what’s going on or sharing a social media thinkpiece with you. Good stuff!Tool they use: Drip by LeadPages
Learnings
- For new subscribers, Extra sends a new email every Monday morning
- The emails are pure content (their homepage is basically content, too). Very little design. Lots of text.
- Every email is from the founder, Liam Sarsfield. I got so used to seeing his name in my inbox that I forgot after awhile whether we’d ever met before (we haven’t). I recall his name almost as quickly — sometimes faster — than the name of his product.
- The From Name is always “Liam Sarsfield,” and never mentions Extra.
- Each email has a clear “this is why you subscribed” message at the top, plus an easy unsubscribe link.
- For what it’s worth, they don’t call it a beta list; it’s an early access list.
3 onboarding email tips and takeaways from Extra
- Be consistent
- Longform is fine in an email, especially if it feels like you’re receiving a letter from a friend
- You can (and should) send emails before you have a product. Build a community while you’re building a product.
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Here are all the onboarding emails (and beyond) that Extra.ai sends
If you’re curious about the content of the Extra.ai emails, here’s a breakdown of every email that I received during my first 35 days. Caveat: I’m sure tons has changed and will change with these initial Extra.ai emails, so your mileage may vary when you sign up and see for yourself. 😊
First email
Sent minutes after I signed up.
Subject: Please confirm your subscriptionFrom: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks:
- Confirm subscription — https://www.extra.ai/alpha-list/confirmed
Second email
Sent three days after I signed up.
Subject: Hello!From: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks:
- “Liam” — https://twitter.com/liamsarsfield?__s=utygjocarr5kbqzptrcc
- “Extra” — https://www.extra.ai/
- “Rust” — https://rust.facepunch.com/home/?__s=utygjocarr5kbqzptrcc
- “Automating Toward Slime” — https://medium.com/extraai/automating-toward-slime
Third email
Sent 10 days after I signed up.
Subject: The business of reposting content 😷From: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks:
- https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-case-for-reposting-content
- “Extra” — https://www.extra.ai/
Fourth email
Sent 17 days after I signed up.
Subject: When is the best time to post?From: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks: (no links, except to Extra.ai in the email signature)
Fifth email
Sent 24 days after I signed up.
Subject: Introducing Matthew and LiamFrom: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks:
- “MetaLab” — http://metalab.co/?__s=utygjocarr5kbqzptrcc
- “Fluorescent” — http://fluorescent.co/?__s=utygjocarr5kbqzptrcc
- “Literistic” — https://www.literistic.com/?__s=utygjocarr5kbqzptrcc
- “Toronto, Ontario” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto
- “First Nations” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations
- “OneFeather” — https://onefeather.ca/
- “Victoria, B.C.” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria,_British_Columbia
Sixth email
Sent 27 days after I signed up.
Subject: Anil Dash’s “Humane Tech”From: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks:
- http://onbeing.org/programs/anil-dash-techs-moral-reckoning/
- “Human Tech” — https://medium.com/humane-tech
Seventh email
Sent 32 days after I signed up.
Subject: Behind-The-Scenes: Designing ExtraFrom: Liam Sarsfield, liam@extra.aiLinks:
- “Sketch” — https://www.sketchapp.com/
- “The Iterative Process: Designing a Scheduling Component for Extra” — https://medium.com/extraai/the-iterative-process-designing-a-scheduling-component-for-extra-74e4aa70b19a
Worth noting: subject lines
I wanted to share this more complete list of the emails I received from Extra, just to give a taste of how these subject lines feel altogether. They’re conversational, approachable, human, genuine. I liked them a lot!It’s an interesting mix, right? There’s the education set of “The business of reposting content” and “When is the best time to post?” and then the relationship-building “Introducing…” and “Behind-The-Scenes.”Overall, I found it to be a fabulous balance of education, relationship, and product marketing.Nice work, Liam and team!
Your thoughts
If you have some thoughts or questions about Extra’s email flow, I’d love to hear them.
- What do you think of going longform with your welcome emails?
- Do you prefer emails from a founder or emails from a marketer?
Eager to hear from you!