Taking a look at the welcome email from Sephora, I was definitely expecting a lot of imagery being that they are a high profile consumer cosmetics brand. While there are some decent elements to their welcome email, they are missing the big picture.

To start, in Gmail with images blocked, they have a very poor first impression. Being a brand that is concerned with their image, this introduction is poor. Below is a screen grab of the disabled image version of their welcome email.

At first glance this is chicken scratch. I do see some navigation links, and then a brief welcome note, but mixed up in a creative that was trying too hard to have visual appeal.

Note: The welcome email is a fantastic opportunity to establish that relationship with your subscribers. Open rate are likely to be sky high (they just signed up and are wanting your communication!) and you have a rare opportunity to establish expectations and get your communication with the subscriber offer to a strong start. Unfortunately, the welcome email is overlooked or very poorly executed.

Looking at this email with images displayed:

Here we see what we likely would expect from a brand like Sephora. But with images being disabled by default in so many email accounts, they are missing the mark and a great opportunity to connect with a new subscriber. One good element though to note here is the “Can’t see everything? Visit us here” above the header of the email. Definitely needed and let’s hope it was used.

-Forest Bronzan