# Welcome series

Source: https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/recipes/welcome-series

Greet new signups with three emails over their first week, starting from the Welcome series template.

A welcome series is a short run of emails that greets someone who has just signed up and shows them where to start. The **Welcome series** template sends three emails over a week to people who are new from a signup form.

## Who it's for

Any business that collects signups through a form: a newsletter, a waiting list, a shop's first-order offer or a free account. For example, Harbour Books, a fictional bookshop in Lisbon, welcomes newsletter readers with its staff picks, then a guide to its reading clubs.

## What you need first

- A published [signup form](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/forms/create-a-signup-form). Forms are on every plan.
- A verified sending domain. See [Set up a sending domain](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/getting-started/set-up-a-sending-domain).
- The links your emails will point to, such as your shop, your getting-started page or your blog.

## 1. Start from the template

Go to **Journeys**, choose **New journey**, then under **Start from a template** and **New contacts**, choose **Welcome series**.

## 2. Check what the template creates

| Part | As the template sets it |
| --- | --- |
| Trigger | **Submits a form**, any form, with the entry condition `outcome` equals `created`, so only people new to your workspace enter |
| Re-entry | **Once** |
| Step 1 | **Send message**: *Welcome to* your workspace's name, at once |
| Step 2 | **Wait** 3 days |
| Step 3 | **Send message**: *Four things to try this week* |
| Step 4 | **Wait** 4 days |
| Step 5 | **Send message**: *A note from us*, a short personal note signed by your team |
| Exit rules | None |

With a double opt-in form, the journey starts once the person confirms. Someone who signs up twice isn't welcomed twice.

## 3. Change it for your business

- **Rewrite the emails.** The first email welcomes and shows what to do first, the second suggests next steps, the third is personal and invites a reply. Replace the sample copy, add your sender and give each button its real link. See [Design an email](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/email-designer/design-an-email).
- **Set the pace.** A shop with a first-order offer may want the second email after a day, not three. Change the **Wait** steps.
- **Stop when they act.** Under **Exit rules**, add **An event happens** with the action that makes a newcomer active, such as their first purchase. Once that event reaches Kirora, they skip the steps still ahead.

## 4. Measure it

- **Clicks** on each email, on the **Performance** tab under **Steps** and **Email outcomes by step**. A low click count on one email points to the step to rewrite.
- **Conversions**: add a conversion goal on the action you want from a newcomer, such as a first purchase, with **Counts within** set to 7 days. Available on Starter and above. See [Conversion goals](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/journey-results#conversion-goals).
- **Lift**: add a **Random split** before the second email with one empty path as a holdout, so some newcomers get only the welcome. See [Random split and holdout](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/journey-results#random-split-and-holdout).

## Common pitfalls

- **Any form starts it.** Left on **Any form**, every new contact from every form enters, including a contact form or a competition entry. Under **Form**, pick the form this series is for.
- **People who didn't arrive through a form don't enter.** That includes contacts your app or an import created, and anyone who signed up before the journey went live. To reach them, start the journey on **Joins a list** and tick **Also enrol the people already in** it. See [Add people already in the list or segment](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/build-a-journey#add-people-already-in-the-list-or-segment).

## Next steps

- [Journey recipes](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/recipes/overview) — every template and what it needs
- [Create a signup form](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/forms/create-a-signup-form) — the form that starts this series
- [Journey results](https://kirora.io/docs/guides/journeys/journey-results) — read the numbers once it's running