7 Onboarding Email Best Practices Every SaaS Should Follow

Here at Sunboard, we focus on in-app onboarding. But emails are essential for keeping new users engaged. Love them or hate them, they work.

Let's look at 7 onboarding email best practices. These tactics will help you keep more customers.

Send the First Email Immediately After Sign-Up

Why send an email right away? Won't users be busy exploring your app?

Well, there are two key reasons.

First, users need to recognize your emails. This first email creates that connection. When future emails land, they'll know who you are.

Second, most SaaS products need setup. Your new users might not have time right now. They signed up but can't dive in yet.

What should your first email contain?

Keep it simple. Welcome them. Introduce yourself and your product. Share one case study if you have a great one.

Keep links minimal. Too many links can trigger spam filters.

Personalize the Experience

Time to send your second email. The welcome email doesn't count.

This might be controversial, but hear me out. Write these emails yourself when possible. Add your personal touch. Templates work, but personal emails work better.

Check what users have actually done. Don't send "I see you're enjoying [your SaaS]" if they haven't logged in. That's just awkward.

Personalization ideas that work:

Use their name and company
Mention recent industry events
Reference their actual onboarding progress
Add one personal line to each email

Check their onboarding status before writing. Have they completed key steps? Which actions are they stuck on? Show them you're paying attention.

Sometimes doing things that don't scale leads to success.

Focus on One Clear Action Per Email

Your users are busy. They're juggling multiple tools and tasks. Don't make them think too hard about what to do next.

Each email needs one clear call-to-action. Not three. Not five. Just one. Maybe it's "Create your first onboarding checklist" or "Invite your first teammate" or "Add your first product tour."

Here's what happens with multiple CTAs:

Users get paralyzed by choice
They close the email to "deal with it later"
That "later" never comes
You lose them forever

Pick the most important action for that stage. Make your button obvious. Use action words like "Start," "Create," or "Connect" instead of generic "Click here" text.

Pro tip: Test your emails on mobile. If your CTA isn't crystal clear on a small screen, it's not clear enough.

Highlight Quick Wins

Your users signed up to solve a problem. Show them they made the right choice. Fast.

Don't wait until email #5 to show value. By then, they've already forgotten why they signed up. Guide them to their first success within 24 hours.

Real examples that work:

"Most users see 30% fewer support tickets after setting up their in-app FAQ"
"Sarah from TechCo reduced onboarding time by 2 hours using this one feature"
"You're 10 minutes away from setting up your onboarding"

At Sunboard, we help users create their first product tour in under 5 minutes. That quick win keeps them coming back. They see immediate impact on user engagement.

Share specific metrics whenever possible. "Save time" is vague. "Save 3 hours per week" hits different.

Use a Drip Sequence (Not Just One Email)

One email won't cut it. Neither will ten emails in two days. You need a thoughtful sequence that matches your users' journey.

Here's a simple framework that works:

Day 0: Welcome email (sent immediately)
Day 1: Quick win tutorial
Day 3: Feature spotlight based on their use case
Day 7: Check-in with helpful resources
Day 14: Success story from a similar customer

Space your emails based on user activity. Active users need fewer emails. Inactive users need helpful nudges.

The key is relevance. A user who already uploaded data doesn't need an email about uploading data. Use behavioral triggers to send the right message at the right time.

Tools like Sunboard track user progress through onboarding checklists. Use that data to trigger relevant emails. No more sending "complete your profile" emails to users with completed profiles.

Leverage Social Proof and Education

Nobody wants to be the guinea pig. Show your users that others succeeded before them.

Drop social proof naturally into your emails:

"Join 2,000+ founders who reduced churn by 25%"
"Here's how MockAPI doubled their trial-to-paid conversion"
"Your competitor just implemented this feature (and loves it)"

But don't just name-drop. Share specific tactics they can steal. Include screenshots of successful implementations. Link to case studies with real numbers.

Educational content builds trust too. Share your best tips freely:

Common mistakes to avoid during setup
Industry benchmarks they should know
Templates they can copy and customize

We share our onboarding playbook openly at Sunboard. Users trust us more because we help them succeed, even before they pay us. That transparency converts better than any sales pitch.

Test, Track, and Optimize Continuously

Your first email sequence will suck. That's okay. The magic happens when you start testing.

Track these metrics religiously:

Open rates (aim for 40%+ on welcome emails)
Click rates (10-15% is solid for onboarding)
Reply rates (personal emails should get 5%+)
Activation metrics (whatever "activated" means for you)

Start with subject line tests. Try these angles:

Question vs. statement ("Ready to reduce churn?" vs. "Reduce churn today")
Personal vs. company ("John from Sunboard" vs. "Team Sunboard")
Urgency vs. value ("Last chance" vs. "Save 3 hours weekly")

Test send times too. B2B SaaS typically sees best engagement Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-2pm. But your audience might be different. Sunday afternoon might work great for developer tools.

Don't test everything at once. Run one test for two weeks. Implement the winner. Then test the next element. Small improvements compound into big wins.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Sending from no-reply addresses - Kills engagement instantly
Writing novels - Keep emails under 150 words
Using corporate jargon - Write like you talk
Ignoring mobile formatting - 50% read emails on phones
Giving up after one sequence - Keep iterating constantly

The Bottom Line

Great onboarding emails work with your in-app experience, not against it. Tools like Sunboard handle the in-app guidance. Your emails provide the gentle nudges. Together, they create an onboarding experience that actually converts.

Your onboarding emails are often the difference between a customer who churns and one who stays for years. These seven practices aren't just theory. They're what actually works for founders and small SaaS companies who can't afford to lose a single user.

Start with one practice. Test it for two weeks. Then add another. Small wins compound into major improvements in retention.