The Welcome Flow Formula
STEP 02 — OFFER
Create Your Welcome Offer
Outcome: By the end of this step, you’ll have chosen a compelling welcome offer, created it in Klaviyo and set an expiry that gives new subscribers a genuine reason to act.
Your offer gives people a reason to join your list — but it also plays an important role in turning those new subscribers into customers. In this step, we’ll choose an offer that makes sense for your brand, set it up correctly and give it a clear expiry so there’s a reason to buy now rather than later.
Watch Me Build It
Follow along as I create AERA’s 15% welcome offer, connect it with Shopify and set up the expiry we'll use to shape the timing of the three-email Welcome Flow.
Build Your Welcome Offer
1. Choose Your Incentive
Decide what you're going to offer new subscribers — percentage discount, dollar discount, free shipping, gift with purchase or another incentive that makes sense for your brand.
2. Decide How Long Your Offer Should Last
Choose an expiry period that creates genuine urgency while giving your customer enough time to make their purchase decision.
We can eventually explain your 10-day sweet spot here, alongside why a lower-consideration purchase might be shorter and a higher-consideration purchase might need longer.
3. Create Your Coupon in Klaviyo
Set up a unique Shopify coupon through Klaviyo so each subscriber can receive their own code automatically.
4. Configure Your Discount
Set the discount amount, eligible products/collections, minimum requirements and any other conditions that apply to your offer.
5. Set Your Expiry
Configure the coupon so each subscriber's offer expires based on when they receive it, rather than relying on one static end date for everyone.
This is an important teaching point, so it'll probably become a bigger section once you've recorded.
6. Add Your Coupon to the Welcome Flow
Make sure your dynamic coupon is ready to use in the emails we'll build in Steps 3–5.
7. Test Your Offer
Generate/test the coupon and confirm it applies correctly in Shopify before putting it anywhere near a live customer.
The Details That Matter
Your offer needs to make commercial sense.
The biggest discount isn't automatically the best offer.
Give the offer an expiry.
Without a genuine deadline, there's very little reason for someone to buy today rather than “later”.
Match the expiry to the buying decision.
Ten days might be perfect for one brand and completely wrong for another.
Use unique codes where possible.
Rather than having one generic WELCOME15 code floating around the internet forever.
Think about exclusions before you launch.
Collections, sale items, bundles, gift cards, minimum spend etc.
Test it. Always.
Particularly exclusions, minimum spends and expiry behaviour.
Welcome Offer Inspiration
15% Off
Simple, immediately understood and scales with order value.
$20 Off
Can feel more tangible than a percentage discount, particularly around a predictable AOV.
Free Shipping
Targets a specific purchase objection without discounting the product itself.
Free Gift With Purchase
Adds value while helping protect your product pricing and margin.
NO DISCOUNT?
Not every brand needs to discount. Your incentive could be early access, exclusive content, a useful digital resource or another compelling reason to subscribe.
You’re done when…
✓ I've chosen my welcome offer
✓ I know how long my offer will be available for
✓ I've created my coupon in Klaviyo
✓ My discount rules and exclusions are configured correctly
✓ My coupon has an expiry
✓ My offer is ready to use inside my Welcome Flow emails
✓ I've tested my coupon in Shopify
✓ The correct discount applies at checkout
✓ Any exclusions/minimum requirements work as expected
✓ I'm ready to build Email #1
WANT TO TAKE IT FURTHER? — OPTIONAL
Bonus: Grow Your List with Meta Lead Generation
Your Klaviyo sign-up form isn't the only way to bring new people into your Welcome Flow. If you're using Meta advertising, you can also use paid traffic to actively grow your list.
Using Meta To Grow Your List
Two ways this can work
1. Meta Ad → Website → Klaviyo Sign-Up Form
Your Meta ad sends someone directly to your website, where they can browse your products and encounter the Klaviyo sign-up form you've just created.
If they subscribe, they'll be added to your chosen Klaviyo list and enter your Welcome Flow in exactly the same way as any other website visitor.
Meta Ad → Website → Sign-Up Form → Klaviyo List → Welcome Flow
The benefit of this approach is that you're also bringing potential customers onto your website, where they can explore your brand and products — and potentially purchase without signing up at all.
2. Meta Lead Ad → Klaviyo → Welcome Flow
Meta Lead Ads allow someone to submit their details directly within Facebook or Instagram, without needing to visit your website first.
Through Klaviyo's Meta integration, you can connect a Meta lead form to a Klaviyo list so those new leads are automatically added to Klaviyo.
Meta Lead Ad → Klaviyo List → Welcome Flow
If you map your Meta lead form to the same list you're using for your website sign-up form, those subscribers can enter the same Welcome Flow you've built throughout this Formula.
Alternatively, if you're running a campaign with a different offer or purpose, you may want those leads to enter a separate list and receive a different flow.
The important thing is to be intentional about where those leads are going and what happens next.
Before You Send Traffic...
If you're collecting leads through Meta, test the complete journey before spending money sending people through it.
Check that:
• Your Meta and Klaviyo accounts are connected
• The correct Meta lead form is connected to Klaviyo
• Leads are being added to the correct Klaviyo list
• That list triggers the Welcome Flow you want them to receive
• You've submitted a test lead through the Meta form
• Your test profile appears correctly in Klaviyo
• The information you collected has populated correctly on the profile
• Your test profile enters the correct Welcome Flow
• Welcome Email #1 arrives as expected
Don't assume it's working just because everything looks connected. Submit a test lead and follow the same journey your customer will.
The Details That Matter
If you're using the same Welcome Flow for both your website sign-ups and Meta leads, make sure the offer and messaging still make sense for both audiences.
For example, if your website pop-up promises 15% off your first order, but your Meta Lead Ad promises something completely different, dropping both audiences into an email that immediately says “Here's your 15% off!” could create a confusing experience.
Sometimes one list and one Welcome Flow will work beautifully. Sometimes a different campaign needs its own journey.
Follow the customer experience from beginning to end and make sure what they receive feels like a natural continuation of what they signed up for.
A QUICK NOTE: This isn't a lesson in how to create, target or optimise Meta advertising — that's a whole other area of expertise! The focus here is on the Klaviyo side of the customer journey: making sure the leads you generate through Meta are reaching the right place in Klaviyo and receiving the right email experience once they get there.