Autoresponders

The typical example of an autoresponder is a sequence of emails sent out over time to people
in the form of a 'mini course'.
Talk about a sequence of messages e.g. a person signs up and then they get
• Message #1 immediately
• Message #2 after 1 day
• Message #3 after 3 days
• Message #4 after 7 days
• Message #5 after 10 days
• And a new message every 10 days after that
What are the benifits of sending out Autoresponder messages
Stop and think for a moment. Most people who visit your web site come once, have a look
and then move on right? (it's what you do when you're looking around).
The problem is, people often forget who you are and they forget about your product or
service. But, if you can convince people to give you their email address and then over time
contact them (automatically of course), you do achieve some very important goals:
1. You get into people's long term memory. You build up recognition for you or your brand.
2. You build up a (very large) database of prospects you can contact at any time. Imagine
having a database of 50,000 prospects who are used to receiving high quality content
from you? If ever business is ever quiet, or if you want to maximize your sales, you can
simply send out an offer to your list of potential customers and drum up new work!
3. And you can position yourself as the guru for your particular industry!
The secret to success using Autoresponders
When it comes to writing successful autoresponder messages, the most important key is
having quality content.
Unless you provide your subscribers with some valuable information in return for the time they
spend reading your autoresponder messages, then they'll quickly lose interest in reading your
messages.
It's fine to include a sales pitch, but people must always feel they're getting more value than
sales pitch.
One option is to have a defined ratio of emails that are a sales pitch (e.g. 1 sales pitch to
every 5 content emails).
Another option is to write newsletter-style e-mails which are full of great content and put a
short sales pitch at the bottom of each e-mail.
Depending on your business model, one of these strategies might suit your business better
than the other - but both have proven to be very successful for Alliance Software clients who
have used them.
The nice thing is in many businesses, if you educate, you actually create the need for your
product service at the same time.
Think about it from the perspective of a website development business (e.g. Alliance
Software). By showing our customers some of the advanced web marketing strategies used
by the most successful online businesses today, we position ourselves as the natural
suppliers. You can do the same.
Isn't this spamming people? Won't this annoy some people?
The technical definition of spam is unsolicited commercial emails. So long as people have
given their consent for you to send them e-mails (which happens when they voluntarily sign
up), then it's not spam.
However, even without breaking the spam laws, you can still be viewed as a "spammer" if you
don't have quality content in your e-mails. If the content is good, people will appreciate your
emails. (It's like a trade - you're essentially "buying" the ability to give your sales pitch to
people in return for giving them valuable information.)
Finally, Autoresponder emails allow people to unsubscribe at any time. That means, if you do
offend or annoy someone, they are able to click a link and stop receiving your e-mails.
How do I get people to sign up for my Autoresponder sequence?
In order to get someone to sign up for your autoresponder sequence, you need to "sell" them
on the idea of giving you their e-mail address.
This means showing them the benefits of signing up to your autoresponder sequence, such
as telling them about the great information they'll receive on a regular basis.
A common trick used by Alliance Software clients is to offer an enticing little bonus at the start
in return for their e-mail address.
This is often something Downloadable (such as an e-book, audio or video download), but can
also be a small gift which is cheap to manufacture and post out (such as a DVD, CD or book),
or even a discount voucher they can use next time they buy from you.
Whatever you choose to offer as your enticing bonus in return for people signing up, make
sure it's something relevant to your customers, and something they would want to receive.
The better the bonus you're offering, the more likely it is that someone will sign up to your
autoresponder sequence.
Finally, when you're writing your pitch for people to sign up to your autoresponder sequence,
make sure you gain their trust by telling them how you will keep their personal details private,
and they won't receive spam.
A lot of people are distrustful of web-sites which ask them to provide their e-mail address as
many less scrupulous sites end up selling or renting e-mail addresses to spammers.
By putting these sort of fears to rest for your web-site visitors, it's more likely that they will give
you their e-mail address and sign up to your autoresponder series.
Can I send out special offers to my Autoresponder list?
Yes, of course you can!
If you have a special offer, or an announcement, you can send it to all (or a select group) of
your subscribers at any time.
Your autoresponder list is essentially a list of potential customers who have previously
expressed interest in your company.
Communicating your special offers and announcements to these people is a great idea if you
want to boost your sales!