What is an Autoresponder?

Autoresponder 101

An autoresponder is pretty much what it sounds like. It is a software tool which will respond to someone when an email address is supplied. This can be triggered when a user signs up to an email list or provides you with their email in a different way. Let’s look at the specifics.

A user must first supply you with an email address. When this happens, an event is usually triggered, and an email is sent to the email address. This would generally take the form of a welcome email.

From this point, regular emails are sent out to the user, depending on your business needs. It is common for the first real email (the one after the welcome email) to be sent out a day after the sign-up. This second email will give the user useful information or an offer.

From here, as many emails can be sent out as you wish, usually with longer periods of time between subsequent emails so that the user is not put off and classes your email as spam.

That is all there is to it.

What Do You Need To Do on Your End?

The process sounds simple enough but, of course, there is some work to be done on your end. First, you have to choose your software, download it, and install it. That is the easy part. There are many autoresponder programs out there. For common use, you will find that most autoresponders will fit your needs. If you need a specialized service, then you may need to shop around a little.

When you have your software installed and set up, you need to start thinking about your emails. You will want to ask yourself a few questions.

How many emails should you send? 

This depends on the outcome you need. We cannot give you an exact number, but you need to send out as many emails as will get your information across to the user. Most studies show that sending between 12-15 emails is a common amount.

How much time should you leave between sends? 

You want to keep the user interested at first, so you do not want to leave a lot of time between sends. The more emails you send, the less you want to spam the user, so you want to leave more time. You will want to start with a day between emails, moving to three days, and then around a week near the end of the sends.

How do you balance offers and information? 

Users can be frustrated when they are inundated with sales offers. This can lead to your emails being marked as spam or users opting out. You want to balance your sales pitches with relevant information. You should not make sole sales pitches in any of your emails if you can help it. Combine rich and useful information with a sales pitch.

How do you minimize un-subscribers? 

How do you stop people from unsubscribing or putting your emails into the spam folder? Make sure that your information is engaging and relevant. Do not lead every email with a sales pitch. When people do need to unsubscribe, you need to make sure that they can do that easily or they can become frustrated and give negative feedback.

Now that you know a little about how an autoresponder works, you should have a more informed idea as to whether it is right for you. Before we go, let’s take a little look at the pros and cons to aide your decision.

Pros

• Once you have your emails set up to be sent out, you do not need to do anything else. You can communicate with your client without having to type a word
• If you create engaging emails, an autoresponder can help you to generate sales, raise brand awareness, and increase user referrals
• A good autoresponder can give you a high return on investment. With almost no cash input, you can generate a lot of sales
• Autoresponders are a great solution for small businesses with limited resources.

Cons

• Autoresponders are targeted. It is a numbers game. The more emails you send, the more sales you are going to generate, but you are not going to convert as many sales as you would with targeted marketing
• Autoresponder e-mails tend to have a higher opt-out rate than personalized emails
• The initial setup of your autoresponder can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. It is also hard to change your email campaign with regards to timing if your campaign is not working. It can be hard to pinpoint any problem areas.

In Conclusion

An autoresponder is not for everyone, but it can help your business. If you set it up in the correct way, you can generate a lot of sales for your business.