Imagine having to manually send an email every single time that someone entered their email address to download some information from your website. Where would you find the time?
Thankfully there’s a tool that most email marketers use to automate the process. It’s called an autoresponder.
An autoresponder is a software program that sends text, audio or video messages in a predetermined sequence to people, based upon some type of trigger event.
Most people are familiar with autoresponders, they just don’t realize it. A good example is the purchase confirmation email that you receive from online retailers like Amazon.com. You then might receive another autoresponder email when the purchase is shipped.
Autoresponder emails are not limited to online purchases. In fact, they are very useful to nurture prospects into leads and leads into sales.
How Autoresponders Work
Autoresponders cut down on a lot of work. In fact, you don’t really have to do much after you set them up. Most of the work is done at the beginning when you create an email sequence. Then, you just sit back and let the autoresponders take care of rest.
To help you better understand, we’ll walk you through the process.
The first thing you need to understand is that email autoresponders start with a trigger event. This might be downloading a coupon or white paper or making a purchase in exchange for an email address.
Once you capture the email, you can then send them automated email messages through an autoresponder to nurture them into a paying customer. You can see an example in the image below.
In this instance, the trigger event was someone signing up for a free report. That person then receives autoresponder emails each week that slowly push them toward buying a product or service. What’s great is that you don’t have to worry about remembering to send any of these messages. They’re done automatically through the software program.
Why You Need Autoresponders
There are several important reasons why you should consider autoresponders.
- More Customers – Autoresponders turn more prospects into leads and more leads into sales. That’s because you’re nurturing everyone in your names list until they’re ready to buy. No one falls through the cracks because it’s automated.
- Easier to Upsell and Cross Sell – With autoresponders, you can stay in better contact with your most loyal customers and get them to buy more. You don’t have to worry about losing touch with them.
- Efficient Marketing – As mentioned earlier, autoresponders are a huge time saver. It gives you more time to focus in on other areas of your business. Your email marketing will be much more efficient. Plus, it saves you money.
- On-Time Delivery to the Right People – Using autoresponders ensures that the right messages get delivered to the right customers or prospects at the right time. You don’t have stop everything and carve time out of your busy schedule to send an email. Just set up the sequence once and look at the analytics to monitor your results.
What Programs Should You Use?
When it comes to selecting the autoresponder programs, there are plenty of options. In our experience, we’ve found Constant Contact, Infusionsoft and AWeber to be effective programs. Constant Contact seems to be good for small businesses looking to perform simple processes while Infusionsoft and AWeber are great for more complicated tasks.
Autoresponders can really help improve your email marketing. For even more tips, Like the Right On – No Bull Marketing Facebook Page. You’ll get updates on all of our blog posts and free webinars on local business marketing.
