Exactly how much information do you need to get from a website visitor before sending them free information? While name, address, phone and other fields are nice to have, they can also put your prospect off by being too intrusive. Really, the only thing you need is their email address, so you can do the MOST important thing you’ll ever do with a prospective customer – follow up. And when it comes to following up, auto-responders do work!
What Are Auto-Responders – And Why Are They So Great?
Basically, they are automatic emails sent out once or multiple times in a series. They are different from regular email campaigns because they are usually triggered by an event like a form submission or a registration to an email series.
You only need to build the campaign once. Each time the event is triggered your emails will be sent out like clockwork. You can imagine how much time this can save you if you’re currently struggling to follow up with prospects one at a time using personal emails!
When to Use Them
There are many ways to use auto-responders, here are a few ideas:
- Create an email series that educates.
- Follow up with an email or two after a report is downloaded to find out if they have other questions or maybe they’re ready to purchase.
- Use them as a gentle reminder – for example, if your contact just downloaded a membership packet but hasn’t mailed it in yet you can use auto responders to remind them and let them know you’re available for more information.
- Provide additional information that wasn’t in the report they downloaded.
You can see the pattern — auto-responders let you keep in touch with your prospect. By providing quality information you set a foundation for building trust and a relationship.
Sometimes auto-responders get a bad rap. They can be too general and too obviously not personal. But those are auto-responders that just weren’t done well. Done right, they’re a powerful tool that will help you reach more people faster and more easily.
Tune in to part 2 when I’ll let you know the right way to use auto-responders for maximum impact. Don’t miss out! Use the form below to sign up to receive our blog in your inbox. Each day we deliver powerful tips on how to make your internet marketing efforts effective.
About the author: Jeune Ortiz is VP of Marketing and Creative Director at future-ink. With more than 20 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jeune brings extensive knowledge and creativity to each website and internet marketing solution to grow your business.
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2 Comments
autoresponderreviews | December 2, 2010
Great article. Which paid autoresponder solution would you recommend? I’m leaning towards getting TrafficWave.
Jeune Ortiz | December 3, 2010
I’m not familiar with that ESP. There are many great solutions out there. The important thing is to make sure they have a high deliverability rate. If your emails aren’t getting through, auto-responders, click tracking and reporting won’t do you much good. The ESPs we recommend are Aweber and Constant Contact. Both have solid reputations and the features needed for creating a successful email marketing campaign.