The Right Way to Use Auto-Responders to Build Your Business (Part 2)

June 21, 2010 by Jeune Ortiz

Auto-responders can build your business when they are done in the right way. In fact, auto-responders are responsible for hundreds of successful internet marketing businesses. I’m not talking about the “gurus” that get your email and smother your inbox with “exciting offers at a ridiculous ONE TIME ONLY price that will end soon!” I’m talking about professional, high-quality businesses like SitePoint.com. Company co-founder, Matt Mickiewicz, lends much of his multi-million dollar business success to the use of auto-responders.

The bottom line is that auto-responders let you maintain the connection you’ve made with a customer or potential customer.

There is a right way to use auto-responders, and a wrong way. The wrong way will feel impersonal, cookie-cutter, and irrelevant to your recipient.  This will lead your emails to be immediately deleted or marked as SPAM. The right way to use auto-responders will end in more sales.

When it Comes to Forms, Less is More

First things first, you need to obtain your contact’s email address. And let’s face it, marketers are greedy. I’ve been required to provide three phone numbers just to download a whitepaper! Make sure you’re not a greedy marketer. Collect information that makes sense to the prospect and your business. In the first part of your sales cycle, you may only want to ask for an email address. The less information you ask for, the more likely your form will be completed.

Create Segmented Campaigns

Don’t create one auto-responder campaign that is a generic catch-all. Every email message you send should be creating value for your customer. This will take a bit more work on your end, but the results will be well worth it.

Know When to Quit

Because auto-responders take no effort to mange, it’s tempting to create as many as you can and then bombard your newly-made contact. Instead, let value be your guide. If you can only think of three emails with valuable information that might help move the prospect to the next stage, then your auto-responder should only be three emails long.  As I’ve discussed in other marketing posts, less is more.

Ask For What You Want

Calls to action need to be everywhere, including your emails. Typically, you won’t have the phone number of your new contact. So encourage them to make contact with you. Give them a reason to call by simply asking them to.  Or tell them that you have more information they need to have.

Try Again

When you’re nearing the end of your campaign. Ask them if they are interested in something else. Lead them to another source of information (like another whitepaper) that fits in nicely with the one they just got. If they proceed to opt-in to that new campaign,  you have a few more chances to finally close that sale.

By following the steps outlined above, you will be well on your way to creating an auto-responder campaign that will help move your sales forward without alienating your contacts.  If you’re ready to give it a go, your first step will be to make sure your email company can handle auto-responders for you. We recommend Aweber because they will let you create as many professional-grade auto-responder campaigns as you want.