Autoresponders - Email Marketing

We’re going to pick up with why you’d use an Autoresponder.

When you place a classified ad on the Internet, it contains your email address so that prospects can contact you for more information. Autoresponders are useful for dealing with large numbers of response to your email blasts. If, for example, that your ad hundreds of questions, you can be happy with that result, but you must also be prepared to answer all those questions.
The time considerations are potentially immense when you consider that responding to just one email can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. You can do the simple multiplication to determine how much time responding can take to hundreds of emails, both those that appear on Day 1 and those that appear a few days down the road.

Keep the Interest Alive

It is important to be able to respond promptly because prospects want information now. They will lose interest if they have to wait. An inability to respond quickly to their initial (and any follow-up questions is essential for keep their interest, and handling each question one at a time is an impossibility, expensive, or both. Hiring staff to deal with these issues would require round-the-clock support because Internet ads are seen around the world.

Autoresponders, on the other hand, allow you to instantly answer questions from anyone at any time. Once someone sends you a question, they receive a response from you immediately, which keeps their interest alive.

The Next Step

Autoresponders are an easy enough concept to understand. They are an efficient way to keep interest generated.
But the uses for Autoresponders go beyond just answering customer questions.

An intelligent Autoresponder will allow you to send additional reminder messages to prospects who do not respond to your original emails. And you can follow up as frequently as necessary.

Also, you can them to your database, and you can start building a targeted opt-in list. Additionally, you can use it to publish an ezine, promote offers from partners or affiliates, or make special announcements. This allows you to increase your odds of selling and of selling more things to the same customer.

For example, let's say you sell car parts. Your initial email provides information about your business, or perhaps about a particular part. Recipients then receive a follow-up email weekly. They buy. In a few weeks down the road, you email them about, say, another part to go with the same car. In other words, you can get them to buy again and again. Your cost of sales are virtually non-existent.

 Your Follow-up Sequence
In addition to sending email, autoresponders can be triggered from a website form, in which the visitor enters his information. Let’s say a visitor does thin, and then you want to set up a sequence of "autoresponses," so you can send further messages to your prospects at intervals down the road.

You can set up the following:

Dear Jane Doe,

Thank you for requesting information on our products. I have attached price listings for this month’s product catalogue.
Please review at your convenience, Jane. Feel free to email or call me at 121 303 4531 if you have questions.

Thanks,
John Paul
Smith Car Parts

Cutomer names, dates, phone numbers and can been automatically added by the autoresponder. It can capture and add a first name, full name, month, year, a few days ahead; whatever you want.
By asking for information in the form you can incorporate this information into your Autoresponder emails. Then, a series of follow-up messages are sent over time at intervals of your choice Here's an example of a sequence for following up with prospects who have requested information:

1st message is sent
2nd message is sent 3 days later
3rd message is sent 5 days later
4th message is sent 9 days later
5th message is sent 12 days later
6th message is sent 17 days later
7th message is sent 20 days later

Bear in mind that the timeframes will vary, depending on your business and/or product/service.
Following, we will look at how to set up an Autoresponder with a sample sequence suitable for following up with people who have, for example, requested product information.

Appreciation for Requesting Information

The aim of this type of email is to thank your prospect for requesting information and introduce your website or product to them. This is where you want to talk about significant benefits of the product and why they’d want to buy it.

Follow-Up 1: Set a Deadline

A few days later, don't just remind them of your offer, but also make them feel a sense of urgency, like. Use a time-limited or quantity-bound offer. Perhaps there are only a few seats left at a conference you are promoting, or maybe a limited number of specialty parts.
Follow-Up 2: Reinforce Benefits

Sent 3-5 days after the original request, this email reinforcesthe benefits. Talk about what they get from the product or from doing business with you.

 Follow-Up 3: Make Bonus Offers

Stress bonuses. Remind prospects that bonuses are limited and guaranteed only for a number of days.

Follow-Up 4: Compare Your Product

Demonstrate the value by comparing "apples to oranges." If you're selling a report on how to create websites, compare it to paying an experienced (and rather costly) web designer.

 Follow-Up 5: Offer Positive Testimonials

You are unknown to your prospects. And they will trust you more if you provide examples of what other people have said about your company and product.

Follow-Up 6: Reinforce the Deadline and Ask for Action

This final step of your sequence makes or breaks the sale. Reiterate the benefits of your product, and deadlines.
 (Potential) Follow-Up 7: Market Research

Even after your the follow-up sequence is complete your prospects are still valuable, irrespective of whether they made a purchase. You can contact them for research purposes, and for example, ask them why they did/did not buy a product. This information can help you make any necessary changes in the future. Also, you can do infrequently follow ups to cover announcements, changes to your website and so on.