Autoresponders – Automated Hands-Off Marketing

Autoresponders – Automated Hands-Off Marketing

 

Autoresponders

Now you have your lead magnet set up, you might want to automate your follow up emails and use an autoresponder.

An autoresponder is a program that automatically sends prewritten emails to your list at a predetermined time, and frequency. Predetermined by you, of course.

Anyone who has ever signed up to a list will have received at least the first email in an autoresponder sequence – that’s most often the welcome email.

Your email program will have all the tools you need to set up your own autoresponder series.

All you have to do is write a sequence of emails for an easy, hands-off way to market to your list.

And just like any other business email, autoresponder emails need to be engaging and interesting, with subject lines that people can’t resist.

Now, keep in mind, this is a series of 3, 5, 7, or more, short emails sent out over days, or weeks, depending on their specific purpose. So your emails all need to have a common thread, and naturally progress to the next, and the next …

Your job is to make the reader want to read the following email in the series. Make them easy to consume, in a language they’re familiar with.

How do you do that?

By giving them something useful in the first email, and letting them see that they’ll get more if they read the next email. This works for the initial trust-building emails, and the later sales emails, although both should have the same components, and many companies now merge the two, to save time. Others have a welcome series, then they move to a conversion series.

Use a theme throughout your email series and don’t forget your call to action and links.

You can use a sequence of emails to highlight a different feature, and its benefits, in each one. Readers will be waiting in anticipation to see what comes next.

Once a prospect takes you up on your offer, their name usually gets put onto a different list. You should be marketing to prospects and customers differently. No one wants to keep receiving marketing emails for something they’ve already bought.

This happens a lot more than it should, and it’s annoying. To me, it says the company hasn’t taken the time or effort to look after its customers. It’s just sending everything to everyone in the hopes of positive results.

It also reeks of laziness, poor planning, or both. It tells me the company is only interested in my money. Do you really want to be perceived that way?

Segmenting your list makes sense for your company, and for your prospects and customers, because not everyone will respond to the same messages. When you segment your list, you can customise your autoresponder messages for maximum conversions.

Always be giving your readers usefulness and relevance, they’ll want to buy your product or service to gain even more value.

Don’t be concerned that people won’t buy because you’re giving away all the good stuff. People will buy because they know you, trust you, and like what you have to offer.

You’re going to help them, so show them how you’ll do that.

Keep the emails short and punchy, because they’re not the sales letter. You’re using persuasion and relevant stories to send the readers to a landing page, or your website, where the real selling begins.

I recommend a series of at least seven emails. That way you’re still building a relationship with your prospect and not being pushy or coming across like a used-car-salesman (no disrespect to car salesmen, but we’ve all been there).

You want to convert them to buyers, not scare them away forever.

Remember, people have already signed up to receive your emails, They want to hear more from you. For the most part, adding more emails to your autoresponder sequence will increase sales.

But, as always, keep testing to find out what’s working and what isn’t.

 

KEEP THE FAITH


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