An autoresponder is a tool that is used in order to send out emails for email marketing. Primarily, this is used to collect emails and then send out marketing messages. It is one of the most important tools for any internet marketer and in this post, we’ll explore why and what they are used for.
If you want to start an email marketing campaign, then you need an autoresponder. While it is conceivably possible to handle a campaign without this tool, the reality is that it will be significantly more difficult and you would be far better served by using this important tool.
The first role of an autoresponder is to allow you to build your form. You’ll use this in order to collect emails that you can then add to a list. The form will be able to automatically add the email addresses to a database stored on the cloud, which is difficult code to handle if you aren’t a professional web developer.
Autoresponders and double-opt-int
Many autoresponders will then use a double opt-in. This basically means that users will need to then confirm their interest in joining your mailing list by responding to an automatically distributed email.
The great thing about a double opt-in is that it helps to keep your list more targeted. Building a mailing list is only valuable insofar as the people on that list are likely to read your messages and potentially buy products you recommend to them. If you have lots of spam emails or people who aren’t interested in your messages, then you might find that a very small percentage of your emails actually go through.
Unsubscribe requests and sales funnel
Likewise, your autoresponder will also handle requests to unsubscribe. This is similarly important as it allows people to leave when they wish too, rather than sending your messages to spam. You could again handle this yourself in theory but that would involve manually responding to every unsubscribe request and then deleting the required address from your database.
You will also design and send your emails from the autoresponder tool. This gives you access to design features that can make your emails appear more professional and allows you to send to unlimited people at once. You can schedule emails and you can have them delivered in a set sequence called an autoresponder sequence when you get a new subscriber. You can use this to handle a sales funnel to sell a product and ensure that every new user starts from ‘the beginning’.
Whatever you use your email marketing for, autoresponders will also be able to help you to look at stats and performance and to see how many of your emails are opened, who your most engaged viewers are and more.
In fact, you can even use an autoresponder in order to send your messages based on user engagement. For instance, if a user opens every one of your messages, clicks on your links regularly and has spent time on your websites looking at products – then you can use this information to send targeted sales emails that will likely result in conversions.
Autoresponder tools overview
There are many different autoresponder tools available to these ends, but some of the best include:
- Aweber
- Infusionsoft
- MailChimp
- GetResponse
Another Use of the Term
The term ‘autoresponder’ can also be used in order to refer to the feature built into many email accounts to send responses to messages automatically. This can be an out-of-office response for instance to let people know that you’re away. However, the tool can be used in other ways to help improve your productivity too. Tim Ferriss explains how this is possible.
Tim Ferriss is the famous author of the 4-Hour Workweek which became an immediate bestseller after its launch. The main idea of the book was to examine how you could cut back the amount of time you spend doing things like answering e-mails, thus freeing yourself to either be more productive, or just spend more time doing things you enjoy and living life.
Today Tim continues to put out great content through his blog and podcast and has provided countless tips on being more productive and generally being smart with the way you earn your cash online and otherwise.
Tim has lots of tips in this regard, but one is to answer your e-mails less often and to use an autoresponder to let people know you'll get back to them soon. Immediately you spend far less time 'feeling' like you're working, so that you can spend much more time actually working. He also recommends using virtual assistants to outsource some of your more menial tasks and thus get a lot more done.
