There’s a tool called an Autoresponder, it’s one of the least expensive tools we use in this business, but conversely one of the most important tolls to have.
What is an Autoresponser?
An autoresponder is a combination of a service/software that provides you with the tools to collect emails and names of customers. The form you commonly see on websites are called Opt-In forms. Once a visitor signs in the become part of your list.
Opt In and Double Opt In
Single Opt In – A single opt in is the first time someone signs in to the form on your website, some marketers will leave it at that, but many suggest you do a double opt in procedure.
Double Opt In – A double opt in is a process where by your visitor opts in the first time, then an email is sent asking them to confirm their first opt in. Why all this opting in stuff? Here’s the reason – What would keep me from using your name..email and go around signing you up for all sorts of things. This would be a form of spamming and you would be the victim.
The double opt in procedure prevents this from happening and it is more protection for you in case some one claims you are spamming them, the evidence of the confirmation gives you protection.
Lets List a Few Autoresponder Uses
- Opt In – we mentioned the protection part. The service you use also save your list and allows you to communicate via email future mailings. Will cover more on this in the service section.
- Newsletters – you can send newsletter. This is used to entice a customer to give you their name and email.
- Scheduling – you can schedule future emails for various reasons. This can be scheduled well past a year depending on the autoresponder service.
- Auto Sequencing – when a customer signs up for your list, you can already have a sequence of messages made which automatically get delivered. This feature is really cool, your on vacation and everything runs on autopilot.
- Social Automation – if you use twitter or have blog posts and your service has this feature, you can have them all linked to your list. This means you make a blog post and it automatically gets sent to your list, twitter works in a similar manner.
- Relationships – this is what it’s all about. The autoresponder lets you communicate and build a relationship with your customers. Were not talking about dating, were talking about trust.
The autoresponder service handles quite a few tasks and automates them too. That’s why this is one of the best deals in Internet tools around.
Autoresponder Services
I’ve tried two services, Get Response and Aweber. It came down to one thing, customer service.
The pricing is similar and the features are also fairly similar, it is the customer service that differs. At the time aweber had the better customer service and that made the difference.
The big thing about autoresponder services is getting your email messages out and getting as few as possible rejections back, this is called the bounce back. If you join a service that doesn’t adhere to good practices you can have complaints to email services like Yahoo and Google, this can result in your emails being returned.
This is the reason we do double opt-ins, it’s the best proof that a person really did authorize you to send them emails for a particular subject.
These are the three things that matter when choosing an autoresponder service:
- Delivery Up Time
- Bounce Rates
- Message Completeness
What we mean by the last point is, did the entire message make it in tact to your customer. If your autoreponder service doesn’t test their templates, then it’s possible that your email messages can get scrambled. The services we mentioned are well tested and the completeness rates are very high.
You have to understand that your emails are the lifeline between you and your customer and the internet makes it very easy for a person to opt-out from you list too. Until you build a good relationship with your list, they can easily go elsewhere, that’s why you’ll hear “Take care of your list,” marketeers take this seriously. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it costs your money if you don’t.
This is why a good autoresponder service is vital if building a list is part of your Internet business plan.
It’s always good to reverse the tables, put yourself in your customers shoes. You wouldn’t like to get half a message or messages that you didn’t subscribe to, wouldn’t you think a customer of yours would feel the same?
Take a look at Aweber, I’ve been with them several months and really like the whole operation. You can try the first month for a dollar and they are always adding new things to make it easier to do business.
I hope you see how this tool is vital to your business, building a list and having a customer base is vital to any business, this is the one tool you need from the start.
Check out Aweber, their website has a lot more information for you to look at.
