What is an Autoresponder and Why Do I Need One?

Everyone could use an extra pair of hands, right? Whether you are a stay-at-home parent, a corporate power player, a professional dog walker or a Supreme Court judge, there never seem to be enough hours in the day. The same is true of an online business owner.

What Is An Autoresponder? You can think of an autoresponder as being the online equivalent of a real-life administrative assistant.

Using an autoresponder takes out of your hands many of the routine aspects of running an online business, freeing up your time for other things.

What Can An Autoresponder Do

Autoresponders can do a myriad of things for you, from name capture, email follow-ups, list management and many other things that will help to automate your web business. The amount of work this tool can do for you would be virtually impossible to do as effectively by manual means.

So… What Is An Autoresponder

So, What Is An Autoresponder you ask? Basically, an autoresponder is an email that you don’t send out. Wait! Don’t stop reading now, thinking we are suggesting you “spam” or flood strangers’ emails with unsolicited email. Not at all. An autoresponder is an email that is sent out automatically, at a time and to a list of recipients that you specify. The recipients have given consent to receive correspondence from you.

Have you ever sent an email to someone only to be met with a response that goes something like, “John Smith is out of the office until January 3rd. If your email is regarding an urgent matter, please direct your inquiry to Mary Jones”? If you have, you’ve been on the receiving end of an autoresponder message.

Streamlined Automation

In the context of online business, most of the time when you purchase something online you’ll receive an email message confirming the details of the transaction. These emails have been written even before your transaction is made, and are simply filled in with the particulars of your order automatically when it is placed. This automated process keeps the business owner free from having to write individual follow-up emails “a la minute” every time an order is placed. An autoresponder software program like AWeber or GetResponse will do all this for you!

Generate Leads

Autoresponders can also be used to generate leads for your company. If you have an “opt in” form on your website, on which visitors can sign up to have follow-up emails sent to them, you can then set up your autoresponder to send out regular sales information, promotions, newsletters or other correspondences that may encourage a potential customer to buy what you are selling.

Whenever someone subscribes to your mailing list their name is added automatically, and if anyone decides to opt out, their name is automatically deleted from the list. That way, you don’t have to manage your subscriber list, and no one is either left out of the loop where your email updates are concerned or receiving emails they do not want.

Email Sequences

Autoresponders can also be used to send out an email marketing sequence, such as e-course or a multi-part newsletter. To do this, you simply draft the series of emails, specify when you want them sent, and that’s it! The autoresponder does the rest for you. Yes, you still have to do the work up front, but it is much more efficient to do the work once, specify when you want the emails sent and walk away than it would be to have to draft each one, remember to send them out, and actually do the sending manually each and every time.

Making Your Presence Known

The main principle behind an autoresponder, other than streamlining the business day-to-day business process, is to always be the proverbial bug in someone’s ear. The more you make your presence known (with a measure of restraint, of course!) the more your business becomes part of your audience’s consciousness. The next time they need a product or service that matches that you are offering, they will think of your business first!

Building Trust With Your Target Market

The trick to getting people to opt in to your email program is to make the offer as enticing as possible. If you promise to provide high-quality, useful and timely information that fills a customer’s needs, they will be compelled to know more. Through the use of an autoresponder, prospective clients indicate their express desire to receive (and, by extension, their consent for you to send) your marketing materials.

The beauty of this situation is that because your recipients are already interested in what you have to say, they are a great target audience for your product or service. People like to buy from people they trust and marketing with autoresponders can help to establish that relationship with your customer base.

It you are interested, you can get our complimentary video series and learn how to make your own website for free now.

Thanks for stopping by!
Scotty S. © 2009