What is an Autoresponder?
How Software Technology can Improve Email Marketing for Business
Oct 26, 2009
Autoresponder software allows business to send personal email messages to customers and potential customers. The software is provided by an autoresponder service, usually over the internet, so all data (and software) is held by the autoresponder service provider although ownership of the data remains with the business.
It is possible to improve sales by using this simple technology to automatically send email messages to people – both customers and potential customers.
Autoresponder technology ranges from a simple automatic reply to an email (a common example being the ‘I am on holiday, please contact my colleague’ message) to a full autoresponder service which includes sending a timed series of messages with little involvement from the business (a common example being delivery of a multi-part training course by email, each part delivered daily, weekly, monthly, etc).
These full email marketing services often include the ability to broadcast messages to a mailing list (a common example being sending a monthly email newsletter).
There are many email autoresponder providers in the market. Some include: Aweber, Constant Contact, Get Response, icontact, Mailchimp. Prices and features vary, so it is important for a business to define its requirements and then evaluate the different providers to see which one meets the requirements in the best way. Most autoresponder software providers offer free trials and some offer a free account for smaller mailing lists. For example, Mailchimp offer a free account within certain limits on the number of subscribers and messages sent.
Using Autoresponders
Autoresponder software can be used for follow up email campaigns, allowing a number of emails to be set up and then sent to a new subscriber at predefined intervals. For example, sending a welcome message, followed by a newsletter, followed by a special offer to purchase, etc.
Autoresponders can also be used to broadcast a message such as a newsletter to a complete mailing list.
Autoresponders Help Increase Email Delivery Rates
One of the challenges facing email marketing campaigns is delivery of the email as customers regularly change email addresses and email flagged as spam is often not seen at all by the customer.
Autoresponder software can help by allowing customers to manage their own email address and giving options to subscribe and unsubscribe from mailing lists. This is usually part of the standard features so requires no work from the business.
Email Marketing Messages can be Seen as Spam
There is a danger that messages sent to many subscribers at once will be viewed as spam and will be filtered out either by Internet Service Providers (ISP) or by customers.
Many autoresponder services allow a business to check the spam rating of a message before sending, so it can be adjusted accordingly. Also many follow up email services have agreements with ISPs so that mail from the autoresponder service is not automatically flagged as spam (an important consideration for business as customers will never see emails rejected by the ISP servers).
Measure Email Delivery
Many autoresponder services allow reports and statistics to be viewed. For example, the number of emails delivered, the number of emails opened, etc. These statistics are vital for business to track and measure the effectiveness of email campaigns. For example, changing the wording of a subject line may increase the number of emails opened. Other facilities may include the ability to track the number of links within the email actually followed (customer clicking on a link and visiting a resource), helping a business to ensure every link is worthwhile in an email.
Using autoresponder software is a cost-effective way to automate email marketing, both by delivering follow up email and by broadcasting messages.
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