What is an auto-responder?
In this blog I will look to answer the question "what is an auto-responder?"
You know when you sign up for a mailing list or for access to an ebook or similar and you then get a series of emails after? Well these are the results of an auto-responder. it is simply a series of emails that are pre set and designed to be delivered to you at a certain time.
This is called lead nurturing. By dripping some useful and valuable email into a prospects inbox can start a relationship, re-engage prospects, educate, and get them to take action.
This of course all requires relevant and contextual content but also really good content.
Peoples inbox is a sacred place that gets abused on a daily basis. In order for your content to be read and engaged with it really needs to add value to that prospect with a problem they are or imagine they will need to solve in the near future. I
The first email is without a doubt the most important one. I don't mean the confirmation email but the first in the sequence of the auto-responder. Here is why, when you get that first email it will shape your default reaction for every subsequent email. If that first email seriously over delivers in will create a sense of enormous value. The next time your email is received it will trigger the value emotion and is far more likely to be opened. Once the balance is tipped and the consumer feels like they are being sold too is when your emails get subscribed too and or deleted.
Understanding modern consumer behaviour is key to getting your emails opened and engaged with. Things like the time of day you send it and subjects lines of course have a huge impact. But understanding that most people wake up, grab their phone and start mass swiping to get rid of marketing emails they don't deem important. This gives them a supposed clear and clean inbox with only the emails they want to read.
Understand this and ensure you add huge value and your auto-responders will work wonders for you.
You can also deliver an email course via auto-responders and if you are using a marketing automation system you can even have it move visitors between lists based on behaviour.
This is when email can get really clever and help you identify which prospects are likely to require additional attention.
Regarding which email system to use, there are many, most if not all use auto-responders and are very important parts of the process.
There are lots of tactics to get people to join your mailing lists, many do not explicitly tell the prospect they are actually joining a mailing list and I think this should be made clearer.
When permission is given to communicate via email I feel this is taken too lightly and should be cherished.
Peoples inbox has not got an algorithm filtering posts out and is generally always being monitored. It can change the course of our works days in heartbeat. Understand how privileged we are to get email signups and deliver real value.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Author- Speaker - Consultant. Passionate about all things digital.