Email Marketing and Autoresponders

A mailing list is your most valuable asset, but it will only work in your favor if it is handled with care. It is absolutely vital that you know how to use the power of that list to its greatest potential.  Let’s go over some basics about autoresponders, the steps you need to take before you ever send that first email and then how to use your autoresponder as a marketing tool.

Find the Right Autoresponder for You

Don’t just sign up for the first autoresponder system Joe Schmoe tells you about. There are a huge number of systems out there to choose from. A specific autoresponder may work great for one person but might be too much (or not enough) for someone else.

Compare each of them and find the system that best fits your needs and budget. Making a wise decision before undergoing a marketing campaign can and will make a difference. Yes, you can change to a new autoresponder later, but you stand the risk of losing significant numbers of people during the transfer process.  Why go through this if it’s not necessary – choose wisely from the very beginning.  Look for a system that will still work for your vision of your business several years down the road. 

Some popular options are…

• Aweber
• iContact
• Get Response
• 1ShoppingCart

Know The Program

Educate yourself on your autoresponder before beginning any marketing campaign. Take the time to learn how all the bells and whistles work. Many companies provide free training on their system or video tutorials.  Once you know what you’re working with, you’ll be unstoppable. Don’t leave anything on the table that will keep you from utilizing this powerful tool to its fullest potential.  If you have chosen an autoresponder that can do all that you need it to do, and you know how to use it to your advantage, your marketing campaign will flourish.

Now, onto those marketing tips! This is where an autoresponder can make or break your business. If you use your autoresponder to its potential, you’ll discover why everyone and their brother says: “The money is in the list.”

Be Consistent

When you’re marketing with an autoresponder it’s important to be consistent. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. They want to know who you are and you’ll want them to remember you, but that doesn’t mean you need to email them every single day. Keep your business fresh in their mind, but don’t beat them over the head with it. Find the right balance between hearing from you too much and forgetting you.  Remember, that unsubscribe button is just a click away!

Space your emails appropriately.  Always send your first message immediately after a person signs up with you. Depending on your specific campaign, you might send follow-up emails once a day or once a week for a certain length of time.

For example, if you’ve created a free course titled “5 Days to a Better Business” you can send an email once a day for five days. Then shift to once a week to keep giving them more information relevant to the topic.  Don’t continue to send them a daily email after the course completes and never send someone multiple emails in one day!

Give Your Subscribers Only the Best Quality

Internet users want information, not just sales pitch after sales pitch. Give your readers quality content and use informative emails with sales pitches peppered in. If your only reason for creating a list is to make money and you only focus on that, you’ll never make a sale.  Focus your attention on providing value with whatever you send out.  Your readers need to trust you in order to spend money with you. Once they do, you’ll be unstoppable.

Interact to Get a Reaction

It’s one thing to read great content emails; even quicker business growth occurs when you get your list involved.  What you are working on is giving the readers a sense of interaction.  You can really increase the interest and actions your list takes when you ask for their opinions and input. You can offer polls, ask for discussion on a blog or forum, or use a whole host of other ideas to get people to interact with you.

I’m sure you’ve signed up for a list where the messages seem cold and impersonal without a lot of relationship displayed with the reader. Your goal is to create the sense of being in a relationship together.  Many people on your list will realize you are not jumping online and writing an email to them every single day, however, when you offer your list a chance to interact and share their feelings, you’ll set yourself apart and give them a reason to want to open your emails first.

Email marketing is an excellent relationship builder. It’s also a great way to get into the minds of your prospects and discover what their needs, dreams and problems are. Think of it as built in market research!

Tell Them What to Do

Calls to action are what create customer action. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your readers will recognize what to do next. Tell them!

A call to action can be as simple as giving them a link and telling them to click it. While they KNOW you want them to click the link, the chances of them actually doing it will improve if you give them instruction to do so. Don’t take anything for granted -  make sure to describe clearly the action you want your reader to take.

Email marketing with autoresponders is a great way to increase your reach online. Remember to be consistent, offer high quality content and create an interactive experience for the members of your list. Once you put these tips into practice and fine-tune them, you’ll have a responsive group of people who can’t wait to open your next email.

About the author – Janet Slack of Life Adventure Coaching and Solopreneur.Biz  is a specialist in helping coaches and other solopreneurs understand business practices in order to grow the successful business of their dreams.  Sign up for her free newsletter Biz Tips for Coaches .  Special thanks to Becki Noles of Virtual Accuracy for her help with this post – parts of which were previously published on Janet’s blog for solopreneurs.