An autoresponder is an email that is automatically sent to subscribers on your mailing list, depending on preset actions or time intervals. Here’s a quick example of an autoresponder:
- Someone signs up to your email newsletter and automatically receives a ‘Welcome!’ email,
- A week later, the autoresponder may send an email with a discount for your products/services,
- A month later, the subscriber may receive another autoresponder email asking them to follow your business on social media.
Why should you use autoresponders?
Autoresponders help to automate a large part of your email marketing, making it easier and more effective for you to reach out to subscribers. Automating your email marketing helps to save you a lot of time and coordination effort, and can even generate more income for your business. There’s no way you would be able to match the capability of autoresponders by sending out messages yourself manually (unless you turned it into a full time job).
Different ways you can use an autoresponder
Welcoming new users to your mailing list is the most common use for autoresponders, but the possibilities go far beyond just that. These are just some of the ways you can use autoresponders to increase your business income and engage with subscribers.
- If someone clicks on a particular link on one of your emails – say, a blog article – you can move them from one autoresponder cycle to another (e.g. they have demonstrated an interest in your articles – so maybe you will move them to receiving an autoresponder with different blog articles each week),
- You can move subscribers to a different autoresponder sequence after they have made a purchase, (e.g. you will stop sending messages trying to sell them something and instead may try to upsell),
- You can schedule autoresponders to send an email to customers a certain time after they have made a purchase on your website (e.g. to remind them of subscription renewal, end of warranty, and so on),
- Have an autoresponder send out an email on a subscriber’s birthday to offer them a discount or wish them a happy birthday.
When you see the multitude of ways that an autoresponder can be used, you can see the tremendous potential for them to help you grow your business and generate more income.
Best autoresponder apps
You need to be using an email marketing app to send out autoresponder sequences. These are the most popular email marketing apps: