Why your Autoresponder is your best small business marketing tool
Social media, Facebook, Twitter — what’s the most effective, least expensive way to market your business or service? One of the easiest and the most effective marketing tools you can use is already right there in your e-mail toolbox. It’s your Autoresponder.
What is an Autoresponder, anyway?
An autoresponder is simply a message sent automatically in response to an e-mail received or a web form filled in. You’re probably familiar with one already: the autoresponder vacation message. You write it before you leave, and while you’re gone, anyone who sends you an e-mail gets your prewritten message sent back to them.
Here in E-Newsletter Land, the most important autoresponder is the “Welcome Message,” a message sent immediately to anyone who signs up to our e-mail subscriber list. The Welcome Message is one of the most important tools in our autoresponder: It’s an opportunity to welcome new readers as they take that first step onto our list.
Make sure your welcome e-mail includes:
• An explicit thank you for subscribing to your email list
• A recap of what they can look forward to receiving every week
• The name, title and — if you want to get fancy — handwritten signature of an actual human being within your organization
• An invitation to send feedback
• An unsubscribe link (commercial e-mail marketing services, like Constant Contact, require this for legal reasons)
Simply put, the point of a welcome message is to offer a hearty electronic handshake to your new friends.
Whatever you do, don’t simply send the uncustomized, default welcome letter that your e-mail marketing vendor provides. Give this all-important first message the same care in voice, content and design that you give the newsletter itself.
In my case, for example, I’ve now got it set up so that after the initial and immediate welcome letter, new readers receive:
On Day 2, an e-mail that points them to my newsletter archive
On Day 16, an e-mail that points them to my page of additional free resources
On Day 45, an e-mail that demands cash. Ha, ha! I’m kidding. It’s an e-mail that asks how I’m doing and what else they’d like to see in the newsletter.
Bottom Line: New subscribers are like rich acquaintances. When they introduce themselves, welcome them with open arms, show them around, and pay them special attention in that first month or two of the relationship. Your autoresponder keeps in touch for you, so you can turn that first meeting into a profitable long-term business relationship.
Social media, Facebook, Twitter — what’s the most effective, least expensive way to market your business or service? One of the easiest and the most effective email marketing tools you can use is your Autoresponder. Read More »
