An autoresponder is a great tool that every internet marketer should have at their disposal. It completely automates the task of responding to website visitors and subscribers, functioning as your virtual salesperson 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
However, do be aware that if your automatic messages are not properly scheduled and written, they could do more harm than good for your email marketing campaign. Take a look at these common autoresponder mistakes and ensure you do not fall into the same traps.
Autoresponder Mistake 1 – Using A Free Service
There are lots of different programs available to choose from when shopping for an autoresponder. Most of them are offered for free with an option to upgrade to the professional version. One of the most common autoresponder mistakes many people make, is going with the free version to save a few bucks.
Always opt for the professional version. You need all the extra options included which allow you to personalise the messages and allow for an unlimited number of follow-up emails and storage space. For instance, you will want to be able to input an actual name, rather than some generic greeting such as ‘dear subscriber’. One service I can personally recommend is AWeber.
Autoresponder Mistake 2 – Bombarding Subscribers With Buy Messages
The main purpose of your autoresponder messages is to induce the recipient to buy your product or service and from there you can utilise a sales funnel approach. But this takes time! If all you do is inundate their inbox with sales pitches, you are sure to get a lot of unsubscribe messages in response.
Instead, try to mix up the content in your emails. Consider sending out a newsletter or maybe a tip sheet that focuses on your company’s offerings but doesn’t look like a blatant sales pitch. Offer interesting information or incentives and the odds of retaining your subscribers become much better. Offer something of value. Presenting value to potential customers is a sure way to gain their trust.
Autoresponder Mistake 3 – Giving Up Too Early
Most people are not going to respond to the first email you send out, or even the second. You must establish a relationship with your subscribers. Some marketing professionals believe it takes anywhere from five to seven follow-up messages before you can expect to receive a positive response in the form of a sale.
Nurture the relationship over time and become a company that your subscribers can trust. Don’t give up on this form of marketing after only one or two messages. You may like to check out this article on how to write an autoresponder series for more tips!
Autoresponder Mistake 4 – Too Much Experimentation
One advantage of using an autoresponder system is that it allows you to easily brand your company. Come up with a good design template that allows you to customise it as necessary and includes a header with your logo as well as a footer with contact information.
Do the research before sending out the first message to determine which format will work best then resist the temptation to change this too often. Potential clients will begin to trust your company – and recognise your brand when they can easily identify all messages coming from you.
Autoresponder Mistake 5 – Message Overload
No one wants to open their email program and find a daily message from your company in the inbox. With an autoresponder, it can be a bit too easy to schedule frequent messages. Then again, only sending a monthly newsletter is probably not going to give you maximum exposure. A good option might be a once-weekly email for a good compromise between too much and too little communication with your subscriber list.
Autoresponders are a great time-saving tool, but they are only effective if you use them in the correct manner. Learn from some of the autoresponder mistakes others have made and base your marketing campaign on the solid advice offered here.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hi Sean,
This is excellent advice. I had thought that I would have set up my first email marketing campaign by now but I’m not quite there. Thanks for the great list of autoresponder mistakes to avoid. It will definitely help me in the near future.
I’m with you Jazz. I contemplated many times of what I could provide to people who join my list, however I have not been able to find something that I feel would be appropriate. I did not just want to send spamming affiliate content.
Perhaps when I have my own product or service to promote I will look into AWeber which I’ve heard great reviews about.
You definitely have to be comfortable with the content you provide to your mailing list Cemil. When the time comes, AWeber is a great way to go in my opinion.
Thanks for this excellent article. Lots of great advice here.
@Cemil – I also had a problem with what to provide for people who join my list so I decided to give everyone a discount coupon towards the first time they use my services. I now plan to work on a newletter with some good advice from the Virtual Assistant Industry.
Hi Cemil,
I have an autoresponder set up for my pregnancy site and I have actually disected an ebook which will give them what to expect in their pregnancy as the time goes by. You can buy these ebooks for a couple of dollars and then “cut” them up to send out. I send mine fortnightly.
It’s good to know what to avoid if you think about doing something new. And an autoresponder is definitely something I will need in the future, so thanks for that list of mistakes to avoid.
I was wondering though – would you start creating a subscriber list even without your own product and without regular mails to send to them? Just in order to capture the readers that are coming to my site now for later? And if that makes sense – is there an easy tool to save the subscriber information without an auto responder?
I can think of a few emails I get from autoresponders where I feel like referring the senders to this post. I like their content but I have to put up with their lousy technique. If only they could read this post! I have deleted some that should have known better judging by their self professed expertise.
Using an autoresponder is a great way to stay in contact with your potential customers and the best part is you can set them up and forget them. The biggest autoresponder mistake I have found myself (from when I subscribe to certain people) is they bombard me with 2 or 3 emails a day and I end up unsubscribing because you can’t keep up with it.
Hi Sean
Great information yet again and three important points stand out here for me.
1. It is really important to build relationships first and foremost so that people know what your business is, get to know your personality and learn to trust you. That way when you send them emails they may be more likely to read them than delete them.
2.Timing is crucial with emailing. If you send out too many emails in a short period of time it is akin to spamming. People don’t always read their emails or may not be interested at the time and you many not get a response for the first few emails you send them so don’t despair.
3.If you are going to get an autoresponder opt for the paid premium version such as AWeber and make sure you learn how to use it properly.
I have wondered some about auto responding and this article has opened my eyes to what not to do.
In fact I decided to and did re-tweet it.
Definitely good information. I have been wondering about using an autoresponder and was hesitating because of my own experiences with companies who have used them. I akin them to those computer generated phone calls, which I never bother to stay on the line to listen to. I can see I need to change my thinking about them and learn to use them properly.
Very good and solid advice Sean, thank you!
Autoresponders can be very helpful if used in the right way!
I just re-tweeted this article as I think those five points are really important.
I especially like the one about NOT bombarding recipients with too many or too long emails.
Like Sean, I think AWeber is the best autoresponder. I tried a free one at first – but it just didn’t do enough and the support was not helpful at all. And, it is owned by a major guru!
I tried GetResponse – while good, AWEber is easier.
I havent got an autoresponder as yet as I havent got to that point in my Internet Marketing journey to have them work effectively….yet.
I am however subscribed to a few autoresponder lists and it is very interesting how different marketers use them. Some lost my interest after 3-4 emails as I felt spammed, others use them quite effectively and have kept me on their list now for quite a while – now that I am Internet Marketing seriously I am actually staying subscribed to observe how they do things so I can sopy their success – cheeky aren’t I!