Everyone is familiar with the use of an answering machine for their landline phone, even if in recent years it has been replaced by the operators’ messaging services. you are called, you are not there, but the caller can leave you a message that you will see later. An autoresponder actually … has nothing to do with the systems to leave you a message in your absence! But then nothing at all …
An autoresponder is actually a system that allows you to send emails automatically to people who have voluntarily registered their email address on your list. These people subscribe voluntarily in order to agree to receive your messages on their e-mail.
In clear, an autoresponder does not allow you to receive messages but to send them.
How does an Autoresponder work ?
The great utility of such a system is its automatic process. Indeed, once a person subscribes to your list he will receive your emails the way you have pre-defined them. Obviously this requires work before hand.
Let’s take an example:
Imagine that you write about 50 emails (like a mini-course online) on a subject that you are passionate about. It is essential for any new subscriber to receive your emails in a specific order and according to the interval you have chosen (not all courses on the same day, but rather spread over 50 or 100 days (one email every second day, for instance)). To do so, you will have pre-defined in your autoresponder the message to send at a specific time following the registration of any new subscriber. For example, Eric who subscribes to your Chef’s Tips course will begin receiving your first lesson on the day of his subscription, and the second lesson two days later, the third lesson four days later, and so on. The following week, Julia subscribes to your Chef’s Tips course as well. She too will begin receiving her first lesson on the day of her subscription, then the second lesson two days later, the third lesson four days later, and so on … Julia will receive the same emails as Eric, but offbeat of a week. And this automatically.
Such a system makes sense when you start having more subscribers. Because the more subscribers you get, the more it becomes unmanageable manually. In addition, an autoresponder allows you to work only once, and putting everything in place as you wish. Then the machine will run indefinitely. Of course, you can always, at any time, modify, delete or move your messages, filter your subscribers, etc. You will literally be in control of the machine.
As we have seen, an autoresponder is a powerful tool for anyone wishing to communicate information to those interested in what you have to offer. Thanks to this system, you can federate a community, stay in contact with your prospects, contact your subscribers on an regular basis, …
It goes without saying that a thoughtful and organized communication will allow you to promote your products or services, or even recommend products or services that are likely to interest your subscribers (and on which you can earn commissions for instance). The chances that your subscribers will buy and test what you will offer them are immeasurably greater when they know you and have already received valuable information and values from the messages you have sent them.
The different ways to communicate via an answering machine
Sequence of emails
As we have seen above, thanks to your autoresponder, you can send emails in a pre-programmed way. This system is ideal when your messages have a timeless character, and are therefore not linked to a news event. This is perfectly the case with the cooking lessons that Julia and Eric are receiving. But now imagine that you want to invite your subscribers to meet you for a drink to discuss your passion in an informal way. How are you going to do it ? Or imagine again that you want to warn your subscribers that a hyper-interesting promotion for a cookbook from a renowned chef is available until the end of the month only? There too, how are you going to do it?
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the ideal and practical way to alert everyone of a temporary event, regardless of the emails they are receiving via your autoresponder.
Indeed, via Broadcasting, you can at any time send an email regardless of your sequence to all of your subscribers, new or old. Thus, you retain the option of bringing valuable information in addition to the lessons you are giving. This delivery system allows you to send a unique message to your subscribers at a specific time in the calendar.
Such a system is ideal for make a one-off promotion for a new product, for example. This is also how many web-marketers use their autoresponders and sometimes manage to make very big profits.
Is an autoresponder necessary ?
Now that we have discovered what an autoresponder is, it is legitimate to ask the question if it is really necessary to use this kind of service. The answer is clearly: YES!
Why ?
Just because an autoresponder will automate all the tasks related to the communication you will have with all the people who register on your list(s).
Indeed, it would be unimaginable to personally and manually handle the mailing of several tens, even hundreds or thousands of emails. This may still be possible if you send only an identical newsletter to all your subscribers, regardless of their registration date. But that would be quite impossible if, as in the example we saw earlier, you had to send a well-defined email according to the subscription date of your subscriber. The autoresponder is, by definition, the tool tailored to accomplish this task.
If you get involved in a business on the Internet, then keeping in touch with your prospects and customers is essential. The autoresponder is therefore an essential professional tool that allow you to see your Internet activity grow, while keeping control of the tasks you must perform.