The death of autoresponders?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, read a little bit about Marketing Results, check out my recommended resources, or read some of my best posts. Thanks for visiting!

One of the staples of online lead generation and Internet marketing over recent years has been the “autoresponder” [definition].

In essence these are automated email programs or services that can help you communicate with small or large volumes of prospects or clients. If you’ve ever signed up to an online “eCourse”, “Special Report” or newsletter, then you should be familiar with how they work.

Autoresponders are a powerful conversion tool. I use them extensively in my own Internet marketing efforts and also implement autoresponder strategies for clients. Yet I can’t help thinking that autoresponders are begining to fade as the killer conversion tool that they used to be. Let me tell you why…

Autoresponder Overload

This morning I work up to 8 new email messages - oooh goody!!!

Problem is, 7 of them were autoresponders. A coupla years ago I might have given more time to any one of those messages, but today I skim-read each message and unsubscribed from two lists. That’s 15 minutes of my life that I’ll never see again

The problem is not so much autoresponder technology, but the fact that everyone and his dog is starting to use autoresponders, and that much of the content is, frankly, mediocre.

This trend is set to continue - there will be more autoresponder lists for any subject you care to mention, competing for smaller and smaller slivers of an increasingly jaded audience (that’s us!).

In other words, if you want to continue to make this strategy work for you, you have to make sure you’ve got the right autoresponder strategy and that you’re executing it well. Here are a few guidelines for using autoresponders as a lead generation tool…

Tips For Avoiding Autoresponder Mediocrity

1. Build strongly targeted lists. The Internet allows almost infinite segmentation. So your list should be strongly focussed on a specific target audience. Don’t build a list of dog owners; build one of poodle owners instead.
2. Provide value in every communication. An autoresponder message should be 90% good content, 10% selling. Once you’ve built up a “store” of goodwill you can send the occasional harder-selling message, but what you’re selling has to appeal strongly to your list (the more targeted your list, the more likely your offerings will appeal).
3. Make sure your mail gets delivered. I’ve heard it said that up to 20% of most email lists never gets delivered because of over-zealous spam filters and other technical problems. Encourage your list members to enter your autoresponder sender address into their email “whitelist”, and avoid “spammy” content. Some autoresponder services such as Aweber feature spam-checking features to help you send email that complies with most spam filters.
4. Best-of-breed content. Anyone with $20 a month to spend can start an autoresponder list, and if you’re in a popular niche you’re bound to have competitors. Only great content will keep your list interested and motivated to give you their business.
5. Regular communication. It’s very easy for the frequency with which you communicate with prospects to “taper off” as you become preoccupied with other things. Do everything you can to resist this tendency. If you don’t have time to write the newsletter yourself then outsource it to someone who can (e.g. we write monthly newsletters for a number of our lead generation website clients).

So it’s not rocket science - just regular, high-quality communications to a targeted list.

Will Swayne

P.S. If you’re a business owner or independent professional who would like to generate more sales leads online, subscribe free to my new customer marketing eGuide - I promise you nothing but high-quality content that will help you get ahead.

Related Articles

• No Related Post