What Is An Autoresponder?

An autoresponder is a computer software that automatically sends out email replies. For instance, you can set up a basic autoreply message in your Hotmail or Gmail account and whenever your friends email you, your email system will automatically send out your pre-written message. For most people, an autoresponder is commonly used when they go on vacation.

However, there are now autoresponder software and services that are developed specifically for marketing purposes. They are extremely sophisticated tools that can immediately provide information to your prospective customers, track your customer’s actions and even follow up with customers at preset time intervals.

They can also personalize all your email follow ups so that they give the impression that you wrote the email personally.

Here are three main reasons why you should use autoresponders in your marketing campaigns:

  1. More revenue. Repetitive contact has been proven to increase sales. The more offers you send out to your list, the more orders you’ll get.
  2. Less work. You can contact thousands, even millions, of people immediately, on-time and without any extra effort.
  3. Build a reputation. The best way to brand your product or service is to keep yourself in front of your customers and develop a relationship with them. Sending out automated sequential emails is the perfect way to let prospects know what you and your company stand for and what you’re all about.

In short, autoresponders will help increase your sales as it allows you to follow up indefinitely and automatically with your customers. You’ll build rapport, customer loyalty and confidence.

For marketing purposes, there are two types of autoresponders:

  1. Outsourced ASP model: The autoresponder software is hosted on the service provider’s server and you access it via a web-based control panel for a monthly usage fee.
  2. Server-side model: With this model, you install the autoresponder software on your own server. The downside to this model is that it requires considerable technical skills.

If you’re looking for an outsourced autoresponder service, we highly recommend Aweber as its email delivery rates are superior to many other service providers in the market. We are using Aweber for our own email marketing campaigns too.