You should be very careful with auto-responders because, there are many reasons not to use them. However, there are some useful reasons to use them, when appropiately. I will list first some pros and cons, and also how to avoid the CONS...pun intended.
If someone visits your website, they may not wish to receive an email from the webmaster of the website. They may not even remember visiting you, either. They may report this auto-response email as spam.
To help prevent this from happening, instead put a form at your website for visitors to opt-in to receive a FREE newsletter. Also, let them know they will need to confirm their email address exists by sending you an email to "
[email protected]" For example. Put your real email address there.
Then, if you ever get contacted about spamming you may show the email from the subscriber that says they have agreed to get the newsletter, or autoresponder messages from you.
Also, be sure at the end of every follow-up-email leave a great way to opt-out of receiving future emails just in case they changed their mind.
Another bad thing about auto-responders is they are not personalized. They do not encourage interactions. They do not tell you who read them, or if you are wasting your time. Many of these messages go right to the person's spam folder.
Here are some suggestions: Do not use these words anywhere or they will likely end up in the spam box, and readers will not even get them:
FREE, $ $ $, multiple of these, too !!!!!, puting links to email addresses more than once, make money, MLM, and others. The best advice is to make your contact sound more like talking to a person face-to-face, as a friend, and avoid the sales pitch. It turns people off, and makes them want to filter it to spam, and once they flag it as spam, you may find all that you are sending going to the spam.
Another bad thing about an auto-responder is after they leave your website, if feels like they are being followed by you, or tracked. It makes them feel like the shopper that just went to the supermarket and purchased an impulse buying item, and now the store keeps contacting them for repeat business, and knows where they live, knows their phone number, knows everything about them, and has just invaded their privacy to the point they are more likely to return that item and never go back...it is the same feeling for visiting your website. When they leave their store, or a website, they do NOT wish to be followed home, or contacted by you, unless they ask you to do so.
My advice, don't track people with tracking devices, and follow them around, do not send email unless asked for it, offer a way out in case they change their minds, they can get the feeling their privacy is invaded and will ignore your website, and even ignore you.
But, if you wish to do an auto-responder, after they opted in to receive emails: The first email should be a "Thank you for visiting my website, you are welcome to return. Please, let me know if you found everything you were looking for, and what I may do to make your next visit better". Make the newsletter filled with things that invoke response, such as here is a customer satisfaction survey, for helping fill it out, you are entered into a contest to receive a "Free SFI Gift Card." The results will be published at the website, and this survey ends this date and time. This encourages a repeat visit at the website.
Next newsletter should also advertise the contest winners. And make it interactive, and encourage comments, questions and answers. Do not make it sound like they are just another person on a list to receive emails with sales-pitches. Your purpose is to find out their goals, and offer them helpful advice how SFI can help them get there.
Make these letters encourage them to contact you to answer these interactive newsletters. Always include open-ended-questions and provide your contact information.
There are also many free website templates to make your newsletters colorful. Make them look just as good as your website with interactive tools to catch the reader's eyes and make them want more.
Instead of putting weblinks, put a button to get to your website. It well less likely end up in the spam folder, too.
For really good newsletter examples of things you want your auto-reply letters to look like, try subscribing to some free newsletters, and learning what they are doing that you may wish to try that may make you go to their website. Some examples of successful newsletters are from companies such as Wal-Marts, KMarts, Dollar General, SuperMarkets, and other ones. Look at their sales ads, they may even have a pretty newsletter sign-up website that you may get great ideas from.
Offer a wish-list, and also public-gift-registry. This will encourage others to buy that favorite gift at your TripleClick website.
You may even include buttons to some of the items in the ECA Stores online. You will receive a percentage of the sale to other's items, as well as for sharing some of your own items you may offer for sale.
You may even offer a frequent shopper program, or a free with purchase of this item in one of your newsletters. For every order of at least $30 buyer gets one FREE Gift Card and send this to them. Also, use the word FREE as little as possible to avoid the spam folder. I always space the words out F R E E so the spam filter does not recognise it and emails are email AT SFI DOT Com or on a button hidden.
Another bad thing about auto-responders is no matter how well you write them, you never know if they are in the spam folder, or if they are being ignored, or if the visitor has their email that they forgot about, and will never see them.
Make your emails as interactive as possible, and learn by experimenting with other companie's auto-responder's newsletters. Check your spam folder, regularly, and be sure if the other company's email was sent to your spam folder, avoid using their templates. Open them up and try to see why it went to your spam folder, and do not do the same thing they did.
You may want to send your email first to yourself, and be sure it does not go to your spam folder. Then you will need to fix it, before you send it back out. Do not send it to others until it makes it to your inbox.
Also, before you send out the final email, spell check it, and be sure it is free of errors. People judge your business by your words. If you do not sound or write professionally, people will not want to continue reading what you send.
If you watch some of our comedians on television, some of them are using the ads that people write to write their comedy scripts about. These make people laugh. I am sure this is not your intention. However, make sure these are free from errors. You do not want your mistake being laughed at.
I hope all this advice will help. I personally do not use auto-responders. They make your visitors feel like they are being tracked, and followed, and like their privacy has been invaded...and some will even feel offended that your website is set up to obtain some of their personal information, information they may not have wanted you to know about them. Please, instead request their information, and be sure to seek their permission, and only let them share with you what they wish for you to know. Use online surveys, and other interactive tools. Bring them back with contests, wishlists, gift registries, and other things. When they enter then you may remind them who won contests, offer them gift cards to obtain some of the items on their wishlist, etc. It is less scary to a visitor than being followed and tracked by your auto-responder, or email robot, and often annoys some people.
But, if done properly, it may also be a great tool, with permission, first.
Good luck with your success.
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