Introduction
Are you starting an online business or looking for ways to reach more audiences to follow and purchase your product? It’s time to get your hands on mail marketing and gain loyal customers. When things are going well, inquiries and requests will start flooding your inbox. If you’re planning on replying to them one by one, you’ll spend more time doing so than growing your business. And your audience may not have much time to wait for a response and you’ll end up losing a potential customer. This is where autoresponder plays a huge part in expanding your business. What is an autoresponder and how do you set it up?
What is an autoresponder?
Autoresponder is a software or email setting that automatically sends emails to a certain address, on a certain time, and with certain content. Most software allows you to fine-tune the keywords for automated response triggers. No more losing potential clients thanks to your prompt and tactful replies. One of the most popular autoresponder services is MailChimp. The great thing about their service is that it’s forever free to register! Are you ready to set up one? Here’s how you start!
1. Set up an account
To start using the service, create an account by registering your email. Click the “Sign Up” button and proceed by filling up the required information. Go to your email and look for the verification mail to activate your account. Upon activation, you will be directed to a page where you can select your plan. Choose the “Free” plan and follow through the procedure. Once you’re done with the basics, you’ll be taken to your dashboard.
2. Prepare your contact list
It’d be great if you have existing contacts you’d want to reach out to. Start from there. Copy these contacts into an Excel file (.xlsx or.xls) or other accepted database files like .csv and .txt. Import the contacts file and now we can get to the fun part!
3. Decide the purpose of the email
Before making your first automated email, think about its purpose. A welcome email can be a good start and useful to greet new subscribers, but if you already have a pile of emails waiting to be answered, it’s best to start from tagged emails. Tags are very handy to categorize emails into different topics that you can respond accordingly. These tags can be either manually inserted or automatically tagged from where they came from. For example, if a potential customer hits the “Tell Me More” button on your landing page, it will trigger an email to your account that’s automatically tagged “info inquiry”.
Once you’ve decided on the purpose you want to work on, you can proceed by composing the email corresponding to the topics or tags.
4. Compose email draft
There are plenty of tips online about how to create attractive and impactful emails. These will help convert your audience into your customers. We all agree that robotic and formal emails are the first ones to be thrown into the spam box. That’s why it’s important to personalize your emails and use your names. Adding sentimentality works well, too. Send them a birthday wish to show that you care for your audience! Lastly, have the purpose in mind when you’re composing. Who’s my audience? Will FAQ emails be sufficient? Should I create a campaign, too?
5. Choose the appropriate template
Now let’s head back to the software you’ve just registered. Many autoresponder services feature workflow to fine-tune your auto-replies, while some others offer simplicity for their users with pre-made templates you can play around. Choose the template that best suits your purpose and go to the next step.
6. Create the automated email
After proofreading the email you’ve made, copy-paste everything to the designated fields and devise your email using the software. A good email has a subject that tickles the receiver to click it and the content should be concise and tactful. To keep the readers on the page, use eye-pleasing visuals. They also add personality to your email. When you’re satisfied with everything, you can save and publish it. Don’t forget to check the “Tracking” option if it’s available.
7. Monitor the result and make adjustments
The most crucial part of creating automated emails is, in fact, monitoring and analyzing the result of the campaign. Have a look at the statistics to see the open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate to see which email works and which one needs improvement. The open-rate measures how many emails are opened by the receivers, while the click-through rate refers to how many receivers click the links in the email. See the conversion rate to know how many receivers become your customers. If you want to go for the extra miles you can also set up follow-up emails to enhance the conversion rates further.
Conclusion
An autoresponder is an indispensable tool to have in your marketing arsenal. One of the keys to a successful online business is strong and creative email campaigns that aren’t just intriguing but also worth your customers’ time. To achieve this, you need to get to know your audience and see what questions frequently asked by them. It will save you a lot of time if these questions addressed without you touching the keyboard. After you have all of the data, you can go on making your email campaigns most suitable for each purpose. But that’s not it, you will have to monitor and follow up the results to make sure you’re on track.
Another perk of autoresponders is that you can always kick it up a notch by making a campaign for marketing purposes and engage enthusiasm among your audience. Here are some campaigns you can try: mini-courses, promotional discounts, and newsletters. Remember, the goal of creating a campaign is to maintain a good relationship with your precious audience. So what are you waiting for? Let’s start the fun part!
Hi! It takes time and effort to write this article. Help us fight plagiarism by reporting to us if you read this on other websites. The author only published this article on Bulibi.com.