An autoresponder is just a sequence of email marketing messages that gets sent to subscribers in the order and frequency that you decide.
Let’s say you have a seven-part autoresponder that delivers an exceptional tutorial for your potential customers — something that they’ll find beneficial and valuable, and that lays the groundwork for you to make a sale.
That autoresponder creates a great experience for your first subscriber. And it creates the same great experience for your 10,000th subscriber.
It never gets tired. It never needs the weekend off for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day (or Email Autoresponder’s Day).
It never gets bored with your marketing message. It never gets snarky. It never gets sick of newbies.
It delivers your best content, in the best possible order and frequency, to every new reader who finds you. Forever.
That’s why I say it’s the lazy marketer’s friend. Whether you want a day off to head to the beach or a month off for a life-changing adventure, your autoresponder is back home taking care of business.
What goes into a really good autoresponder?
Most autoresponder sequences aren’t all that good, because most of them are about the marketer.
Your autoresponder needs to be about the reader.
The autoresponder’s most important function is to take people who are curious about what you do and turn them into raving fans.
That means an autoresponder needs your best content — the kind of content that makes readers glad every time they click through.
It doesn’t have to be funny, witty, charming, or poetically written. It has to be damned useful.
It has to solve problems your readers need to solve. It has to give them small, quick wins toward what they want to achieve.
And if it can show you’re a nice, relatable, trustworthy person — not just an expert but a likable expert — that’s even better.
Autoresponders make your case for you
You can use autoresponders for anything you need to educate prospects about before they buy.Explore the pain and problems they’re facing today. Paint the picture of what their life will look like with that problem solved.
Address and overcome objections, outline features and benefits, and create intense desire for what you have to offer.
And if your prospect isn’t ready to buy right now, great email content will keep her “parked” until she is ready … whether that takes her six months, a year, or 10 years.
As long as you keep adding to the sequence, you can keep prospects engaged and interested until the time is right for them.
Build it first
There’s no such thing as free traffic. You either pay for web traffic with money — with advertising or affiliate commissions — or you pay with time and creativity.
Blogging is particularly demanding of that time and creativity. So you want to make sure you capture each and every true fan you attract, from the very first days of your blog.
That’s why if you’re starting from zero in a new topic, I recommend you build your autoresponder first, before you start blogging or doing any other type of content marketing.
And if you already have a blog going, the second best time to build your autoresponder is today.
How about it?
Do you have an autoresponder in place right now?
If so, does it have the kind of content that’s going to turn your readers into raving fans?
Are you happy with the number of messages in your sequence, or do you think you could extend it a little and deliver even more value?
If the answer to any of those is “No,” make a plan to fix that.
You have my permission to be as lazy as you like after you get it done.
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