Tag: autoresponder advice

avoid email marketing pitfall

Avoid This Email Marketing Pitfall

Jon Olson Leave a comment

Email marketing has been around for a while, decades in fact and for very good reason. There is no other form of communication on the internet that has the largest ROI when it comes to building relationships and getting your subscribers to take action.

However, one major pitfall has plagued email marketers since day one. It’s so common these days, we almost ignore it. We are so concerned with ‘getting new people to join our list’ we forget the core part of that message….The people.

Don't forget the people

Crazy if you think about it…

We work our tails off to build these huge lists without remembering that behind every single new ’email address’ that we generate is…A real person!

Each person, every name on our mailing lists has unique goals, dreams and business needs. And while it’s not always a guarantee that we’ll build relationships with each name on our list, we can try!

And when we ‘try’ to get to know our subscribers, good things happen.

You see, the more we truly care for the people on our mailing lists, and do everything we can to add value to their lives and serve them, we stop seeing them as just ’email addresses’.

People are the life blood of any business, and whether you are managing a list of 50 names or 50,000…People should always come first!

People are the lifeblood of your business

Respect the names on your list. Try to reach out to them to continue the conversation. Start to ‘pull‘ then towards you rather than ‘push’ your message on them. This is a huge nugget and has helped many email marketers truly embrace the massive power of email marketing.

We don’t need a huge mailing list to be successful, we need a responsive list. And the more you genuinely care for the names on your mailing list, the more responsive they will be.

This is a major pitfall that most email marketers fall into. They are more concerned about generating more and more email addresses, they forget the real people behind each address.

1. Give value in all communication


2. Pull rather than push when sending emails


3. Genuinely care for every person that joins your list

 

Following these 3 rules of email marketing will help you build a loyal and responsive mailing list for years to come.

Why Do I Need An Autoresponder?

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

Why Do I Need An Autoresponder?One of the things we are always finding at RocketResponder, is that the most diverse groups of people and organizations can benefit from using an autoresponder.

Two of the most common questions we get asked are “What is an autoresponder?” and “Why do I need an autoresponder?”

The first question was addressed in this blog post – What is an autoresponder and how does it work? – and the second one is the subject of this current post.

It might be easier to first set out why you might not need to use an autoresponder. Basically if you are only sending emails to friends or family then you will not need an autoresponder…a regular email service will more than adequately meet your needs.

When using regular email, you manually write out and send an email to, typically, one person at a time and every time you want to send an email message then you have physically write it out and send it.

Why Do I Need An Autoresponder?

If you find that you are regularly having to send the same emails to different people then you most certainly could benefit from using an autoresponder which will allow you to send the same email, or series of emails to multiple people, automatically as they sign up to receive emails from you.

If you don’t regularly send the same emails to different people – but could see how doing so would be of benefit to you – then you could also benefit from using an autoresponder.

Here are just some categories where using an autoresponder could bring big benefits and save you a lot of time in physically sending emails.

small businesses – contact your customers and keep them updated with special offers and promotions

large businesses – keep customers updated with special offers and promotions while also managing your internal email communications

special interest groups – send out information about your niche to those who share the same passion as you.

bloggers – let your readers know as soon as your blog has new content

affiliate marketers – promote launches and affiliate offers to your list at exactly the time you want to. Never miss a launch date again.

restaurants – let your customers know about special menus, themed events, food and beverage deals and offers.

website owners – maximize targeted traffic by building up a subscriber list of fans.

political groups – contact potential voters, organize support and publicize campaigns.

churches – contact your congregation about upcoming services, spread God’s word and reach out to the wider community.

non profits – highlight the work you do, explain why it is so important and raise your profile.

internet marketers – having an efficient, reliable autoresponder is the life-blood of your business.

These are just a small selection of people who would benefit from using an autoresponder, but the list is virtually endless.

In all cases there has to be a desire to communicate information to a specific group of people on the one hand and a desire for a group of people to receive that information on the other.

An autoresponder is the tool that brings those two groups together and ensures that your message gets out quickly and efficiently.

What Is An Autoresponder And How Does It Work?

Patrick Griffin 1 Comment

What Is An Autoresponder

What is an autoresponder? An autoresponder is a service which allows you to automatically send out emails to a group, or to several different groups, of people.

The key things to know are that:

  • subscribers sign up to receive emails from you
  • once the emails are written, the sending process is automatic
  • using email in this way is an astonishingly effective way to communicate

To get started you will have to first sign up to an autoresponder service such as RocketResponder and then set up a list within the autoresponder software for each group of people with whom you want to communicate.

For some people just one list is all they ever need but other people who use autoresponders may have multiple lists to target different groups.

Gaining subscribers

Next you will want to invite people to join your list. Typically this is done by asking them to provide you with their name and email address in order to receive emails from you.

So if you are a business the emails could be mainly about your business and any special offers you are running while bloggers tend to send emails when they have written a new post (a good autoresoponder will automatically do this for you either every time you post or at a frequency decided by you.)

Sometimes people like to include a gift in return for people signing up to their autoresponder list (which is also called a marketing list or simply an email list.) This may take the form of a discount on their first order, a free report on the subject area of interest or some tips and tricks that subscribers may like to know.

Communicating with subscribers

Now that you have names on your list you will need to talk to these people. After all they have given you their email address for that very purpose.

Typically you will write a short series of emails which go out to each new subscriber in the days, weeks (or even months) after they sign up to your list.

So if I join your list I might get a welcome email on day one, an introductory email on day two, something else on day three and then more emails on day six, 12  and 18.

You write the emails once, set the frequency you want them delivered and then each time someone new joins they get all your email series, in the order you wrote them and on the days you want them to get them. There is no further action required on your part.

The huge benefits of this are that:

  • your time is freed up to get on with the things you need to do
  • every single subscriber gets the same series of messages…even if you have 100 people sign up in a day, nobody gets left out. (Try handling all that on your own without an autoresponder.)

The other cool thing is that you can send emails to your lists at any time you want. So if you want to inform your subscribers about your new service which launches next week then write one email, press send, and everyone on your list gets to hear the news right away.

Some autoresponders are free, but these tend to have limited functionality or may impose limits to how many emails you can send or how many subscribers you can have on your list.

The paid autoresponders allow you to have more flexibility with how you communicate with your subscribers and can give you more data you may find useful including how many people opened your emails or clicked on your links.

Most paid services will charge you based on the number of subscribers you have – the price goes up as your list size grows. RocketResponder has a flat-fee pricing structure so that you will always know how much you have to pay and not have to worry about the numbers of subscribers you have.

Finally one common misconception is that autoresponders are only really useful for people who are working online, but this is simply not true.

More and more offline businesses and organizations are using autoresponders to communicate with their subscribers too. When it comes to efficiently sending email to groups of people then autoresponders are indispensable and really cost-effective communication tools.

How To Win Over A Cold Email List

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

common email marketing writing mistakes

Last time we mentioned some common email marketing writing mistakes people regularly make.

One was perhaps one of the greatest mistakes of all and that is allowing your list to grow cold.

So today it would be a good opportunity to discuss what can be done to best revive a relationship with such a group of subscribers.

A cold list in this context a “cold” list is one which you have not communicated with for so long that you have allowed your relationship with the people on it to grow cold.

The chances are that if you suddenly start sending out your emails to them again then many of them will have to scratch their heads to work out who you are.

The result – they may think it is spam mail and they will just unsubscribe or report you as spam (or both.)

Others may remember having signed up to your list but decide that having got along just fine for many months without you that they no longer need to hear from you again.

So how would I tackle a list like this.

Well the last thing I would do is wait until I had something to promote to contact them again…that is just adding insult to injury.

Instead I would use my RocketResponder account to try and gently rebuild bridges.

I would send a broadcast email to the entire list and cover the following points:

  • Reintroduce myself
  • Apologise for having ignored them
  • Offer a reason for having failed to do so
  • Tell them I will be in more regular contact from now on…if they still want to hear from me
  • Invite them to unsubscribe if they feel they no longer trust me or no longer want to hear from me.

Keep the email short and don’t make silly excuses for having lost contact. Just be open, honest and up front – remember you are trying to rebuild contact.

Also be aware that some people will take you up on the offer to unsubscribe – it is only to be expected after all. However some will really appreciate your honesty and some who might have unsubscribed may be willing to give you a second chance.

Now you have done the best you can to rebuild bridges, don’t make the same mistake again!

Never Fear The Double Opt In

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

Double Opt In

At RocketResponder we don’t fear the double opt in of subscribers to a new email list. In fact our members rather like it.

In double opt in when somebody signs up to your list they are sent an email with a link which they must click to confirm that they actually do want to be on your list.

The thing about this which some list builders don’t like is that it is a two step process and having to click on the link is an extra hurdle that people must navigate before they are actually on your list.

Typically you can expect some people to sign up for any given list and then not go on to click the link to fully opt in. The main consequence of this is that your list would be smaller than it would be if only single opt in was used.

In the single opt in process there is no confirmation email and the subscriber is on your list as soon as their email address is entered into the opt in form.

Here are some reasons why you might prefer the double opt in approach:

  • all of your subscribers have already taken action in order to be on your list. Sometimes we enter an email address without really giving it any thought. With double opt in the subscriber has had to physically check their email account, look for the confirmation email and click on a link. This suggests that they really want to be on your list.
  • it prevents malicious sign ups. Some people might sign up their friends or colleagues to lists as a prank. This is bad for the person who has the list and for the “victim” who ends up signed up for information they don’t want in the first place.
  • you weed out tyre kickers. If someone signs up to a list and can’t be bothered to confirm then they are probably not worth having on your list in the first place. It they were on your list then they would most likely never even open your emails so you are better off without them.

What do you think about the opt in process and what are your experiences of the issue?