Autoresponders: Attack of the Clones

Subject line: Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?!

Would you open an email with that subject line? I would like to know, since I am optimizing my next email campaign today.

Did you know that email marketing is 40x more effective than social media marketing? Believe it or not, this channel is one of the most profitable ones when it comes to pulling a customer in.

With an average open rate of 22,87% across all industries, your email is an absolute winner in the world of digital marketing, as it is one of the rare channels that is actually improving overall.

Maybe the fact that you have such a trustworthy ally on your side is the reason why email marketing is so effective. You know who it is!

The All-powerful Autoresponder

Autoresponders have become a standard, and not just in the world of email marketing. Most websites that ask for your email will send an automated response to your inbox as a form of conformation. If you are running an e-commerce store, chances are that you are using autoresponders to confirm orders. If you work in customer care, an autoresponder is probably the first thing that your client will receive when they file a ticket.

This powerful little assistant serves as the best middle-man you can find. It’s automated, it’s reliable, and the best thing about autoresponders is the fact that one size truly fits all! Well, almost.

Personalizing email copies should be a mandatory procedure when you are setting up your autoresponder. But be careful and make sure that your autoresponder will pick up the name of your prospect, or ignore it if you so choose.

A few days ago, I recieved an otherwise great team from a Growth Hacking expert I follow. The first I noticed wasn’t his amazing new article, nor his new podcast eposode. It was – “Hi Contact.Firstname”. Since my name isn’t Contact.Firstname, the impression this email left on me was totally opposite of what it was intended to do. Although I know this is an automated message, I don’t like feeling just another random entry on their email list.

If you are on the lookout for an email marketing tool, here is a list of the 10 best email automation tools for the year 2016. However, be advised that no matter how good and reliable your automation tool is, staying consistent in your drip campaigns and writing concise copies is something that you will have to figure out on your own.

[su_quote cite=”David Newman” class=”left”]
Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches – at scale.[/su_quote]

If you are just beginning to realize the possibilities of email marketing and autoresponders, here are a few tips that you should have in mind when you are working on your campaigns.

Keep Optimizing

Never have I ever seen a 100% open rate. Most people are struggling to reach an average open rate, so optimizing your copy continuously is a must. Everything from your subject line to your CTAs, the actual offers, images – if it can be altered, it can be improved (in most cases).

And never forget to AB test them! We have actually published a series of articles on how to perform split tests that can help in that regard. Once you go through several campaigns, and get responses and reactions from hundreds of prospects, you will be able to clearly define the winning copy and keep it.

After that – it’s cloning time! The best part about your autoresponder is that it requires no additional attention, and is mostly fine on its own. Assuming that you have a reliable tool.

However, don’t overdo it. Always remember the Pareto’s principle – 80% of your success will come from 20% of your effort. So, over-optimizing your copy in order to influence a very particular target audience can cause more harm than good.

Just because robots are reliable, it doesn’t mean that you will trigger the desired action.

But let’s imagine that you’ve managed to arouse someone’s interest and now you’ve received a reply to your autoresponder sequence. How to map out your next step? The following tutorial might help:

Defining email types

Depending on what type of reaction you are aiming for, you should choose wisely and pick a type of email that will suit your needs perfectly.

According to Lincoln Murphy, one of the leading experts in SaaS growth strategies, there are 5 types of follow-up emails that are ideal for both a customer and a market behavior driven email strategy.

Type 1 – Tutorial email: containing user instructions on the service or product that you are providing. It should be focused just on your product or service.

Type 2 – Educational: as the name says, this type of emails have the purpose of educating potential and current users on how your service or product can benefit them.

Type 3 – Aspirational: with this type of emails you should inspire and attract users by showing them real life results that come from using your service or products. Preferably a case study, or analytics presenting the success rate.

Type 4 – Transactional: not exactly the most favorite ones, but also quite necessary. This type of email includes everything from account credentials to invoices.

It is important to realize that these too can be used for marketing purposes. Under the CAN-SPAM Act, a Transactional Message is permitted to contain marketing language if the primary purpose of the email is to communicate the transactional information. One of the best examples of using transactional emails for selling pursposes is Amazon.

Type 5 – Personal: Yes you’ve read it correctly, personal. These can also be automated, but they need to be written by a person within your company tasked with this assignment, and they need to be directed towards the individual receiving them. This type of email has the purpose of opening up a communication channel, rather than just providing dry information.

Sequencing at its finest

Now that we understand the importance and types of user-driven onboarding mails, we can go back to figuring out the ideal sequencing procedures. Naturally, there is no unique, best practice sequencing technique, still there are some general guidelines that have proven to be quite effective.

The focus with sequencing should be to get your users to understand the benefits of the product you are offering and to do that as quickly as possible.

[su_box title=”CRM.ME is the world’s first cloud-based CRM platform. ” class=”trap small right”][/su_box]

With platforms like CRM.ME the whole process is made easy, offering multiple options for custom automatization in order to avoid the negative aspects of basic autoresponders. CRM.ME is the world’s first cloud-based CRM platform, it can provide the right tools, so you can take advantage of real, automatic and behavior-based email sending, thus improving your onboarding process and helping you convert you trial clients into your paying clients.

In Conclusion

Autoresponders are still an investment that can only bring you good. Having them is today almost a question of Internet etiquette. HTML copies are probably the safest bet if you are looking for a reliable design that will work no matter the device or OS, but if you are familiar with some of the tools that are good for designing awesome copies, do recommend some in the comments section below.

And may the Force be with you!

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