Autoresponders are ideal for email relationship marketing, the modern approach to the online sales venture. Hard sales tactics are no longer the norm; People don’t need a formal sales experience to attract prospects and leads to your network. Most experts say that people need at least seven exposures to a product or service before they buy it. So the burning question is: what role can your autoresponder play in influencing buying decisions?
Assuming you’re working with permission-based double opt-in lists (always preferable to single opt-in lists), contacting prospects seven, seven hundred, or even seven thousand times in a lifetime isn’t out of reach. Autoresponders give you the power to harness the Internet for that very purpose. Forget the “all or nothing” approach; that is, an uncompromising sales pitch in your automated “Welcome” response. Not only will you not make the sale, but there’s a good chance your prospect will immediately unsubscribe.
Instead, use your opening message to thank subscribers for giving you the privilege to speak to them about a very important topic. Next, focus on why they chose to sign up for your newsletter:
Subscribers think you have the solution to their problem!
Don’t talk about politics if your landing page invite offers insider tips on deep-sea diving! Inform readers with usable content that relates to your upcoming offers. You can include a sales page link at the bottom of your message or postscript (P.S), or wait until future auto reply messages. The key is to build a relationship with your readers. Resist the temptation to put up with everything at once. Be patient; simply hinting at your unique solution will keep prospects hooked on your activities.
Once you’ve established your credentials and sincerity, tell subscribers how your product or service can help them. Use follow-up autoresponders to describe the benefits and gradually explain why it’s the right solution for them. Free information should excite prospects and convince them that you are the real deal. Finally comes the sales pitch: a reminder of why they joined you, the benefits of the product, and any special features (ie bonuses, testimonials, money-back guarantees, etc.) to seal the deal.
Autoresponder marketing is not an exact science, and there is more than one path to success. Signing up for other marketers’ newsletters and analyzing their styles will give you a taste of what’s already out there and help you create a unique voice. Strongly consider keeping a “swap archive” (i.e., an archive containing tips and/or messages that have been proven to work) of best practices for retaining messages and language you want to test in the future. Just remember: don’t plagiarize sales copies or autoresponder messages from others!
Letting autoresponders sell for you lets you focus on building and finding great products for your customers. Sales experience is great, but don’t force it on your new prospects. First arouse their curiosity by empathizing with their problem and defining it in terms favorable to your solution. Repeatedly offering relevant information that addresses the issue in a non-threatening way improves the chance that they will be up-sold before your final message.
… and ready to buy.
