What is an Autoresponder?
An Autoresponder is a sequence of emails which are sent to a prospect or customer automatically over a period of time. It is known as 'permission marketing' as unlike many forms of email marketing, the recipient has asked to receive the emails which make them very effective at increasing sales and conversions.
Why would I want to use an Autoresponder?
The majority of people visiting your website will not buy from you straight away. Without an autoresponder any potential customers will go back to using a search engine to find a store when they are ready to buy. With an autoresponder you have the chance to show the customer that you are a trustworthy company and knowledgeable about your products and have great communications. This is what most customers are looking for from an online store, particularly if they have never heard of your business, which is often the case with internet sales.
What types of Autoresponder are there?
RomanCart has Prospect Autoresponders - for people visiting your website who have not yet bought from you, Customer Autoresponders - for people purchasing from you and Welcome Back Autoresponders - for customers returning to your website.
How does a Prospect Autoresponder Work?
With a prospect autoresponder, you place a compelling statement on your website home page - for example 'Enter your First Name and Email Address and we will send you a free guide on the different types of flower pots you can buy and what plants each one is best for.' Clearly what you use for this will be dependent on your business, however you should make it as compelling as you can. You could also make it amusing such as 'Watch what happened when our delivery guy tried to carry 1000 plant pots into our shop in one go!'. You can experiment with different things to see which works best for you, then when the customer has signed up, they are sent the first email, in this case with your information or link to an amusing video in it. After a specified time the second email is sent, then the third etc. up to 25.
How does a Customer Autoresponder work?
A customer autoresponder does not require the customer to sign up as with the prospect autoresponder. Instead they are automatically added to the autoresponder when they purchase an item from you.
How does a 'Welcome Back' Autoresponder work?
This is one of the most effective autoresponders and rarely used on the internet because of the expense of most systems offering this. RomanCart however makes it affordable to any business and is really easy to setup! Your best group of customers - whether you realise this or not at this point - are people who have previously purchased from you. Many businesses focus on trying to get new customers, when in fact companies which make huge amounts of money do so by selling again and again to the same customers. The 'Welcome Back' Autoresponder is triggered - when a customer has purchased from you, doesn't visit your website for a timescale you define, e.g. 6 months, and then happens to browse to your home page. As you can imagine there is a very high chance that this customer might buy again, so this triggers an instant email to the customer. You might say 'Hi there, it's great to see you again, we missed you! To show you how much - Use this promotional code in the next hour get free shipping!' or something similar. This usually proves very popular with customers and also gives the impression that you really care about your customers, which is great for customer relations and sales.
