10 Tips for Writing an Autoresponse Email

If you are using an Autoresponder service (eg. AWeber, GetResponse,MailChimp etc) then chances are that you will be writing auto-response emails that will get sent out to your subscribers once they subscribe. Every piece of communication that you send adds to the overall impression that a customer has of your product or service. Autoresponders can be used for simple acknowledgments, newsletters, or even series of newsletters. Here are ten tips about autoresponder use.

1. Acknowledge your customers

Send an email to thank your new users for signing up to read your newsletter. This reminds those users that you have received their opt-in request. It should also give your customers an idea of what they should expect in your writing as well as how frequently they should expect to receive it.

2. Make privacy policies crystal clear

Your readers want to know that their information is not going to be sold or given away to other users or companies. Place a link to your privacy policy within your newsletters.

3. Unsubscribing should be as easy as subscribing

People unsubscribe for a variety of reasons. Don’t feel offended or take it personally when someone doesn’t want to be subscribed to your newsletter. Immediately remove the subscriber when requested.

4. Stay in their minds, don’t anger them

Do you like it when a place sends you an email every day? Do not send your email out as frequently as possible. Send out a newsletter every week or two. People unsubscribe for receiving too much email.

5. Make it personal

People want to believe that the information in your newsletter is just for them. Subscribers care about how you can help them personally. Starting a newsletter off with ‘Dear (name),’ is a lot more effective than ‘Dear newsletter subscriber.’

6. Use catchy and descriptive headlines

You want a newsletter that will capture the attention of your subscribers. Try out a test of newsletter headlines to see what works the best. Give readers a hint of what you are sending them.

7. Don’t sell

The pieces that you do with the autoresponder are designed to build trust and entice readers to keep you in mind when they need to get your products. They do not need to be pressured into buying because they already know that you exist.

8. Reward subscriber loyalty

Even though selling outright is frowned upon, offering time limited coupons is not. With coupons, you are not going for the hard sell. Instead, you are telling the customer that you will be there when they are ready.

9. Offer useful and relevant tips

Customers are reminded of the experience that they received when a newsletter is emailed to them. You want to keep that rapport by sending them tips about subjects within your expertise.

10. Keep it simple

Make sure that you have something mastered before adding a new mailing. This applies to services as well as content. You want to make sure that you do one thing very well before moving on.

The autoresponder can help you gain more visitors to your site. You are keeping your customers thinking of your services once every week or two. Offer great content to your readers and they will keep coming back.

This guest post was written by James Adams, a staff blogger and reviewer for an online supplier of franking machine ink cartridges based in the north of England. Subscribe to their blog’s RSS feed for updates on his latest posts.