New Ideas For Using Autoresponders To Supercharge Your Marketing Efforts And Create Powerful Customer Relations

by Paula Morrow

You've heard the experts say that a prospect usually needs to be exposed to an offer at least three, sometimes as many as seven, times before a decision is made to buy a product or service. To offline businesses, accomplishing this through direct mail and telemarketing can be both intimidating and expensive.

This is where online businesses have a distinct advantage, through the use of autoresponder technology. This technology forms the backbone of many of todays online fortunes.

The basic concept behind an autoresponder series, sending a series of scheduled messages to convince a customer to take action, is easy to understand. But determining how to write one, or WHAT to write, often isnt so clear.

Go to http://www.idealmarketingcorp.com/autoresponder.html, where you'll find resources for proven autoresponder series and messages. However, Ill go over some other ideas here.

First, the basics...every autoresponder series must include:

*Useful Information *Personalized Messages - Both in the Subject Line and in the Body Copy *Back-end, Upsell Offers

Now, think about the different types of autoresponder series that are available, to positively impact your business. For example, you could:

1) Deliver a multi-part salesletter. Remember that long piece of art you slaved over, aka your sales letter? You could break it up, as an ongoing series of weekly messages for an instant autoresponder series. You could also offer links in each, pointing back to your website to view the entire document.

Also, you could send a sequence of different letters with each one promoting a different benefit of a selected product or service. Finally, you could send different variations of the original letter. Think creatively!

Or, if youre really pressed for time, just put Second Notice in the subject line, and resend the original message.

Just remember to always focus your messages to emphasize whats in it for them, showing what pain or problem your product/service solves.

2) Deliver a multi-part training or coaching course. Yes, this can be done on autoresponder. Again, the key is that the delivered information must be perceived as being valuable.

3) Deliver evergreen information in the form of an ezine or newsletter. By offering value, and keeping you top-of-mind, this leads to a stronger customer relationship. When you have to choose between reading a message from someone you know and trust, and one from someone you dont, most choose the friend, right? Use autoresponders to help create that bond -- this could lead to more sales!

4) Make existing customers feel special by developing a autoresponder series that offers a members only exclusive of product bundles, limited-time discounts, holiday or seasonal promotions, etc.

5) Create a separate autoresponder series to upsell paying customers on increasingly expensive product offerings. Never assume that theyre automatically done with just one purchase! Dont underestimate a customers ongoing desire for high-quality products and services.

One last idea for a creative use of autoresponders - timely customer relations. If you find that the same questions are being asked over and over by your visitors, assemble their answers and load them into an autoresponder. Then add a place on your site to click for Answers To Frequently Asked Questions - this will save a huge amount of time and energy, leaving your time open to come up with new marketing ideas.

Always remember to have a place for customers to contact you directly, however, if the autoresponder FAQ did not answer their questions.

How many other autoresponder campaigns or applications can you think of?

Paula Morrow is president of http://www.idealmarketingcorp.com. She specializes in public relations, information marketing and creating cashflow systems, plus coaches new webpreneurs on innovative ways to promote online. Her newsletter, IDEALProfits, is read in over 12 countries. Subscribe, and receive the co-brandable How To Start Your Own Traffic Virus and 4 other ebooks FREE. http://www.idealmarketingcorp.com/subscribe.html