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The best way of converting with autoresponders

by JRemington
9 replies
I've heard of a few different methods of converting for autoresponders.

The dilemmas are often:

Autoresponder frequency

- if you email them too often (every day for 1 week or more) you'll get unsubscribes and be considered a pain or a spammer

- OR if you just send one autoresponder per week you may not be aggressive enough to sell and they may kind of forget about you; but you'll be nice and trusted, kind of

Solution

Is it best to compromise and program a message once every 2 days?

Optimal moment to promote your product(s)

- if you start putting links to the product you're promoting right from the first message, people won't trust you and will get annoyed

- OR you can include links to a product from the start but only casually, without yet making it a blatant sales pitch

Solution

Is it best to convert casually from the first or second message or wait until the fifth or sixth before making a sales pitch?

The site I'm thinking of is about men problems and improving performance. So there is a real need and hunger obviously. But I'd like to convert them before they find something else or get better on their own!

Thanks
#autoresponders #converting
  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    Originally Posted by JRemington View Post

    Is it best to compromise and program a message once every 2 days?
    The optimum e-mail frequency will depend upon many
    things, including your target market and your skill level
    at writing effective follow-up e-mails.

    You'll get the best answer by testing e-mail frequency
    with your own list and measuring the difference in
    response.

    There's no one-size-fits-all figure that applies to
    every list and market.
    Originally Posted by JRemington View Post

    Is it best to convert casually from the first or second message or wait until the fifth or sixth before making a sales pitch?
    If you have a valuable solution to your subscriber's
    pain, then consider including a link to the solution
    in your initial e-mails too.

    I tend to include a link in the initial e-mails without
    any hard sell at all.

    The challenge with waiting until later to offer the
    solution is that the subscriber may have 'cooled off'
    and had their needs met elsewhere.

    And when you do start eventually selling, some people
    get bent out of shape (but they're not buyers anyways).

    So, start as you mean to go on.

    Focus on finding your subscriber's pain points and giving
    them content and offers that help them get the solution.

    Dedicated to mutual success,

    Shaun
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    .

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    • Profile picture of the author JRemington
      Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

      The optimum e-mail frequency will depend upon many
      things, including your target market and your skill level
      at writing effective follow-up e-mails.

      You'll get the best answer by testing e-mail frequency
      with your own list and measuring the difference in
      response.

      There's no one-size-fits-all figure that applies to
      every list and market.

      If you have a valuable solution to your subscriber's
      pain, then consider including a link to the solution
      in your initial e-mails too.

      I tend to include a link in the initial e-mails without
      any hard sell at all.

      The challenge with waiting until later to offer the
      solution is that the subscriber may have 'cooled off'
      and had their needs met elsewhere.

      And when you do start eventually selling, some people
      get bent out of shape (but they're not buyers anyways).

      So, start as you mean to go on.

      Focus on finding your subscriber's pain points and giving
      them content and offers that help them get the solution.

      Dedicated to mutual success,

      Shaun
      That's good Shaun, appreciate it. I was thinking of the soft casual sell from the start and this reassures me.

      I do see a much higher open rate at the start in my first messages and a high click rate, so want to get to them before they move on, 2 or 3 weeks later.
      Signature
      What you're not selling your products in different languages yet?
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by JRemington View Post

        I do see a much higher open rate at the start in my first messages and a high click rate, so want to get to them before they move on, 2 or 3 weeks later.
        Just a little observation, JRemington, if it helps at all: if you're getting a very noticeably higher open rate at the start than a few weeks later, then it follows that the contents of your first few emails are discouraging people from continuing to open them.

        There are two possible solutions to that problem.

        One is the one you suggest of "getting to them before they move on, 2 or 3 weeks later".

        The other is to change the content of your early messages to keep people opening them, so that they don't "move on".

        One of those solutions imposes on you a "rush job" and means you're losing almost all of the potential value of list-building. The other enables you to capitalise on it, profit from upsells, and so on. Just a thought.
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        • Profile picture of the author JRemington
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          Just a little observation, JRemington, if it helps at all: if you're getting a very noticeably higher open rate at the start than a few weeks later, then it follows that the contents of your first few emails are discouraging people from continuing to open them.

          There are two possible solutions to that problem.

          One is the one you suggest of "getting to them before they move on, 2 or 3 weeks later".

          The other is to change the content of your early messages to keep people opening them, so that they don't "move on".

          One of those solutions imposes on you a "rush job" and means you're losing almost all of the potential value of list-building. The other enables you to capitalise on it, profit from upsells, and so on. Just a thought.
          Good feedback Alexa. I think that my message content is ok and useful, and I think that a lot of these guys find solutions to their problems (either elsewhere or on their own) before I get to include my links to sell to them.

          That's what my intuition tells me, though I could be wrong

          I'll try to do this without a hard sell though, so they won't get put off and consider me a pain. Casual linking could work better.
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          What you're not selling your products in different languages yet?
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  • Profile picture of the author ProvenViral
    I use my autoresponder heavily and the best way to convert with it for me is to do special events where there's a limited number of seating available. This works well when you have a big buyer's list.
    Signature
    "Things may come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustle". - Abraham Lincoln
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    • Profile picture of the author JRemington
      Originally Posted by ProvenViral View Post

      I use my autoresponder heavily and the best way to convert with it for me is to do special events where there's a limited number of seating available. This works well when you have a big buyer's list.
      Sounds good for my future sites. But the one I'm concentrating on improving is a 'man problem' site. I could maybe use scarcity to improve the CTR.
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      What you're not selling your products in different languages yet?
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary J Martin
    If you have something useful to say on a regular basis email most days, if not as much as you can. DON'T just email for the sake of it because you feel like you have to. That will just burn out the list.

    The optimal time to market your product is just after or within the first few days of getting on your list. They are never hotter than when they have just gone on your list. My advice is to test right after they get on your list and within a few days and see which converts better. Sometimes its the former, sometimes its the latter. Considering the niche you are in, I;d say you'd get the best response right after. But its always sensible to test.

    Not putting any links in to sell for a while just makes them complain when you finally do.
    That would usually only happen if you're doing a blatant pitch with zero content right away. Who wouldn't be annoyed about that?
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    • Profile picture of the author JRemington
      Originally Posted by Gary J Martin View Post

      If you have something useful to say on a regular basis email most days, if not as much as you can. DON'T just email for the sake of it because you feel like you have to. That will just burn out the list.

      The optimal time to market your product is just after or within the first few days of getting on your list. They are never hotter than when they have just gone on your list. My advice is to test right after they get on your list and within a few days and see which converts better. Sometimes its the former, sometimes its the latter. Considering the niche you are in, I;d say you'd get the best response right after. But its always sensible to test.

      Not putting any links in to sell for a while just makes them complain when you finally do.
      That would usually only happen if you're doing a blatant pitch with zero content right away. Who wouldn't be annoyed about that?
      Cheers bud, you're right. This is the advice I'm needing at the moment
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      What you're not selling your products in different languages yet?
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    • Profile picture of the author WebPen
      Originally Posted by Gary J Martin View Post

      If you have something useful to say on a regular basis email most days, if not as much as you can. DON'T just email for the sake of it because you feel like you have to. That will just burn out the list.

      The optimal time to market your product is just after or within the first few days of getting on your list. They are never hotter than when they have just gone on your list. My advice is to test right after they get on your list and within a few days and see which converts better. Sometimes its the former, sometimes its the latter. Considering the niche you are in, I;d say you'd get the best response right after. But its always sensible to test.

      Not putting any links in to sell for a while just makes them complain when you finally do.
      That would usually only happen if you're doing a blatant pitch with zero content right away. Who wouldn't be annoyed about that?
      That's a good kick in the rear for me- I was considering waiting a few days before marketing to my list, but I have to remember that

      1) If I have a solution to their problem, I should show it to them, and
      2) The sooner the better because then they aren't surprised down the road

      Thanks Gary!
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