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How Much Do You Give In An Autoresponder Email?

by Bishop81
9 replies
I am building a site, complete with an opt-in list and forum. The site will have information, and I'm planning on delivering more thorough steps through the autoresponder.

My question is:
How long of a message do you feel is appropriate in an autoresponder email? Some of them, I have a feeling, would start getting pretty long, and I'm afraid that it would be a waste. Would it be better to have a brief description in the autoresponder and then have them click a link to the site in order to read the full thing?

I can see how the latter would benefit more, in that people would come back to the site and could possibly end up clicking on a high $ (hopefully) Adsense ad. However, which is considered better from the visitor's end?
#autoresponder #email #give
  • Profile picture of the author lakshaybehl
    Yes I agree although I'd want them to click on an affiliate link instead of ADsense!
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    • Profile picture of the author James Liberty
      Originally Posted by lakshaybehl View Post

      Yes I agree although I'd want them to click on an affiliate link instead of ADsense!
      I agree with this statement. I've tried to make a living on Adsense... and it didn't go too well.

      If it were me, I'd go with the content-rich e-mails... but not too long. (Personally, I never read lengthy e-mails... and I mean NEVER).

      Just give them your best stuff... and be concise.

      My reasoning for putting the content in your e-mails instead of on the website is that it can sort of train your readers to open and read your e-mails. (Open rates have been falling, so you'll need all the help you can get). :p

      Also, from a recent discussion amongst copywriters I learned that it's at least as important to entertain the reader as it is to educate them. One copywriter even said that he used to aim for education... but now he aims for entertainment... and his autoresponder sales have increased since he started doing this. (Shhhh.... this will be our little secret).
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      • Profile picture of the author Frank Bruno
        I always try to keep my e-mails short. People just don't have the time to sit and read through their e-mail.

        However if you can capture their attention with a good subject line, and they open your message and see a captivating few sentences or paragraph, you can get them to read longer once they get to your blog or website.

        I would not use Adsense though on your landing page. People are getting immuned to that and you can make more money with aff links if your content matches well with the offer.

        Use psycological triggers to induce human emotion.


        Frank Bruno
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  • Profile picture of the author strive4impact
    I think it's better to post a quick teaser and drive traffic back to the site. From a user's perspective, I don't think it really matters.

    You could, of course, test it and see...

    Or, once you have some people on your list, you could ask them.

    But ultimately it comes down to what you want to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author katherine7
    I think that you can do either long or short, but I think it depends on your style of writing more than anything else. They key is to drive traffic back to the site. So you can do a short e-mail and include your link, or a longer e-mail. I personally use both. You want people to go back to your site, so when I do a longer e-mail, I usually do that with a story or top10 list or something to keep their attention and interest. Then make sure you give them a reason to return to your site and Tell Them to click here. It sounds silly, but be very, very clear about what you want them to do!
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  • Profile picture of the author Dick Doe
    Originally Posted by Bishop81 View Post

    I am building a site, complete with an opt-in list and forum. The site will have information, and I'm planning on delivering more thorough steps through the autoresponder.

    My question is:
    How long of a message do you feel is appropriate in an autoresponder email? Some of them, I have a feeling, would start getting pretty long, and I'm afraid that it would be a waste. Would it be better to have a brief description in the autoresponder and then have them click a link to the site in order to read the full thing?
    It really depends on your niche. For some niches, long emails work best. For others, short messages are good.

    However long your email is, make sure your paragraphs are short - each paragraph should be no more than 4-5 lines. Add numbered lists, asterisks, etc. to make it more appealing. People don't like reading large chunks of text!

    Personally I prefer to read and write short emails, though.
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    • Profile picture of the author rperales
      Personally...

      ...in long letters in autoresponders I would put my link everytime I think
      short letters would end..just in case but that's just me!

      If the offer is interesting I would want to click the link as soon as possible
      hence, it needs to have a link during as many times?..you decide..

      I seen very few people practice that but the only flaw I see is that
      they tsay if you don't have time to read this message you can click the link..

      The idea of a good length letter is because we want to convince subscribers
      with such letter because it probably needs to in the first place..

      Personally..I think the size of an article would do well..but that's just me..

      rey
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      Reynaldo Perales

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      • Profile picture of the author Simon_Sezs
        The only way you can definitely pin down what people prefer is to test it.
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        • Profile picture of the author SpicyRobby
          I think the best way is to make the e-mail message a real attention grabber - a few lines with a link to the site.

          You'll kill two rabbits with one shot - get the visitor to the site where they'll most likely to browse around etc and you'll make sure the message is read or listened to, because:

          * it's much easier to format the whole thing on the website - add graphics, video, images etc
          * in a long e-mail it's very easy to get lost - you have to be really good with formatting. However, lately I've got a few mails - long ones, and the formatting style was something new:

          Short sentences...

          ATTENTION GRABBERS

          Do You Really Think It's Not The Case?

          And similar things made the whole reading process flow

          STEP

          by

          STEP

          and I could get the whole idea very fast. But really long multi-paragraph e-mails-
          I think they're dead.

          Rgds,

          Robert
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