Before we get into figuring out which Autoresponder you should be using, you’re going to want to read something important:
The Biggest Autoresponder Misconception
When you pay for a service to deliver your emails to people that subscribe to your list, you expect them to be able to deliver.
If you see your emails hitting your spam folder or hear from a subscriber that they found your email in theirs, your immediate response is to get angry with your autoresponder service.
It’s their fault, right?
While I thought it was always their fault, that’s not always the case.
Rarely, a bunch of spammers can get the tracking URLs that autoresponders use blacklisted. For a few weeks, any emails containing those links will be penalized.
Yet, the truth is that you shouldn’t be using their tracking anyways. A responsible email marketer will be cloaking and tracking their own links. If you do that, using the tracking built into an autoresponder is redundant and can cost you sales if either of the tracking links you’re using doesn’t work properly.
The simple solution is to use your own link tracking and never use the tracking built into an autoresponder.
Problems with email deliverability are usually a problem we cause ourselves. In case you missed our last post, you’ll want to go back to that to ensure your web host is setup to identify your emails as important and coming from a legitimate business.
Which Autoresponder should you use?
Autoresponders are admittedly awesome, but which one is right for you? The answer lies in how you plan on handling your email marketing.
These questions will help you select which one will serve you best and help you produce the most sales for your business.
What does your company sell?
This only matters because it will have an affect on how often you send emails. Teachers, coaches, info marketers, content marketers, and affiliates should be sending daily emails for the best results.
E-commerce sellers and service providers should be emailing roughly once a week or a little less.
Obviously, the statements above are made as though they’re facts. They’re not.
The only reason your email frequency matters is because your subscribers will grow to expect your standard.
It’s OK to deviate for special reasons, but generally sticking to your standard is wise. A large amount of unsubscribes in a short period of time is an indication that you’re breaking autoresponder company policies and will force them to take a closer look at what you’re doing.
In other words, the risk of getting your account shut off goes way up.
Do you plan on doing affiliate marketing?
Some autoresponder services forbid direct linking for the purpose of affiliate marketing.
The short and simple workaround is to use what’s called a “bridge page”. This page exists to explain the benefits to your prospects from your voice. It can boost conversion when done properly.
If you plan on doing extensive affiliate marketing, you should follow these simple guidelines below:
The autoresponder services that dislike affiliate marketing are Active Campaign, Icontact, and Mailchimp.
If you plan on doing “straight linking” to affiliate offers, consider using Aweber, Getresponse, Drip, or Sendlane.
Do you want advanced automation?
A little over 10 years ago, a company came out of nowhere with very advanced automation built into it. That company is InfusionSoft. Their advanced tagging and automation features allowed their users to build automated sequences that did things no other software could do.
The primary issue when they first launched was cost. They charged thousands of dollars as a “setup fee”, then hundreds of dollars per month. Their features went far beyond a simple autoresponder. They had affiliate tracking, order processing, and many others built in.
The problem with the company is that they’ve always been stuck in “beta”. The software is very difficult to use. It used to cost me $3,000 just to have a programmer get their system setup to process PayPal payments…
Thankfully, autoresponder services have been released that offer the automation without crazy costs or unnecessary features.
If you’re looking to be able to do advanced list segmentation and autoresponders based upon actions your subscribers take (clicking a link or watching a video to the end) you’d want to take a close look at Active Campaign, Sendlane, and Drip for those kind of features.
The 2 questions you think matter that don’t:
What is your budget?
Let’s get real here. You SHOULD be able to turn every subscriber on your list into $1 per month if you handle your list properly. Even if you’re only able to make $ 0.25 per subscriber per month, no autoresponder service charges anywhere near that amount.
The key is to go with the one that can grow with you. All of the ones recommended above are worth using as long as you decide based on the answers to the questions above.
Honestly, I personally lean more toward the services that have advanced automation, but that’s only because of the incredible things you can automate with them.
What is their deliverability like?
I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but know that a drop in deliverability is most likely your fault. The short and simple solution is to never use the built in tracking most autoresponder services offer. Use your own link cloaking and tracking solution and make sure theirs is shut off.
There are probably a dozen other autoresponder companies out there. What you’re seeing in this post are the ones I believe are most viable.
Ready to build that list?
We’re here and happy to help with the traffic you need.
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