Before I start this autoresponder comparison, here’s a quick overview:
An autoresponder is an automatic email system. You can use it to follow up with customers who have expressed an interest in whatever it is you are offering. Or you can use it to send out a pre-written newsletter at intervals determined by you. Or you can use it to send a news broadcast to your contacts.
At its simplest, an autoresponder is a service for sending out emails without you having to remember to do it. You can split up your lists, so that people who contacted you about, say, weight loss don’t get sent messages about growing vegetables or whatever.
The better services also allow you to put in rules so that when a potential customer turns into a buyer, the list they are subscribed to is changed. So instead of getting messages asking them to buy a product, they get messages on how to get the most from it.
So which autoresponder should you use?
That’s what this autoresponder comparison is here to help with…
You can get software that runs on your computer. This was probably a good idea a number of years ago but with the ever increasing amount of spam, it isn’t a solution I’d suggest nowadays. As soon as you get a good size list, you’ll be using up processing power on your computer and opening yourself up to spam complaints with your internet service provider.
Which brings me on to services you run on your hosting account. These involve uploading an autoresponder script such as the cheap Autoresponder Unlimited and then sending out emails from your hosting account. Whilst it sounds a good idea initially, do you really want the hassle of running a script and dealing with all the spam complaints and bounces? Not to mention the heartache when your program drops all your emails for no apparent reason (Autoresponder Unlimited has been known to do this).
Even though they cost a monthly subscription fee, using an autoresponder service is far and away the best way to build your business. The service you use will ensure that the email deliverability you get is high – they will work with all the major email providers such as AOL, etc to make sure that your emails get through. You’ll also get stats and other tools to show you how successful your campaigns are.
In my mind, there’s no option but to use a reputable autoresponder service.
So which one to use?
Check the autoresponder comparison below:
This is the service that I use. They have a high deliverability and are generally thought to be the best on the market. You get an unlimited number of autoresponders for your monthly fee, so you can segment your campaigns to your heart’s content. You can choose to send plain text messages or HTML formatted ones or a mixture. Personally, I send plain text messages as these are viewable in all email programs.
You also get a spam score against each message you’re thinking about sending, so you’ll get a good idea of how likely your message is likely to get trapped in a spam filter.
You can send “broadcast” messages to your lists – either to individual lists or to several lists at once. These broadcasts can be set to be sent immediately or at some time in the future. So, for instance, if you’re doing a series of emails before a major event such as Christmas you can write them all at once but send them out over a series of days.
You can also track how many clicks your links get. If you’ve ever received an email with a URL starting with https://clicks.aweber.com followed by what seems like a set of gibberish characters then you’ve received an email from someone using this service. These links seem to have got uglier and I’m slowly switching across to using links on my own sites instead. The tool I’m using is Affiliate Linker, which is good so long as you’re happy installing a script on your web host. But if you’re not technically inclined then check out Cloak and Tracker instead. It’s simpler to use, works on as many websites as you want and doesn’t require any technical knowledge from you. The links look like they lead to a page on your own site so you’re more likely to get clicks.
AWeber also offer easy to design email sign-up forms. These include regular forms to include in your web pages and those irritating forms that pop up when you go on to a website. Don’t rule out pop up forms based on your own personal preferences. Test to see whether your response goes up when you use them. The forms provided include ones that can’t be blocked by pop-up blocker software and you can control how often they pop up, whether it’s only once ever, once per visit or every X visits (where X is a number you decide).
These are AWeber‘s main competitor and offer a very similar service. I’ve not used them personally but there are a large number of marketers who use Get Response for their campaigns.
Both AWeber and Get Response offer lots of ways to personalize your emails so that you get the best response possible.
These two are the main firms on the market. Stick with one or other and you’ll get a reasonably priced service and high deliverability of your emails.