Internet Marketing Fortune Cookie #14
Choosing An Autoresponder
It's way past Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.
Hear the cookie speak:
Write an old friend. Your words bring joy.
Obviously, the cookie was referring to email marketing. Everyone always says that the money is in the list, but people usually don't say much about how to get your list service up and running, or what service providers to choose.
Part of the problem is that email marketing services, also known as autoresponder services, are a dime a dozen. There are an abundance of providers and products available and each one is pitched as the next best thing. There are even some free ones that you can install on your own host.
Worse, most people reviewing and promoting autoresponders are affiliates and they have a bias that comes with their commission. This includes me. I use Aweber and I love them. So, if you hear me recommending Aweber, you should also know that I get paid if you buy their service through my link, and that I have never used another service.
Bottom line: comparing autoresponder products can be a time consuming process.
Here’s my quick thoughts on how to pick the right email marketing service for your internet marketing business.
Decide if you want a full service software package with a number of features or simple, straight forward email marketing? Some products come with autoresponders, shopping cart software, and product delivery tools. 1ShoppingCart is an example. I have never used their autoresponder, but when I hear people talking about it, the things I hear people say are never good. My recommendation is stay away from fully integrated services for autoresponders.
Do you want HTML templates or are you going to send your email messages in text format? There are benefits to both. Graphics and embedded links are great for creating captivating and converting messages however many people have their HTML turned off. I recommend making sure your autoresponder supports HTML email and had good free templates that you can use.
Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Much of the jargon on a particular product’s website can be vague. Here’s what you want to look for:
– How many messages can you send each month?
– Can you send personal messages to individual members on your list?
– Is there a size or length limit to your messages?
– How many subscribers or contacts can you have on your list?
– Do they offer technical support 24/7?
– Do they at least have telephone support during regular business hours or is it all email/ticket based?
– How long have they been in business? (Having your email provider go out of business can leave you high and dry)
– Do they offer a free trial?
– Do you have to commit to a year contract or can you go month by month?
– Do they provide room for you, and your list, to grow?
Many email marketing products offer tiered programs. Each tier offers you a certain number of subscribers and a limit to the number of messages you can send each month. However, some email providers allow you to build customized plans to meet the needs of your specific business. This is a great way to get exactly what you need.
Email marketing is a critical component for any internet based businesses marketing strategy. Finding the right email provider can save you valuable time, help you market and represent your business in a professional manner, and result in a bigger bottom line. It pays to do your research, try a few programs, and don’t settle for the marketing product of the moment. Your business is too important.
Again, my personal recommendation is Aweber. But, I get paid if you take my recommendation and I have never used any other service (I am thrilled with them) — so know that.
As the cookie says, Write an old friend. Your words bring joy.
Have a great day.
Mark
Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase
How about Google mail? It’s totally free of charge unlike Aweber where you pay a fee before you could use the service which reduces the earnings of zero-investment individuals like me. 🙂
Well, Google mail does not really have the features that you typically need for email marketing.
For email marketing, you need to be able to track and verify that people have opted in (to comply with CANN-SPAM laws).
Also, usually, with an autoresponder, you want to automatically send messages at timed intervals after a person opts-in to a list.
And you want to be able to manage lists and track clicks and a lot of other things.
So, i think a better free option would be one of the free self-hosted autoresponders. However, I think that option will cost you money in the long run.
And remember to ask:
“How many reciepients can put my mail into their spam-folder without my account being disabled.”
IF you start a new list and You only have fewer than 100 members on the list and only ONE or TWO put one message into their spam-folder (mark it as spam) Your account can and will be disabled.
GetResponse have a value that IF your broadcast or follow-up goes over 1% spam-complaints, they will shut down your account. Doesn’t matter IF it is double opt-ins or not …
/Patrik Berggren
Great point, Patrik;
Here is what Aweber has to say about that:
The deliverability of email messages is largely dependent on the reputation of the sender, among other factors. If your complaint rate is elevated for a period of time, it may affect not only the deliverability of your own messages, but also those of the service you use to send them.
If your complaint rate exceeds .1% for a period of time, you may be contacted by our Customer Solutions team to discuss the rate, reasons why it may be elevated, and what needs to be done to get it back to the appropriate levels.
Regards,
Mark
And that will mostly, for a small list, not be possible to hold that level om “spam complaints” above .1%. GetResponse use the same thing, but with a small lists You get over 1% real quick and the account is directly deactivated without refund if You pay upfront for the service.
Even if the listowner use double opt-ins some listmembers will set your emails to spam … that is a huge risk …
Probably You should create a script that ads around 1000 listmembers to reduce that risk
Mark – do you have any thoughts on feedburner or feedblitz? I realize it’s not totally apples to apples, but it seems most bloggers go with feedburner – thanks!
Hey Kent;
I’m not really an expert on FeedBlitz — however…
I think these are 2 different things. Feedburner is a feed hosting and tracking service that many many bloggers use. Feedblitz seems to be an aggregator. They say that Feedblitz is compatible with feedburner feeds.
It looks like you can use them in together as they serve different purposes.
I could be wrong…but that is what I think.
Hi Mark,
I have recently begun to use Aweber. I have to say, their service is excellent. I selected them based on recommendation and it appears to me that the majority of top marketers use them.
Cheers
Ken
Glad to hear that Ken. I love Aweber too. Their blog is great as well.