8 criteria to consider before selecting an automatic response

Depending on the type of business you operate, the thought of having to answer numerous email inquiries can be a nightmare. However, there is no doubt that if you want to run a professional and successful internet business, you need to include email marketing as part of your strategy. There’s tons of competition these days, so it’s important to keep your business name in front of your prospect.

One way to do this is with the autoresponder service. Using an autoresponder is a very efficient and cost-effective way to communicate with prospects, clients, and clients using prewritten messages.

Autoresponder messages can be used for a variety of purposes, such as providing a response as quickly as possible, answering the same inquiries and frequently asked questions, providing product information, providing price quotes, or sending regular newsletters and friendly hellos.

There are two different types of messages. The former are automated and configured to always be sent in the same systematic order. These messages will always be accessed in the same order and time scale, regardless of when a customer submits their contact details.

The seconds are known as “broadcasts” and are live messages used to convey time sensitive information. Since these messages can be set, changed and delayed at will, and can even be designated to be sent at a certain time of day, they really are smart scheduling.

Many companies provide email marketing or autoresponder services, but there are certain criteria you should consider before deciding which would be best for your business. These include the following:

1. Reliable delivery ability. First, what’s most important is the reliability and deliverability percentage of your emails and newsletters that pass through the many spam filters. The major email providers these days (gmail, hotmail, aol, yahoo, etc.) are cracking down on spam.

2. Tracking and segmentation. Does your email marketing company provide any kind of tracking data and can your lists be segmented? Without tracking data, you cannot determine the effectiveness of your emails, newsletters, offers, etc., and whether your prospect, customer or customer is actually receiving and/or opening your email. Being able to segment your different lists is also a huge time saver.

3. Unlimited marketing campaigns with multiple lists. Are you allowed unlimited marketing campaigns and are you allowed to set up multiple lists within those campaigns? If you are not allowed unlimited marketing campaigns, the cost can be quite significant.

4. Additional charges according to your listing. You should be aware that as the size of your list or the number of subscribers on your list grows, additional charges apply. For example, if your list grows from 5,000 to 10,000 to 20,000 and so on, will your email marketing company charge you a higher monthly fee?

5. Import contacts. It is also very important to import contact details from other sources or from other autoresponders.

6. Customer service. Are customer support staff available 24/7 to answer your questions and handle any issues that may occur?

7. Spread messages. Can you send broadcast messages to more than one list and be selective about which list to include?

8. Ease of use. Is the system easy to use? This is very important as most business owners are focused on running a business and may not be as tech-savvy.

Using an effective and efficient auto responder will greatly improve your business. Taking the time to consider the 8 criteria above can save you a huge unexpected monthly bill or business headache.