In this presentation we'll look at best practices for writing autoresponders, and how and when you should use them to get more our of your email marketing list.

1. KEYNOTE
Emily Sloan-Paceemily@zohocorp.com
PROFESSOR IN RESIDENCE,
ZOHO CORPORATION
LOS ANGELES, CA ~ JUNE 13 - 14, 2018 | DIGIMARCONWEST.COM
#DigiMarConWest
The Art of the
Autoresponder

2. What is an Autoresponder?

3. What is an autoresponder?
A sequence of emails that are automatically
sent to a specific segment of people on your
email list, triggered by a specific event.

4. What is an autoresponder?
• But let's get back to what they actually are:
• If this <trigger>, then that <action>.

5. What is an autoresponder?
Potential triggers:
• Joining your list
• Browsing behavior
• Shopping cart abandonment
• Downloading a PDF
• Buying a product

6. What is an autoresponder?
The purpose of any autoresponder differs:
• Some might be trying to make product sales.
• Some might be trying to sell a service.
• Others may simply be trying to build a long-term relationship to sell a
product or service down the road.
But they all have the same larger goal: to move each prospect
deeper into the funnel.

7. What is an autoresponder?
You're probably already using them.
• If you’ve already started building your email list, many of you
probably already have at least one autoresponder in place — a
welcome message.

8. What is an autoresponder?
But...you can go so much farther.

9. What is an autoresponder?
• Cart Abandonment
• Registered and not purchased
• Deposited and not spent

10. What is an autoresponder?
Birthdays

11. What is an autoresponder?
• Purchase anniversary
emails
• Back in stock emails

12. What is an autoresponder?
• Purchased X and not Y
• Maintain updated
contact information

13. The Power of the
Autoresponder

14. The Power of the Autoresponder
What's in it for me?

15. The Power of the Autoresponder
• Companies who send automated emails are 133%
more likely to send relevant messages that align with
customers purchase cycle.

16. The Power of the Autoresponder
• Automated messages have an average of 70.5% higher
open rates and 152% higher CTR than business as usual
marketing messages.

17. The Power of the Autoresponder
• 77% of automation users see an increase in conversions.

18. The Power of the Autoresponder
Takes repetitive tasks away, giving you time to focus on sales
and engagement
• Better targeting of customers through segmentation
• Improves the customer experience by delivering the same high-value
experience to every new subscriber.
• Reduction of human error in campaigns
• Let you continually showcase your best content, including content from
your archives.
• Are great places to mention relevant offers without sounding sleazy.
• Allow you to build trust with your audience slowly and ensure your new
subscribers don’t forget you.

19. General Tips for
Autoresponders

20. General Tips for Autoresponders
1. Give subscribers what you promised.
If you say you’ll give new subscribers a free report,
case study, or video, provide an easy-to-use
download link so they can instantly get their free
gift.

21. General Tips for Autoresponders
2. Add some personality to your messages.
Autoresponders don’t need to be
boring.
Spice them up by using your own voice
and personality in your message.
Be funny, quirky, and interesting — as
long as it fits your brand.

22. General Tips for Autoresponders
3. Help your audience get to know and trust you.
With each message, reveal a little glimpse into who you
are and what you stand for.

23. General Tips for Autoresponders
4. Become a fantastic teacher.
Your emails don’t have to be lengthy or fancy, but they
do need to be useful to your subscriber. If
possible, teach your subscriber something in every
autoresponder message you send.

24. General Tips for Autoresponders
5. Open a two-way conversation.
Invite your subscribers to
respond to your emails
or join the discussion on
your website. Ongoing
discussion can help turn
your subscribers into
your biggest advocates.

25. General Tips for Autoresponders
6. Share other ways to connect with you.
If someone joins your email list, it’s likely he or she will want to
connect with you on his or her favorite social media platform, too.

26. General Tips for Autoresponders
7. Keep adding to it over time.
Your autoresponder series should be a living “document,” so
review, edit, and add to it over time. Confirm that your
messages are still relevant and useful.

27. General Tips for Autoresponders
8. Plan out the entire sequence before you start writing
Write a quick outline of how many messages you want to include
and how far apart those messages will be delivered.
Your outline will keep you on track as you write the whole
sequence.

28. General Tips for Autoresponders
9. Write like you are writing to 1 person, not 1000.
Write conversationally

29. General Tips for Autoresponders
10. Use personalization
Not just at the beginning, or solely in the subject line, but
LIGHTLY sprinkled throughout.

30. General Tips for Autoresponders
11. Don't be afraid to tell people that it's an autoresponder.

31. Things to Avoid

32. Things to Avoid
1. Don't stop at a welcome message.
• Many people write a welcome message only and never continue
their autoresponder series.
• You will stand out from your competitors by sending at least
three-to-five messages in your email series.

33. Things to Avoid
2. Don't send multiple autoresponder messages in one day.
• You only need one message a day (at the most) to make a big
impression, so unless you have a really good reason, don’t
pummel your subscribers with multiple autoresponder
messages in a single day.

34. Things to Avoid
3. Don't overshare
• Yes, add your personality to your messages, but don’t use your
email series as a therapy session or a chance to unload on your
subscribers.
• Oversharing doesn’t build relationships; it just scares people
away.

35. Things to Avoid
4. Don't clutter your autoresponder messages with other emails
from you.
• Set up your series so people don’t get your newsletter or
content notifications on the same day as your autoresponder
emails.

36. Things to Avoid
5. Don't stress about people who unsubscribe.
• People who opt out of your autoresponder series aren’t a good
fit for you and your business, so don’t worry if people drop off
your list.

37. Things to Avoid
6. Don't oversell in every email.
• It’s fine to add some relevant offers to your series, but if you
turn every note into a big sales pitch, you’re not going to earn
the trust of your subscribers.

38. Things to Avoid
7. Don't try to please everyone.
• If you try to write an email that fits every member of your list
perfectly, you’re going to have a hard time.
• Picture yourself writing to your one perfect client, and go from
there.

39. Things to Avoid
8. Don't be afraid of the technical part.
• Autoresponders are relatively easy to set up.
• If you have trouble, simply get in touch with your email service
provider and ask for assistance.

40. The Welcome Email

41. The Welcome Email
• Great for any type of business, B2B or B2C
• Welcome emails generate 320% more revenue than
traditional promotional emails

42. The Welcome Email
• Make sure to fulfill whatever you promised you would
as the lead magnet...but don't stop at one.
• A great way to build trust with your audience is to
immediately provide a content upgrade.
• A content upgrade can be anything: a video, a
checklist, free ebook, extra chapters.
• Under promise, and over deliver, right from the
beginning.
• This first email is also an opportunity to briefly:
• Set expectations
• Intro yourself/company
• THANK THEM

43. The Welcome Email
Don't sell from the beginning; it's important to develop
trust and add value first.

44. The Welcome Email
Your second email (and yes,
it's importnat to have more
than one!) in your welcome
series could be a request
for engagement and more
details about the ways to
get in touch with you.

45. The Welcome Email
Engagement might look like:
• Answering a survey or taking a quiz
• Posting on social media
• Writing back to the email

46. The Welcome Email
If someone has registered for an event, this second
email might include the agenda and speaker bios.

47. The Welcome Email
Your third email might be a
case study (people love
social proof), or a coupon
for services.

48. The Welcome Email
Depending on what your goal is and how people have
responded to your earlier emails, this might also be the
email at which you branch subscribers off to other
segmented lists.

49. The Welcome Email
• No matter the case, the welcome series is where you
should continue to add value.
• Hold off starting to sell until at least the 4th email, at
which point you should have built a good level of trust
with your audience.

50. The Welcome Email
80% content / 20% pitch. Rather than pitching in every
message, make deposits first. Go for 3 or 4 messages of
pure, helpful content and zero pitch, and then start to
gently sell.

51. Why Sequences?

52. Why Sequences?
They make you stand out from the crowd; most
companies don't follow-up after a welcome email.

53. Why Sequences?
There is no universal rule when it comes to exactly how many emails
you need to have in your email sequence.
• Your sequence should be long enough to help you
accomplish your goals, no more, no less.
• Its length should be determined by its purpose, your
segments, subscriber’s preferences.

54. Why Sequences?
You should always send more value emails than sales emails to prevent
your list from getting burnt out.

55. How to Write a Sequence

56. How to Write a Sequence
Write an outline of your sequence from start to finish, describing
what topic(s) each email will cover and the call-to-action for each
email.

57. How to Write a Sequence
Ask yourself the following questions before each email your write:
• What are the biggest pain points/struggles for my subscribers?
• What are the current goals of my subscribers?
• What are the interests of my subscribers?
• Why did they subscribe to my list in the first place?
• How can I solve their current problem in this email?
• Why should they read this email? What is the big benefit to them?

58. How to Write a Sequence
And then:

59. How to Write a Sequence
Plan how many autoresponder emails you want in your series
(starting with three-to-five emails is a good guideline).
• Decide how far apart each email will be sent.
• Dedicate time to writing the whole series.
• Queue them up in your email service provider.
• Test the series to make sure everything works properly.

60. Ideas for Autoresponders

61. Ideas for Autoresponders
Share your story.
• Sharing who you are, why you started your business, and
who you serve is a great way to teach people about you and
your business.

62. Ideas for Autoresponders
Offer a quick tip
• Give subscribers a tip they can implement in five minutes or
less that lets them move forward in a noticeable way.
• A “quick win” makes your new fans associate your emails
with getting a rewarding experience.

63. Ideas for Autoresponders
Ask an interesting question
• Ask your subscribers a question and invite them to reply to
your email to answer.
• You could ask what they’re struggling with (related to your
topic), how they found your site, or what challenges they’re
facing right now.
• This information is also marketing gold for you — it gives you
ideas for more autoresponders, blog posts, podcast episodes,
and other content.

64. Ideas for Autoresponders
Provide a resource list
• Present a short list of resources (sites, blogs, books, gadgets,
online tools, etc.) that will help your subscribers move
toward their goals.
• People love to know about the tools you use every day and
the books you read.

65. Ideas for Autoresponders
Deliver a case study or success story
• If you’ve got a compelling story about the success of a client
or student, write the story in a short case study.
• The case study should include advice subscribers can
implement, whether or not they buy from you.

66. Ideas for Autoresponders
Losers win!
• Those who have a bad attitude about entering contests are
generally indifferent because they believe they won’t win.
• Prove them wrong. Your contest can make a winner of every
entrant.
• Everyone who entered gets a birthday treat. All you need to
know is their name, email address and birthday.
• Your autoresponder is just a birthday present in the form of a
cupcake.

67. Ideas for Autoresponders
Pick your prize.
• You can inject flexibility and fun into your contest by inviting
contestants to pick their prize.
• Consider a contest from a sporting goods retailer, for
instance, that offers SCUBA gear as its only prize.
• Instead, prize options might include choices for cyclists,
boaters, skiers, hikers, runners, golfers, and tennis players.
• The contestant indicates their preferences and your
subsequent email caters to them.

68. Thank you!