what is an email autoresponder?

I am often asked ‘What is an email autoresponder?’

I also get asked ‘How do I automate sending out emails’ or simply ‘What is an autoresponder?’

An email autoresponder is basically a software system, which helps you:

  • capture people’s contact details
  • store them in a database or email list
  • automatically send out a single or sequence of pre written emails once a ‘trigger’ of some sorts happens.

For example:
You have a form on your website inviting people to sign up to your newsletter (you can see an example of this at the bottom of this article)

  • Someone sees your form and fills it in (the data requested is up to you, but typically consists of name, email address and maybe contact phone number) – this is ‘the trigger’

  • This contact information is automatically sent to your autoresponder provider and is stored in a list

  • Once added to your list, the autoresponder automatically sends out an email or sequence of timed emails to person ‘A’

The goal is to use regular contact to build a rapport with the people on your email list and encourage them to eventually become a customer.

When I first started learning about digital marketing, there weren’t many of these solutions around.

The provider I prefer to use offers a free account for up to 500 subscribers which is an excellent way to get started. It’s called Aweber, and you can create your free account here:

There are lots of options available, so you may also have heard people mention the following:

  • Active Campaign
  • Mailerlite
  • ConvertKit
  • Keap
  • Mailchimp
  • and many more…

If this is all new to you, I suggest you just get started with Aweber, afterall, as mentioned it is free.  You can always do some further research later and consider migrating should you free there is a better option in terms of functionality that fits within your budget.

To see an email autoresponder in action, simple complete the form to join my newsletter below :)

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AUTHOR

Angie Stewart

CATEGORY

Email Marketing

POSTED ON

April 30, 2021