Are you looking for the best autoresponder software for email marketing? In this article, we will take you through the benefits of an autoresponder and the best tips for selecting one.
Shall we?
Email marketing is one of the best forms of marketing for businesses. Meanwhile, autoresponders are a secret tool for business owners who want to boost their email marketing efforts. Autoresponders are one of the easiest and most cost-effective methods to convert leads into potential customers. Let’s walk you through what you need to know about autoresponders and how they can boost your email marketing campaigns.
What is an Autoresponder?
Email autoresponders allow marketers to send automatic emails to customers/subscribers after completing specific actions. This action could include filling out forms, subscribing, opting in for a newsletter, unsubscribing, etc.
With an autoresponder, marketers can send a sequence of emails to users without any manual tasks.
It is a cost-effective way to help business owners build a relationship with customers without overwhelming them
In many cases, an autoresponder doesn’t exist as a standalone but as a feature of email marketing platforms.
So what is the purpose of an email autoresponder?
Email autoresponder helps you send automated emails to customers on your email list. Marketers often use autoresponders to save time and effort by creating email sequences like welcome messages, lead nurturing, cart abandonment, omnichannel marketing, and so on.
This is a great way to scale up your email marketing campaigns and boost your efforts. For example, you don’t need to manually send a welcome message to every new subscriber on your page. Instead, you can build an automatic welcome message that sends out every time someone new subscribers.
Tips to Choose the Best Autoresponder
As a marketer, you don’t want to choose any random autoresponder for your email marketing campaigns. Why? What works for you may not work for another person due to the differences in your business type and objectives. Here are some tips on how to select the best autoresponder for email marketing list:
- Define Your Goals
What do you want to achieve with your email campaigns? What features are you looking for in your autoresponder? Are you more interested in sending automated messages or personalised messages? These are some questions you need to ask before selecting an autoresponder. The last thing you want to do is invest in an email autoresponder only to discover that you don’t need most of the features. If you are new to email marketing, it’s best to start with free autoresponders or a free trial. With this, you can figure out if a particular autoresponder works for you or not.
- Use an Autoresponder Comparison Chart
Multiple autoresponders are out there, and it may be overwhelming to select one. It is good to compare autoresponders by going through their pros and cons. With this, you can better understand what would work for your business.
- Consider Your Budget
Another essential aspect to consider when choosing an autoresponder is the costs. Consider your budget and determine how much you can afford to invest in an autoresponder. Based on your figures, you can streamline autoresponders according to the prices you can afford.
- Look Out For the Necessary Features
Before selecting an email autoresponder, it is best to go through the features they offer vs. the features you need. If you prioritise segmentation in an autoresponder, you need to look for autoresponders that offer one.
How to Select the Best Autoresponder for Email Marketing List
Here are some features to look out for when looking for the best autoresponder for email marketing:
1. Email Subscription Limitation
Autoresponders offer a variety of pricing based on your number of subscribers and the number of emails you can send monthly. Before selecting an email responder, ensure that it can cater to your current number of customers. Also, you should consider your goal, especially if you are looking forward to adding more subscribers to your list.
2. Sending Limits
While some autoresponders offer unlimited messages, others have a cap on the number of messages you can send daily/monthly. Make sure you use an email marketing platform that can accommodate your sending needs.
3. Automation capabilities
What is an autoresponder without automation capabilities?
One of the most significant features of autoresponders is their automation capabilities. You want a tool that is capable of automating manual campaign tasks. Some standard automation capabilities you may require in email campaigns include:
- Welcome message: Greet new subscribers, employees, or users
- Reminders: Send emails about events, deals, and product launch
- Celebrations: Send birthday messages or birthday discounts
- Web Trigger: Send emails when someone makes a purchase, adds to cart, or fills out a form.
- Abandoned Cart: Contact customers who have unchecked items in their carts
- A/B testing
- Branch flow
With these capabilities, you can design and automate relevant messages to your customer’s journey.
4. Templates
One of the best email marketing tips is sending compelling messages from the subject line to the call to action. Also, your messages should have interesting visuals and optimised for web and mobile. The best autoresponders offer beautiful designs and templates to help you create great email content. You can add buttons, add colours, and add your logo and other design elements. Ensure you find an autoresponder with a variety of templates to help you send beautiful emails.
5. Subscription forms
Building an email list is an integral part of email marketing. For this reason, you should always look for autoresponders with lead generation tools. One of the best ways to build leads is through signup forms on your web page. With a built-in lead generation tool, you can easily keep building an email list. Without one, you may have to find another lead generation tool separate from the autoresponder.
6. Integration with CRM
Another important tip on how to select the best autoresponder for email marketing is CRM integrations. It’s in your best interest to invest in an autoresponder that lets you integrate with your CRM and other software you use for your marketing. You can check the vendor’s website for information on software you can integrate with the autoresponder.
7. Unsubscribe Option and Page Builder
Unsubscription is something marketers would rather not think about, but it happens. You do not want to force customers to stay receiving emails they do not want. For this reason, you need to have an unsubscribe option on your page and every email you send.
Tip: Sometimes, you can win back customers through the unsubscription page. For example, you can build an unsubscribe page that asks customers why they are unsubscribing. In this case, you can use their feedback to improve your email marketing campaigns. So, it’s best to go for an autoresponder that lets you build a tailored unsubscription page.
8. Campaign Analytics and Management
One of the best email marketing tips 2022 is consistently measuring your performance rate. A great email marketing autoresponder should provide reports and analytics to help track your performance. This way, you can get insights into the effectiveness of your email campaign and find ways to improve it. It’s best to use an autoresponder with a detailed dashboard to monitor campaign metrics like click-through rates.
9. List Builder or Segmentation
Another factor to consider in selecting the best autoresponder software for email marketing is segmentation. The people who make your email list are different people, and it’s best to send emails that matter to them.
Segmentation helps marketers divide subscribers into smaller units based on criteria like persona, interest, cart contents, location, past purchases, demography, etc. This is important for business owners who want to send targeted ads and messages relevant to each segment. Also, segmentation of customers helps increase your conversion rates.
Let’s assume you run a skincare company with products available for people of all ages. In this case, you can have a segment list based on gender: male, female, or age: 18-35, 40-65. Now, say you want to send an email about wrinkles removal. In this case, it makes sense to send it to the segment list of older people.
If you have a different segment of customers, then you want to use an autoresponder with the segmentation feature.
10. User Interface
This is a feature people often skip when looking for the best autoresponder in 2022. If the website’s user interface isn’t appealing or difficult to navigate, then it’s likely you won’t be able to send out nice emails.
11. Free Trials
Many providers offer a trial version to help users test out the functionality of the autoresponder before committing to it. If you are new to email marketing, look for platforms with free trial features to test their functionality.
Best Email Autoresponder For Your Campaigns
Now you know features to look for when going through an autoresponder comparison chart. Let’s take a look at some of the best autoresponder tools in the market right now:
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Moosend
Moosend is a simple and affordable email automation tool with features to customise your email campaigns. This platform has a drag-and-drop interface and many features like templates, tracking monitors, etc. Also, Moosend helps personalise emails based on segmentation and offers five types of subscription forms to generate leads. Moosend has a free plan with a cap of 1000 subscribers and comes with many of the features. For additional subscribers, you will need to upgrade to a premium plan.
2. Constant Contact
One of the best autoresponder examples for business owners is Constant Contact. This autoresponder is best for those who want to create a more complex email sequence. With this, you can build a series of sequences to welcome your subscribers, send birthday messages, product recommendations, and so on.
This platform also offers a lot of templates, a drag-and-drop editor, and library resources. If you have a website, Constant Contact has a feature to set up your email design based on your web design. This platform will scan your website and create layout options based on your design. Constant Contact offers a free trial for two months.
3. SendinBlue
SendinBlue offers a free plan that lets users send up to 300 emails daily. This platform offers a wide range of autoresponder options like welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, discounts and sale emails, etc. You also have the option to set triggers by clicks and webpage visits. Asides from an email autoresponder, SendinBlue offers a full suite of marketing, analytics, and email management tools. Also, this platform comes with email and SMS marketing and live chat for every plan.
4. MailChimp
Mailchimp is one of the best free email autoresponders; at least, it’s free until you reach 2500 subscribers. Users cannot access all capabilities on the free version, but the paid version has all features enabled. Some of its features include a list segmentation, analytics, autoresponder, and integration options with hundreds of applications. MailChimp also has a built-in CRM tool and drag-and-drop template to modify your emails. If you are just starting with email marketing, MailChimp is an ideal tool to use without worrying about costs.
5. Hubspot
Hubspot is a famous marketing platform and one of the best email autoresponders. This platform comes with an email marketing automation and CRM platform with the tools you need to boost your campaign. Also, users will enjoy a free plan with unlimited email but a limited number of messages. Hubspot, including its free plan, comes with many features, including a landing page builder, live chat, a free CRM, an email editor, and more.
6. GetResponse
GetResponse is a great email autoresponder known for its simplicity and extensive features. This platform has unique features that keep it as one of the best autoresponder examples for over 20 years. Also, GetResponse has more than a hundred designed templates to communicate with subscribers on different journeys. It also has sales tracking features, contact tracking, and integration with other software. Other great features of GetResponse include:
- Drag and drop email editor
- A/B testing
- Unlimited email sends
- Cycle management tools
7. Klaviyo
Klaviyo doubles as a CRM platform, thus making it an all-in-one solution for marketers. Also, Klaviyo is a great email autoresponder for e-commerce platforms, and it integrates with e-commerce brands like BigCommerce and WooCommerce.
With Klaviyo, small businesses can collect a lot of information about customers’ shopping habits and buyers’ journeys. Some other features of Klaviyo include prebuilt autoresponders, drag and drop plus WYSIWYG editor, optimised templates, product recommendations, and segmentation.
8. ConvertKit
ConvertKit is one the best autoresponder 2022 for online creators looking for visual automation. This platform offers excellent features, including reporting tools, segmentation, email designer and templates, sign-up forms, etc.
ConvertKit’s free plan caters to up to 1000 subscribers with features like landing pages, subscriber tagging, custom CTAs, etc. However, the visual automation feature is only available to paid subscribers.
To sum up, a great way to boost your email marketing efforts is by leveraging the right strategies and tools. With the best autoresponder software for email marketing, you can easily run successful campaigns and boost your efforts. Find an autoresponder that suits your campaign needs and start nurturing leads faster and better.
