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There is no other tool more IMPORTANT for email marketing than your autoresponder. Choosing an ineffective autoresponder service is going to cause you major headaches. It could mean that the delivery rate of your emails is low and a host of other issues that you don’t want to deal with. Read this article carefully so that you make the best decision for your business.
What are the key questions to ask yourself when looking for an autoresponder service?
In this article, we will tell you.
Is the Autoresponder Service Established?
Do not overlook this point. Check the time that the autoresponder company has been operating and providing its services. Established companies will have developed a good relationship with email providers such as Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail and this is vital to get your messages through.
If your autoresponder does not have this kind of relationship then your emails could end up in spam boxes rather than your subscriber’s inbox. Look for companies that have been in existence for at least seven years.
What is their Delivery Rate?
The more established and higher quality autoresponder companies will publish their delivery rate metrics for you to see. As you may assume, the higher the better and you will be well advised to go with a company that provides good delivery rates. If your emails are not getting to your subscribers then you will not make any money.
The best autoresponder companies will probably publish delivery rates in the region of 99%. Be sure to check out their public numbers on this. It is also a pretty well-known fact that if you use double opt-in (which includes a confirmation step where the contact receives an email and has to confirm their signup) your delivery rate numbers will be better than single opt-in.
Is the Service easy to use?
The first two points rank higher in importance than this one but it’s still something that you should investigate. Take a look at the website of the autoresponder company and see if the navigation is straightforward. If it is then there is a good chance that the autoresponder service will be easy too.
Take a look at training videos provided by the company to see how easy everything looks. There will also be user-created videos on YouTube with reviews and demonstrations. Does your business need professional and affordable videos?
How much does the Service cost?
The best autoresponder services can be pretty expensive and they usually charge more per month as your list of subscribers gets bigger. Try to arrive at a final three autoresponder services so that you can make a comparison on price.
Take advantage of any 30-day free trial offers that the autoresponder companies are offering. Add some emails and send them to email addresses that you own (you may have to set up Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail accounts). How do they perform? Did the emails get delivered?
Make sure that you play around with the user interface to see how easy to use it is. Use all of the trial period and make your decision just before the trial expires. If you have provided payment details make sure you remember to cancel this if you are not going ahead with the service. Take your time to choose the best autoresponder service and it will support your email marketing efforts for years to come.
