Autoresponder Follow-up letters- the Pros and cons of using an autoresponder to communicate with your customer

So you have bought into the fact that you need to build a list to make money online. And you have set up your aweber, your constant contact or get response account, built a form with a great call to action and are trying to figure out exactly what to say when someone signs up to your list. Now what? There is an art to building the perfect autoresponder follow up letters. After all, the allure of simply writing a series of "follow-up" broadcasts and placing them where the person will see them in a orderly fashion makes making money online with permission marketing passively seem like a no-brainer.

But what are the pros and cons of autoresponder followups?

Are there any?

There are and before you go "laughing all the way to the bank, there are some things you should consider...

First, there are 2 ways that you can use an autoresponder:

1. To broadcast messages- This is in real-time.
2. Follow-up messages- These are emails that are pre-fabricated ahead of time.

A broadcast message would be like emailing a friend and is usually current.  Newsletters that are weekly are a good example.  So are pitching a new offer.  Internet marketers who are in hungry markets that have a lot of changes occurring like new products will be more likely to use the broadcast function of an autoresponder.

A follow-up message is best used to either further soften up a potential customer (studies have shown that it takes a potential customer to see the offer 4-7 times before they make a buying decision), or to create a sequential series.

An example of a follow up message would be if your offer on the sign-up form promised a 5 day tutorial on something that your market would be interested in.

Marketers use follow-up letters primarily to build trust and credibility.

I have used follow-up letters.  I have also used broadcasts as my primary way to communicate with my list.  

From my personal experience, the biggest problem with using autoresponder follow-up letters is that it is very impersonal.  For that reason follow-ups are best used when you are selling a very specific solution to a problem as a way to soften up and reintroduce the offer over the period of several days.

For example, if someone has gout and you are selling a solution to solving their problem, the best way to address this would be to offer some free advice to curing gout naturally and then every couple days, reintroduce your solution (offer).

Broadcasts on the other hand are way more personal and better used in the most general of markets to introduce the customer to more than one product over their lifetime.

All this said, the one message every marketer should send is the introductory follow-up letter.  In this letter, you basically state who you are and what they should expect from you.  The first message is always the most important!