Autoresponders - What to look for

In this article I will go through some of the features and factors of choosing an autoresponder service. 

First off you will want unlimited hits. Autoresponders were designed to process and send large amounts of data easily and quickly, this they do but if you have to pay each time someone request information from your autoresponders you will find it very hard to break even, never mind make a profit. 

Also a good autoresponder service will automatically send you an email notification informing you each time someone requests your information. This way you'll be able to track your advertising effectiveness. If something works and results in a lot of requests then you can multiply you efforts across the web. 

A good autoresponder service will allow you to alter your autoresponders unlimited times at no extra charge, this is essential as you will want to test different sales letters, subject lines etc. Also you will want to keep visitors up to date with your company. How can you do this if you can't change your autoresponder? So always be sure that the service you go with lets you change the information often, without an additional fee.

Your chosen autoresponder server should allow you to send out messages at specified times. This is vital as research has shown that a prospects usually has to be exposed to a product up to 7 times before buying. This will enable your autoresponder to turn what would have been just one quick visit to your website into 7 exposures to your site. 

Make sure that without a doubt the service you use allows your autoresponder to be an unlimited text length. It's be proven that long sales letters work just as well if not better than shorter ones, if your autoresponder only allows you to send a letter of specific length you could be forced to change a winning sales letter, which can affect you profits seriously. And nobody wants that. 

One of the great things that autoresponders can do is to capture email addresses of people who have requested information from them, however not all services will provide you with this information, but you need this because it is vital for following up your original offer. So always make sure you get access to your autoresponder logs in order for you to get this information. 

Finally you have to consider the cost of your autoresponder service. If you think a service is charging too much, they probably are, and you want to find another service quick before your profits are eaten into. 

One final note before you move on, you may have seen some sites offering free autoresponders which seem to have most of the above features, however don't be fooled, all these services are ad supported meaning that other people's ads will be put into your autoresponder, leaving you looking very unprofessional. If your company appears unprofessional people are far less likely to buy. It's a fact.