Multiple-response autoresponders are powerful marketing tools. Yet, easy to misuse.

For example, I provided an address to a website for a "free report." The report arrived. It was a good report. Made a lot of sense.

The next day, I received an automated followup message.

No problem. I understand the power of multiple exposure marketing. But I was a bit disappointed that a company which earlier provided such a valuable report would resort to placing my email address into their marketing message robot without my knowledge and permission.

I suppose when you provide a great product for free, the recipients should expect some kind of advertising in return. After all, it is not good business to give the product away with no potential for reward.

In truth, unless told up front, most folks will feel taken advantage of when you come after them from behind. They will know you are a company which resorts to such tactics. Only the perception-dulled will fail to sense a tendency to deceive.

A small percentage may bother to let you know when they feel disinclined to do business with you. The rest will warn their friends.

If you can place yourself in your recipient's point of view, you are better able to design an excellent multiple-response autoresponder marketing campaign -- one with minimum hard feelings and maximum benefits for all involved, including your bank account.

Multiple-response autoresponders are good for

• Automated inquiry follow-ups.

• Course of instruction delivery.

• Repeated sales message presentation.

• Monthly catalog/price updates (could be auto-generated from databases).

• After-sale information delivery.

• Any content which is known ahead of time or can be automatically generated, and who's future delivery date is known or can be calculated.

There are numerous sites which offer multiple-response autoresponders for your use. Two of them are (listing is not an endorsement):

http://www.getresponse.com/
http://www.aweber.com/

When I looked for shareware and commercial scripts for independent websites which would be acceptable to me, I found none. Thus, I will be making one. But it will be several months before it is available.

In the meantime, one of the above sites may be adequate for your marketing efforts.

Here is a list of features which should be available in a good multiple-response autoresponder system:

1. Ability to run multiple campaigns concurrently.

2. No limits on the number or size of follow-up emails.

3. The content of the emails are text files which are easy to update whenever desired.

4. Outgoing emails can be personalized with any available personal information.

5. Each outgoing email can have its own customized "From:", "Reply-To:", and "Subject:" lines.

6. Ability to set the timing for each follow-up.

7. Ability to determine the day of week the follow-ups are sent.

8. Administrator can manually sign up and remove email addresses.

9. Automatic sign-up by email.

10. Automatic removal by email.

11. An easy to use, password protected administrative control panel.

Well, those are a few. Ease of use and versatility are probably prime requisites.

Happy Marketing!

Copyright 1999 by William Bontrager

William Bontrager, Programmer and Publisher
"Screaming Hot CGI" programs
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