Autoresponders: a Valuable tool for Build Relationships In Your
Affiliate Marketing
It's true that "content is king", but equally important to
success in online marketing of any kind is contact. Not just the
one time "flash in the pan" type either. You need to form
relationships with your potential customers, and maintain it on
a day to day basis. Remember, just as with content, good solid
contact will get you good solid sales.
Developing relationships with your clients is paramount in any
successful campaign, and to do this, you need more than a series
of advertisements hitting the airwaves. You have to "lock" your
readers in so that you can get assurance that the highest number
of people are reading anything you send out.
In other words, you need to get yourself a mailing list of
people who have signed up to get information from you. These
people have agreed to hear what you have to say, and so will be
more likely to open your emails than, say a cold contact would.
You give them a taste of the area of sales you're focusing on,
and no doubt, they have similar interests.
So how do you go about getting a mailing list, and how do you
keep track of it?
Obviously, you'll need a place for your potential customers to
sign up. You can do this a few different ways:
1. You could create a simple sign up page on your website with a
form on it that'll let you gather names and email addresses.
Then place a link to that sign up page on your main site with a
brief statement about what they'd be signing up to.
2. You could create what's called a "landing page" that also has
a sign up form on it. Landing pages are good when you're working
with Google AdWords or a similar advertising method. You could
create an ad that simply states, "Get some free information
about (your marketing focus) and be on the road to success in no
time." As the link URL, you'd supply your landing page, where
people could sign up. Add some pertinent info about your offer
and you're on your way.
3. Or you could build the newest form of page used to develop a
good mailing list called the "squeeze page." A squeeze page can
be a stand alone web page that offers your readers some
information about a product much like a sales copy page does.
However, the difference here is that you'll be splitting the
information into two separate pages thus giving only half of the
information along with an, "If you'd like to learn more, simply
fill in the form and you'll be immediately given a much better
idea of what it's all about."
Which ever way you choose to get sign ups, you've only won half
the battle however. Now you have to keep track of your new
customers and give them something to read that'll get them to
buy from you.
This is where autoresponders can come in handy.
Autorepsonders make it easy to build relationships with your
customers because, as the name suggests, they are automatic.
Most autoresponders can be tied into any sign up form and
harvest names and email addresses for you, so you don't have to
keep track of them manually.
They're also used to send out mailings automatically whenever
you schedule them, so you could load something into your
autoresponder today and have it emailed out several days or
weeks later. Or, if you have something exciting and new to tell
your readers, you could have the autoresponder mail it out right
away. It's all up to you and how you want your mailings
scheduled.
Many autoresponders also keep track of how many readers open
each email you send out, giving you an idea of which mailings
are the most popular. This way you can find products through
your affiliate programs that get the best responses and not
waste time and effort promoting things that aren't received as
well. You get to keep your customers happy, you become more
popular with them, and at the same time, create an efficient
selling machine.
Another handy feature of most autoresponders is that they allow
you to personalize your emails. With a click of a button, you
can add each reader's name to your message and give them the
sense that you're talking directly to them. Who wouldn't rather
open an email and see, "Hi Fred," than "Dear Reader" any day?
And which emails do you gravitate to when you open your email
client, those that have headlines that read, "Important
Information for You," or "Hey Fred, Here's Something You Might
Like to See"?
Yes, autoresponders can help you achieve a highly personal and
efficient sales machine, building relationships between you and
your customers for weeks, months, and even years to come. They
can help you put your best foot forward and give the impression
that you are a professional online affiliate marketer that can
be counted on to give regular and valuable information. This
will gain you trust from those who read your messages, and trust
always leads to more sales.
Fred Farah
copyright 2005