What is an autoresponder? For instance, some autoresponder sequences only have one follow-up message, which is sometimes just a “Thank you” message for subscribing to the email list: In other cases, the autoresponder can be quite robust, and deliver a series of on-boarding emails that escalate in persuasion, sometimes culminating in a sales pitch. The Best 8 Autoresponder Software HubSpot GetResponse Aweber Klaviyo Mailchimp ConvertKit Autopilot Constant Contact HubSpot offers one of the most powerful autoresponder capabilities on the market. GetResponse is a full-suite marketing platform that offers tools including landing pages, webinars, and forms, but their most powerful tool is likely their email automation functionality. Of course, if you just want to build a simple four-email sequence after an email list sign up, it's easy enough to do. ConvertKit platform's is simple and easy to use, although it does include other features to help build your inbound marketing program -- including forms, analytics, and their newer automation feature set. Constant Contact is a simple, easy to use, and popular email marketing tool. It includes basic features, such as templates, list building tools, a drag-and-drop editor, and autoresponder sequences. The 6 Best Free Autoresponder Software Tools Some of the tools listed above have free or incredibly cheap plans, such as Klaviyo and Autopilot ($1 per month). However, if you're looking for a full list of the best free autoresponders that offer incredible value, we'd recommend the following six.
Nowadays, email marketing is an integral component of any marketing strategy. In fact, 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.
When it comes to email marketing, the autoresponder sequence is a commonly used but often under-appreciated part of the process.
Autoresponders are a way to dip your toes into email automation. They’re typically the simplest form of marketing automation to execute when setting up your campaigns — but, when done well, they can be incredibly powerful for bringing in additional customers and revenue.
Here, we’ll cover what autoresponders are, and which autoresponder software solutions you might consider implementing for your own business.
What is an autoresponder?
An autoresponder is a time-based email or message that you send out automatically after a visitor signs up for your email list. Depending on your autoresponder tool’s capabilities, you can further segment your autoresponder emails based on other contact properties, but at its core, an autoresponder allows you to passively and automatically send pre-written messages.
You can choose the number of messages that appear in an autoresponder sequence, and you can choose when they’re delivered. For instance, some autoresponder sequences only have one follow-up message, which is sometimes just a “Thank you” message for subscribing to the email list:
In other cases, the autoresponder can be quite robust, and deliver a series of on-boarding emails that escalate in persuasion, sometimes culminating in a sales pitch. This is typical in digital industries, where your email list is the primary sales channel to launch your products.
For example, Ramit Sethi starts his autoresponder sequence with a friendly and informational email message:
Over the course of several emails, the reader will eventually receive a sales pitch (or a few email sales pitches). This allows the reader to warm up to your brand, and your content. By the time you’re offering your product or service, you should’ve already provided a ton of informational value, like this:
Sometimes, an autoresponder can act as the actual lead magnet used to get someone to sign up for your list. A good example of this is gated email courses.
CXL, for instance, uses a gated “enterprise conversion optimization” email course to get people to sign up for their list. The deliverable is just a time-based sequence of email lessons — in other words, an autoresponder.
While the execution can be quite different depending on your business, your industry, and your goals, all autoresponders allow you to automate email sequences based on timing and email sign-up form.
Next, let’s dive into some of the best solutions on the market.
The Best 8 Autoresponder Software
- HubSpot
- GetResponse
- Aweber
- Klaviyo
- Mailchimp
- ConvertKit
- Autopilot
- Constant Contact
HubSpot offers one of the most powerful autoresponder capabilities on the market. Particularly if you’re using other tools in HubSpot’s Marketing Hub, such as our form builder and popup forms, you can easily set up auto-response emails upon form submission.
At a high level, there are two ways to send an email response to contacts who submit a form on your page:
- Set up a follow-up email in the form options on your HubSpot page
- Send an automated email through a workflow (Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise only)
For the former option, it’s quite a simple setup. You simply set up a follow-up email to be delivered upon form submission (full instructions here).
However, through HubSpot’s workflows you can get quite robust with your targeting and follow-up email assignment. For instance, you can break things down by contact property data you’ve collected, like company size or which service the subscriber is interested in. This allows you to tailor your follow-up emails to ensure they’re more helpful and personalized for the user.
In addition, you can set a sequence of several autoresponder emails, and can also include behaviorally triggered messages — the options are pretty much endless.
If you’re just using HubSpot’s form builder, you can…
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