Invasion of the autoresponding robots
How many times have you received an automatic email response that is irrelevant to your request?
Have you ever had an automated response that insults your intelligence?
Instead of winning customers – you can totally turn your readers off. Using software to manage your website’s content, or answer your customer’s queries can be like talking to a robot.
Autoresponding can be powerful
Autoresponders can also be a fun part of a fun “flight through the marketing tunnel” instead of a trip through the marketing funnel.
The easiest types of autoresponse systems involve email. Engaging and powerful copy works if you understand your ideal customer. Always start with the destination at the end of the tunnel. Your robot can give customers a logical sequence. Share a reason to stay on target with your product. Prevent your customer from getting distracted by the endless space and time around their journey.
Plan and test your autoresponse
Partner with Integrity Marketing to define your ideal customer before writing:
- Demographics – simple facts about age, gender and income
- Psychographics – an idea about their preferences and personality
- Behaviour – how they prefer to interact online for example
Once you have created the profile of your ideal customer, figure out their motivators. Let your autoresponder serve the customer.
Your Autoresponder persona needs to:
- Connect with your customers needs, desires or fears
- Nurture a connection with concise, meaningful, relevant information
- Create a need and reward for taking a specified action
Carefully role-play several potential readers reactions to your copy. How might that reader feel when reading your autoresponse? Is the reader compelled to start or continue meaningful relationship with your brand, service or product?
Autoresponding to potential issues
Use a neutral tone when the autoresponse may be sent regarding an issue, or a sale. Be conservative, and increase the opportunities for your customers to tell you how they feel.
Be prepared to move this conversation out of the sales cycle, and escalate this customer to a real person. Identify your front-line staff by name, to humanise the message and to give the customer an option out of the automated system.
Autoresponder heaven or hell
Too many autoresponders are set up like robots.
Another common autoresponse system is actually a web app. When a potential customer clicks on your offer – take that customer on a good journey. Make your autoresponder experience something to talk about.
Give your autoresponder personality. Think of service characters from C3PO, or a Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons, to friendly dogs, or tour guides. Find ways to place questions in your autoresponse that identify their needs. Have branches in logic where you meet your customer’s expectations.
Drive business and your customers to the services, and products they need. You don’t have to wade through autoresponder purgatory by yourself.
Start a conversation with Brian about how to setup a stellar autoresponder. And, contact Shauna and Penny if you need an extra set of hands to write your autoresponder copy for you.
Co-written by: Penny West and Shauna McGee Kinney (freelance writers and editors). Penny is an Australian travelling South East Asia. She has a background in advertising sales in Asia and Australia. Shauna is an American in Perth. She helps technical people translate their ideas into Business English.
Related:
The ones with “noreply” as the reply-to are highly insulting. It’s saying we’re important enough to communicate with you, but you’re not important enough for us to provide you the courtesy of a real email address to a real person or at least a real department.
Alex,
Agreed – reply-to should be a real person. Businesses need to be ready for the full cycle of customer interaction. Part of the customer cycle includes steps for staff to handle a reply when the customer asks for the person named in the email.
Here are several more reasons why NOT to use no-reply email addresses in autoresponders, and email marketing.
28 May, 2013
Five reasons you should stop using no-reply email addresses right now
By Michael Linthorst
(old but good blog article)
https://econsultancy.com/blog/62811-five-reasons-you-should-stop-using-no-reply-email-addresses-right-now/
– Shauna
Just picked this one up on Twitter:
#SocialShakeUp15 Panel:
Are You Over-Automating?
http://bit.ly/1GgSJSH
Tuesday, June 9th, 2015 at the Social Shake-Up Conference in Atlanta.
If anything consider – when you want the privacy of automation versus when you want the action of a real human.
[…] However, failing to provide an option to skip this step may result in lost sales. (Consider The Dangers of Autoresponding and Personalizing Your […]