The 5 Best Autoresponders to Use in 2022
There’s absolutely no denying that if you wish to be highly profitable online, you MUST build an email list. Selling to warm leads and existing customers is far easier than trying to convert cold visitors (prospects).
This is why you see marketers constantly parroting the quote, “The money is in the list!”
That’s definitely true. However, let’s not forget a crucial component in all of this. The money may be in the list – but where you keep the list and how you interact with your prospects and customers in the list matter greatly too.
It's essential to build your list and set up your emails using a reputable, reliable and easy to use autoresponder with good deliverability. Since this is a very profitable online business model, there are many large companies offering email marketing services.
So which will you choose?
They’re all not made equal. Some are considerably better than others. Some are strong in some areas but not so much in others. So you have to pick an autoresponder carefully.
Do NOT do this!
Avoid using self-hosted autoresponders! They’re usually created by ‘smaller’ marketers and lack the features and automation that the managed services provide.
Very often, the self-hosted autoresponders only have one thing going for them – a low one-time fee.
But you always get what you pay for. If you have deliverability issues, etc. you’ll have to sort them out yourself.
And anyway, the only way they can survive is by getting new business. So when that dries up, you're likely to lose them. If you haven't backed up your mailing list, you may even lose that too!
Not to mention, most self-hosted autoresponders do not have as many integration and customization features as the ‘big guns’. So it’s best to pick a managed solution even if it means forking out a monthly or yearly fee.
One of the most important tasks of building your own online business is to initiate a process where you can capture the names and email addresses of your site visitors and be able to communicate with them in the future.
Having a database of subscribers allows you to nurture them with information to help them to succeed with their goals, and present them with products to help them do that. These might be products you’ve created, products that you're dropshipping or those you’re recommending as an affiliate marketer.
There are many different options you’ll see in the marketplace for email autoresponder tools, but which one is the best for your current situation? First of all, make sure you don’t sign up with a random autoresponder that gets launched by marketers who then disappear and leave you with a non-functioning tool.
You want an email autoresponder service that’s proven and can boast longevity. Two of the most popular and well-known autoresponders are Aweber and GetResponse. These have been around a long time and have both served their customers well. While they have marketplace longevity to recommend them, their features are regarded by many as now falling behind.
There are two others that have come on the scene to compete with these two powerhouse names. Convertkit is one of the most well-known competitors, but Active Campaign is also stepping up with features that have people talking. Active Campaign is the one that I personally use and recommend.
One of the autoresponder tools that many newbies on a shoestring budget have started with is MailChimp. They were one of the first to enter the scene with a zero-cost beginner option, although now others have that as well. And also MailChimp now gives you less for free than it used to. And boasts a fairly messy interface. You have to hunt for the features you want.
Whenever you’re shopping for a good email autoresponder tool to use, you want to look at several factors. While price might be the primary concern for many people, it’s not the only thing you should be looking at. But if it is, I'll tell you which you should go for and how you should upgrade later.
You want to know how worthy their customer service is when you need help. You also want to see how easy the tool is to use. Some technical tools can be burdensome, and you want to effortlessly create emails on the fly. You may want to follow up with those members of your list who didn't open your previous email or you may want to implement different email chains depending on the contact's tags.
You also want to compare built-in features such as how Aweber has Canva capabilities integrated with it, or how some platforms help you build a landing page for your list building efforts.
You want to carefully consider your options so that you don’t have to go through the tiring process of trying to relocate your subscribers elsewhere. Regardless of which email autoresponder you ultimately decide to go with, make sure you learn the proper rules and etiquette so that your account doesn’t get banned. You’ll want to periodically back up your list so that you don’t lose contact with subscribers.
I'll be covering all this in a lot more detail in my upcoming Online Internet Marketing Course.
In the next few posts, I'll look at the 5 best autoresponders. I've used all of them and I'll tell you which one I settled on. Oops, I already told you that, didn't I? But each has something to recommend it and the best one for me isn't necessarily the best one for you. They are:
- Active Campaign
- MailChimp
- ConvertKit
- GetResponse
- AWeber
