An autoresponder is an automatic or software-mailing program. Why would you want that? Because whoever you are, you don't have enough time, and an autoresponder will maximise your time potential.Go to sleep and have a software servant take care of business. Once configured, it will store, send and reply.
That's just great, but is that it? No.
Depending on
price and particular program, autoresponders will vary with respect to function, usability, and features. Free autoresponders are commonly available but can run in advertisements, as well as information that you wish to send. That is not a completely repulsive concept, given price, and as good a way to experiment with an autoresponder, as any.
Anyone wishing to access specific information can mail to a specific autoresponder address, but primary difference is that an autoresponder is not a person, but a delivery mechanism for a person, with no regard for location, state of awareness, or other demeanour of such a person.
That email that you can get with “Dear friend” as an opening, is likely to be work of an autoresponder, where “first name capture” (a variable, with better ones), has failed to capture your first name by default. “Friend” is then chosen as an alternative. You see, a good one can be set up or configured to react to various situations.
Should you want to publish a newsletter on frogs, you can choose to load in that information into your autoresponder. Even better though is a choice to break your information into parts, and send it at pre-determined timed intervals. Part one immediately, part two in a few days, and like wise for rest of course.
It has even become normal to have autoresponders loaded with a years worth of information. In other words, you can load it with an entire course and forget about it for a year. New subscribers (or their email addresses ) can be automatically added to a database, and send course in any sequence, but usually starting at beginning.
An autoresponder can contain address of another autoresponder, and trigger-off its information and cycle, when mailed to. A different course on “Interesting Frog Soups”, for example, can be initiated this way. The possibility and potential can be almost endless, once you get a feel for them.
An autoresponder address will look similar to any normal email address except that it might contain a product/course or site name, instead of an individual’s name. It will always contain “@” symbol, within it, as it is essentially, mail. Example: frogsoupcourse@whatever.dotcom.
