Engaging with audiences via email and other digital platforms generally imply that you are ready for a two-way dialogue via your marketing communications instead of static one way messaging. The idea to use digital platforms automatically implies this, because of the digital medium’s ability to generate responses and thereby leads.
So what if you have multiple recipients replying to your emails? Are you going to hire someone to sit down and reply to each one? Are you going to ignore the emails? What if the volume is too large for one person to handle? Are you going to hire an entire team just to respond to the emails? The very thought implies a high overhead cost for a very menial but time consuming task.
This is why you need to pick an email marketing software platform that comes with an auto- responder mechanism such as Maxmail. The point of sending out auto-responders is to nurture leads and bring them on the journey to the sale. And if your recipients are doing what you intended and emailing you back, it would be nice for you to at least acknowledge receiving their piece of communication - even before you are able to sit down and respond to each in reference to the specific content of their emails.
You can also use auto-responders to send out passwords and other login information every time someone subscribes to an intranet portal you have created or for a regular newsletter. In fact, you can even use this to immediately respond to someone who opts-in to any of your digital content via email. Essentially you need to respond to these people immediately in order to be hot on the heels of these leads. They are consciously subscribing to your content for a reason and this means the chances of converting these leads into a sale is naturally higher.
Another case would be if your online payment gateway is under repair or you are generally having an issue with one of your digital platforms – why not send an auto-response to someone who is unable to reach you so that they aren’t frustrated and know you have a valid reason for not being able to comply with their request.
Ideally you need to craft valid and relevant auto-responses that are concise and, in fact, even rewarding. Your recipients have responded to your call to action and you need to be able to acknowledge that with a reward for doing so in order that you can move them a step ahead along the path to purchase.