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Website Automation - The Key To Online Success!
by Kaviraj Kodai
 Autoresponders and Mailing List Systems
In the earlier days of the internet, email was the primary basis for online communications. People would hold discussions and carry out other business through email. Using email was a slow process, though. It took time for each email to be sent from person to person and the interaction was not immediate.
Today message boards and online chats have taken the place of these types of email communications. Message boards and online chats are instant communications. People talk in real time and do not have to wait for delivery of their message like with emails. Email is still vital, though, and used just as much today as ever. Email is used more now for notifications and getting information to people. These types of email communications do not need the back and forth conversation, so they work great for business use. Email lists can be a great tool for getting information to customers quickly.
The Impact of Listserv
The idea of automated mailing lists began in 1986 [2]. Eric Thomas created Listserv, the first automated mailing list system. Before 1986, email lists had to be manually managed, which was time consuming and actually hindered the maximum abilities of email lists. Manual management included signing up and registering customers, sending each email to each customer and then following up with any customer emails that came in after the delivery.
Listserv made list management much easier, thus improving the usability. With Listserv the lists allowed users to register their list, set options and had automated monitoring. There is many different email list management software on the market, but Listserv remains the leader. Listserv, formally copyrighted by L-Soft, is now a common term used to refer to any email list management system.
Making Good Use Of Email Lists
The use of email lists is a great tool for a webmaster to use for instant notification of important information to customers. Information like specials, new products or account activity can all be sent via email lists. Email lists help a webmaster stay in contact with customers. It is a well know fact that repeat business is very important and by staying in contact with customers, it helps to gain that repeat business. Besides the convenience of email lists, they are also very cost efficient when compared to other methods a webmaster may use.
Email lists contain a host of tools that make sending email notifications simple. The typical email list will include a message scheduler to help ensure messages get out in time, global distribution which means the webmaster sends an email one time and it reaches all the customers on the list, and built in archives for keeping track of emails that have been sent, which is also great if a customer requests for a resend of an email. These lists also may have a spam tester which helps to ensure the email will reach the customers in box and not their bulk or spam folder where they may never even see it and bounced email handling which will delete emails that are no longer operating from the list.
Dealing With The SPAM Issue
Email lists are not without a downside. The biggest problem with email lists is email spam. Spam is unsolicited emails and many email providers now offer built in spam protection which sends unrecognized emails to a bulk or spam folder where they are often deleted without ever being opened. Spam has become the biggest downfall of email lists. Spam is such a problem the government is fighting it with the CAN SPAM Act of 2003 [5].
Webmasters who use email lists must comply with the CAN SPAM Act. If a business gets associated with spam it could be very bad for business. They can also be fined, but the damage done to the reputation of the business is far worse. People are annoyed by spam email and they will take great measures to ensure they do not have to be bothered with it. They also look down upon those who do it, so a business that gets a reputation for spamming will face a loss of business.
Fortunately for webmasters there are some easy ways to comply with the CAN SPAM Act. One method is to use a double opt email list. A double opt list means the customer registers for the list and then must confirm their registration via an email. If they do not confirm then they are not added to the list. Double opt lists help ensure that the person who owns the email address is really the one who signed up and that they are interested in receiving email from the website. Another thing for a webmaster to do is to include a link in every email that allows the person to unsubscribe from the list. Additionally, the emails should also include all of the business contact information.
As mentioned, most email providers now offer spam protection. These filters are not 100% perfect, though. They sometimes block mail from legitimate senders. How they work is basically by blocking mail from senders who are not approved by the email owner. In some cases, the filters only filter out certain emails that fit the typical spam email model. In any case, a webmaster could still end up having their emails lost in customers spam folders due to the inconsistency of spam filters. If a webmaster uses a list with a built in spam tester then they can avoid the hassle of having emails that are to getting to in boxes or that are being reported as spam.
Using Autoresponders To Save Time
Mailing lists are only one option in instant customer notification. Email auto responders allow customers to request information as they need it or for information to be sent as the webmaster desires. Auto responders work when a customer sends an email to the auto responder email address. This triggers the auto responder and a pre-written email is then sent automatically to the customer. Auto responders work great for notifications like letting customers know their order was received.
There are two major types of email auto responders. The type of auto responder a webmaster uses will be based upon the needs, the set up and the desired response time. There are both email based and web based autoresponders. Email based runs from the webmasters email account, where web based runs from an independent website. There are two models of email autoresponder and one model of web based autoresponders.
The basic email based autoresponder runs directly from the webmasters email. It does not offer a lot of choices or options about setting up emails or formatting responses. Basically whenever a customer send an email to the email address they get an automatic response that the webmaster has written and set to automatically respond to emails received. This is fine if this email address is only used for one particular reason. Otherwise, customers, or anyone else for that matter, will be getting the same response every time they email this address. The best use for this type of auto responder is to let customers know their email has been received and someone will get back to them shortly with a response. This would probably work for a small business that has a limited number of customers. The emails would have to be checked regularly and the inquiries handled quickly by the webmaster.
Another type of email based auto responder is a mail server auto responder. This works like the first type, except it allows a response as soon as the server receives the message. This is much quicker than waiting for the email client to receive the message. With an email client the message is delayed because it is received by the client first and then redirected to the appropriate email address, but with the mail server the message is received as soon as it is sent because it does not have to go through the redirection like an email server.
The web based email auto responder is much different than the email based types. A web based auto responder is an independent email that is run from the autoresponder website. They can usually be set to respond in different ways depending upon the message received. These types of auto responders can also be set to send out mail at certain times. Web based auto responders offer a lot more choices and options then email based. They also require far less work for the webmaster. Once the webmaster has the autoresponder set up they just allow it to do its job and only have to update it as needed.
Web based email autoresponders often come with many options. They may offer the ability to include attachments, like with an email based autoresponder. They offer the choice of sending HTML or text emails, also like with an email based autoresponder. They offer automated subscription where the customer signs up for the service and the autoresponder registers them and adds them to the list without and manual work on the webmasters part. Email based autoresponders do not usually offer this type of service. They may also offer statistic records, which also are not typical of email based autoresponders.
This section has covered how email lists and email autoresponders work to keep a business and its customers in contact without a lot of work on the webmasters part. These tools offer an invaluable resource for a business and can make a big difference in customer relations. The next section will take a look at a great way to build a business through using affiliate marketing.
<< Introduction to Website Automation | Affiliate Program Managers >>
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Copyright © 2010 by NetProSoft/Kaviraj Kodai. All Rights Reserved. |
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