Getting Your Autoresponder Messages Through The

Spam Filters



In light of the spam problem, most email clients now

have spam filters installed. These filters catch spam

email and either move it to a ‘spam folder’ or

automatically delete it. After spending a great deal

of time laboring over your series of autoresponder

messages, it would be a shame to find out that the

majority of the messages that are sent out end up

in the spam folder, or are automatically deleted as

spam!



You can avoid this in two ways. First, when anyone

signs up to receive information from your

autoresponder, have them automatically redirected

to a page that gives them instructions for ‘white

listing’ you. Email clients have an actual white list

where the owner of the email client can add specific

addresses that should never be considered spam.



The other way to make sure that your autoresponder

messages get through the spam filters is to check

them using one of the various spam checkers that

are available online. These programs are often web

based, and free to use. They check your message

for words or phrases that commonly trigger spam

filters in email clients. Don’t send out any

autoresponder messages without doing a spam

Formatting Autoresponder Messages

Have you received emails that were all broken up?

These emails have one or two words on one line,

then eight or ten words on the next line. In some

cases, one word begins on one line and ends on the

next. These emails are very hard to read, and they

appear to be very unprofessional. Is this what you

want your autoresponder email messages to look

like?



If not, you need to learn how to format your

messages. Start by reading the instructions for your

specific autoresponder. Each one operates a bit

differently in the way that it handles text. For

instance, some autoresponder messages will be

messed up if you do put a ‘hard line break’ at the

end of each line, while others will be messed up if

you don’t! Find out what the right option is for your

autoresponder!



Because each email client is different, you should

not allow any line in your message to exceed 65

characters. This will help prevent lines from breaking

up, and it is achieved by hitting the ‘enter’ key at

the end of each sixty-five character line. The best

way to be sure that your autoresponder messages

are delivered in the correct format is to send them

to yourself, before you send them to your list!

Build Interest With Autoresponder Messages

If you are using your autoresponder to sell a product

or service, you must be very careful as to how you

approach your potential customer. Few people like

a hard sale, and marketers have known for years

that in most cases, a prospect must hear your

message an average of seven times before they will

make a purchase. How do you accomplish this with

autoresponders?



It’s really quite simple, and in fact, the

autoresponders make getting the message to your

potential customers those seven times possible. On

the Internet, without the use of autoresponders, you

probably could not achieve that. Too often, marketers

make the mistake of literally slamming the potential

customer with a hard sales pitch with the first

autoresponder message – this won’t work.



You build interest slowly. Start with an informative

message – a message that educates the reader in

some way on the topic that your product or service

is related to. At the bottom of the message, include

a link to the sales page for your product. Use that

first message to focus on the problem that your

product or service can solve, with just a hint of the

solution.



Build up from there, moving into how your product or

service can solve a problem, and then with the next

message, ease into the benefits of your product –

giving the reader more actual information with each

and every message. Your final message should be

the sale pitch – not your first one! With each

message, make sure that you are giving the

customer information pertaining to the topic – free

information! This is what will keep them interested

in what you have to say.



This type of marketing is an art. It may take time to

get it exactly right. Use the examples that other

marketers have set for you. Pay attention to the

messages that you receive from other marketers.

Start a ‘swap’ file, and keep those messages. Use

some of the better sales copy for your own

autoresponder messages – just make sure that

yours doesn’t turn out to be an exact copy of

someone else’s sales message!



Remember not to start with a hard sale. Build your

potential customers interest. Keep building on what

the problem is, and how your product or service can

solve that problem or fill that need. If you are doing

this right, by the time the potential customer reads

the last message in that series, they will be

convinced enough to make a purchase!