The term “auto response” sometimes get a little per-judging. We’ve all been there; getting bot-like email replies when trying to contact a company for assistance, or trying to reach a customer service department that seems to purposely made their call prompts all lead you to a disconnection. Well that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. I’m going to briefly describe some tactics you can use today with your contact forms and email accounts that are on your website.
Just about every website out there has a contact page. On those contact pages there is usually a web form for you to fill out to have that business or person contact you back. Some ask you for your name, email, and phone number; while others may ask you many more details to get a better understanding of who you are and how they can best help you upon reply. However you capture the information one thing is clear, the person filling out the form WANTS to be contacted back.
A Healthy Way to Use Your “Contact Us” form:
Using your contact us form for more than just that generic message “Thank you for contacting Acme Corp. A representative will be contacting you within 24 hours.” I stopped shy of adding an emoticon smiley face. Well what if that auto-response said something more like: “Thanks for contacting us at Acme Corp! While you’re waiting to hear back from us, why not check out our FAQ section that we update on a weekly basis based on our client calls. And if you have a minute, Like us on Facebook.”
Not only do I probably cut my troubleshooting call backs down to half, but I also gave them a direct link to my Facebook page and suggested they Like it too. Chances are they filled out the form because they had a question about something. If I or my marketing team is doing their homework, they can track how many calls we are receiving and what types of calls come in most. Place those questions and answers back on the website and give them a link in case they missed it is great for catching those that fall through the cracks.
A Call to Action That Works All by Itself
So you’ve finally placed a great call to action on your home page or landing pages. That’s awesome! While you’re tracking how many people are filling it out, you’re also finding out some demographics right? Lets say your offering a free copy of your eBook that normally sells on Amazon for 9.95. When they fill out that CTA, they’re taken to a sub page of your website with links to download that eBook. While they’re downloading they also get an email thanking them for downloading your eBook, but also invites them to sign up for your upcoming webinar or an “exclusive” link that gives them access some charts or data that most are not privy to.
Use a Different Response for Different Forms & Emails
One of the lazier things I’ve noticed is having one email address and auto response across your whole website. I know it sounds a little harsh, but think of it this way, why mix up all those responses into one funnel. If you have multiple landing pages for different products and services, I suggest use a separate auto response with custom messages for each product or service form and email. The clients and visitors of your website will think much more highly of you if they contact you either on accident or on purpose and notice a completely different message each time for each separate product. And while we’re at it, update those messages monthly. It doesn’t take but a few minutes each one.
Subject Lines Need to Be Clever
Using generic subject lines could land your auto response email into your visitors spam folder. We all know most people don’t eve check their spam folders that often because they’re use to getting so much. Play around with a few ways to contact back with different subject lines to increase your click-through and open rate. Spark curiosity when they read your subject line so that they actually do read it and feel happy they did at the end. Maybe offer a cool deal or discount.
So what do you do with your email auto responses? Have some more ideas to add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
Great blog , giving a little bit of TLC to our auto response emails can make a big difference of how clients interact with us.
Yea I had an epiphany about it over the weekend while making updates to our website. Made a few changes, but more to come today as a result.
I love the idea of including a call to action in your auto-reply. This just gave me so many ideas about what to include. I can have my parents watch a video or download a free document. So many things to do… so little time to do it in! Thanks very much!
Thanks for commenting Bill! There are probably a few more ways you can get really creative with auto replies, so if you think of any more please come back and share!