What is an AR? I get this question from new to veteran coaches equally. That leads me to believe that there are more of you that would love to know exactly what an AR is. Right? Let's find out.
Table of Contents
What is an AR? Definition
AR means Autoresponder.
Autoresponders are emails that are sent automatically to your subscribers on your mailing list.
They are ‘triggered’ based on rules and time intervals that you define in your Email Marketing Service.
An autoresponder can be just one automated email or a series of emails.
For example, you’re going to work with a designer or a virtual assistant, and there’s always a talk about the AR. The AR or the autoresponder email that is automatically sent once there is a trigger that happened.
This is not done on your website level, but in your email marketing service.
Types of AR
Evidently we would have lots of different types of AR or Autoresponders we could send. Let’s just go over the main types of AR you will either receive as a subscriber or send as a business owner.
Thank You Email
This type of email would usually contain some sort of welcome content. It also acts as a proof that the trigger worked.
For example, you have a contact form that has been filled out. It is great practice that once you have a new inquiry, an email is sent automatically welcoming them and letting them know what is going to happen next.
Welcome Email
This type of email typically would contain a welcome content in addition to download links and instructions. Typically received when someone fills out a form to get a Freebie.
Success Email
This type of email would have some specific information such as a webinar confirmation or post-purchase welcome content.
Types of Triggers
We have two main groups of triggers: behavioral triggers and transactional triggers.
Behavioral Triggers
- Form as been submitted
- Action has been taken
- Action has not been taken
- Step has been reached
- Step has not been reached
Behavioral triggers would be, for example, a form has been filled and submitted, an action has been, or not being taken such as a link has been clicked in an email, a broadcast or a newsletter, or has not been clicked.
Examples of behavioral triggers: a form has been filled and submitted, an action has or not been taken such as clicking an email link or a video watched. A step had been or not been reached in a membership.
Transactional Triggers
- Purchase has been made
- Payment issues
Examples of transactional triggers: when a purchase has been made, when there’s a payment issues, such as a cancellation or the payment did not go through, or for example, in the case of cart abandonment.
Where is it Setup?
Your AR (Autoresponder) is always setup in your Email Marketing Service. Whether you use MailChimp, Kajabi, Mailerlite or Kartra, any of the Email Marketing Services do have autoresponder capabilities.
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Opt-in Freebie AR Example
Now let’s take an example: how the AR would work in the case of an opt-in freebie.
- You have a form on your landing page, Jane fills out the form and gives us her email address to get our freebie. The action of filling the form is the trigger for the subsequent automated actions.
- A tag or audience or group is assigned to the subscriber’s email address.
Please note: depending on which Email Marketing Service you use, this step may be optional. - The first AR email is sent automatically. In this case, it would be a welcome email with a link to access/download the Freebie.Â
The next steps as optional:
- Wait 2 days, then send another email where we introduce ourselves to the subscriber.
- Wait another 2 days, then send an email with relevant blog articles and additional information related to the topic of the Freebie.
You can then choose to stop there, to automatically enroll the subscriber to another automated sequence or add additional emails to the current sequence.
I hope this answers your question about auto responders!
