September 21, 2004 | View Comments (23) | Category: Web Mastering
Summary: Can autoresponders be used effectively on blogs?
Sometimes I tend to forget that blogs are just websites and therefore don't even think about including certain features with a blog that I may do with other sites. An example of this is an autoresponder for my contact forms.
An autoresponder is that email you get after you submit a form telling you that the person will contact you within 72 hours (or whatever). Sometimes these seem totally robotic and only serve to piss me off while other times they show a genuine caring by the webmaster. A great example of this occurred to me last week when I used the contact form on Your Total Site.
I was just writing to make a comment and didn't expect any type of reply, but instantly I received an email telling me that they would get back with me in X amount of time. Pretty cool I thought considering that the site is just a pretty blog (great content) and not a huge ecommerce or business site.
Why doesn't anyone else do this? Of course I don't use everyone's contact form so I am sure I am missing a few here and there, but in overall this was the first time I have been autoresponded by a blog. Even though it is a little thing it helped keep their site in my mind more than others that may quickly pass through one ear and out the other.
Since I mentioned earlier how some autoresponders seem eerily robotic in nature I thought I would share some thoughts on what I think would be cool to include of an autoresponder.
As you can see there are a lot possibilities to get creative with these things. I think they can be very helpful if you make them sincere and not something that is there to clog up the reader's inbox. What's your take on them? Also is there a superior software solution or do you just stick with CPanel and Outlook?
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If the blog in question is one that you comment on frequently, an autoresponder would get annoying very quickly. Maybe if you had some sort of javascript filter that sends the autoresponder only for the first time a given name/email/url leaves a message, like a "thanks for your comment, welcome to my site". Seems that it would be a lot of work for not very much payoff, though.
Coincidentally, I think this is the first comment I've left here :)
Andrew Duncalfe (http://thelimeybrit.com)
I don't tend to expect an autoresponder email from a blog because if I've sent something using the contact form, I feel that I've sent it to the person, and not some faceless corporate entity that is going to take 72 hours to reply to my query.
Sending a comment to Scrivs (for example), I have a pretty good mental picture (however inaccurate that may be) of what he's doing, because I imagine he's doing the same sort of thing as I am - pottering about on the web, working on little projects - whereas if I fire off an email to my bank or a shop, I don't know where the hell it's going to end up.
This impression is reinforced by the fact that whenever I have submitted comments via a blog 'Contact Us' form, I've received a personal reply from the blogger within 24 hours. We know we all kill time on the web and use email as an excuse to stop work for five minutes - why try and pretend you're some hyper-global-megamart who hasn't got the time to talk to your 'customers'?
Matthew Pennell (http://www.thewatchmakerproject.com/)
Well I wasn't thinking of using one on a comment form. In fact I don't even know where you guys came up with that one. I meant for them to be used with contact forms.
Scrivs (http://9rules.com/)
I would think there's gotta be a way to do an autoresponder straight off the mail script -- rather than using CPanel, Plesk, or your mail program... otherwise EVERY email sent to you would get the autoresponder by default. Sure you could just create a seperate email address that takes in the comments, and then send off the other mail address; but that seems redundant to me. I do like Andrew's idea with the 'welcome', and that might not get too annoying since after that first email and you respond, most people won't go back to the form then, they'd just reply.
Brady J. Frey (http://www.dotfive.com)
What would be usefull is notification per email at the moment someone reacts to the comment you posted.
Wim (http://pixelpret.nl)
Instead of an autoresponder, why not just set up a "thank you" page which launches on a hit of the submission button?
Wouldn't it be much easier to setup a dynamic page which generates the bullet points you mention then trying to setup a smart autoresponder that knows someone is contacting you for the first time - rather than the nth time?
I mean, really - if you are generating an autoresponse for someone who's just checking in to say "hi" or "best wishes on your first year", or someone who contacts you frequently via the form, then you've missed the point of why you installed it in the first place - a more engaging, personlized experience - right?
I find autoresponders work best when dealing with big, faceless corporations, or having the confidence in knowing my trouble ticket has been received, and perhaps even viewed by someone. I don't see them as much importance on a strict blog - where the whole thing is about communication anyway.
Mark (http://www.lightpierce.com/ltshdw)
..."If you like, feel free to keep on exploring this site. There are some informative articles on a lot of things that require a lot of information and therefore requiring the articles to be informative..."
Now I know why that "Writing for the Web" whitepaper has been delayed for so long...
*sigh*
Mark (http://www.lightpierce.com/ltshdw)
"What would be usefull is notification per email at the moment someone reacts to the comment you posted."
I think the RSS feeds for these comments are a lot easier than emails, and lighter on me checking my mail all the time.
Brady J. Frey (http://www.dotfive.com)
Sort of what I was getting at with this post.
"I don't see them as much importance on a strict blog - where the whole thing is about communication anyway."
That is exactly why they are important. Without confirmation, one party has no idea if the attempt at communication was successful.
Hell, I e-mailed Scrivs last week about something and just heard back today. I didn't even expect a response after so long. Yay for Scrivs.
Mike P. (http://www.fiftyfoureleven.com/sandbox/weblog/)
I think their are a number of good uses for auto-responses, but as with anything "trapping" or "defensive design" is often needed. For example, I think a I received your email response is good, especially if it might take you more than 1-2 days to reply to these messages. Something simple, indicating that your often swamped, so it might take 3-4 days before you send a message is nice. Tie that in with a quick referrer (capture where they came to the form from), then recommend other articles based on that.
Also, I think email sent when someone has responded to a comment, or if someone subscribes to an "article" is really great. I've seen this mostly done in forums. But I know PMachine, the makes of Expression Engine which I use as a CMS, their forums allow you to indicate if you want to be notified if other posts/comments are made. It allows me to not have to remember which topics I was interested in yesterday. That's great. My memory is shoddy.
I've also used auto-responders with email subscriptions. Sure there's the confirmation. But I use to do a newsletter called "Find of the Week". It basically highlight nonprofits doing interesting things with technology. It was pretty popular. So after the confirmation email. We'd send a "you've been successfully subscribed" with one of our prior "Find of the Week" selected randomly from a list of tagged items.
allgood2 (http://www.wide-eyed.org)
That is totally false since I emailed you last night...not today :-P
Scrivs (http://9rules.com/)
Ahh, but your last night is my... tomorrow. I'm +5 hours to you, I think...
Mike P. (http://www.fiftyfoureleven.com/sandbox/weblog/)
I like Mark's idea of a page to say thank you. It instantly confirms the message has been sent and you can put anything you like on there, including relevant articles automatically updated.
Peter 01010 (http://www.01010.org/)
what, Mark? They're stuck in a recursive infinite loop and will be there til they run out of memory or witness the heat death of the universe?
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
I think that one of two things should be used on every contact form: either an autoresponder or a "Thank You, we'll get back to you soon" page after submission.
The first one is easy to setup - create an email address for comments (something like [email protected]), set up an autoresponder, and set it up to forward to you automatically. Voila.
The other option (in use by Mike Davidson) is to use a thank you page that says something along the lines of "Thanks for sending me a message! I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. If I don't get back to you in the next few days, feel free to send me another mail as a reminder. Thanks again!"
Both work so long as a key factor is included: the message conveyed must be personalized and easygoing. If you get to wordy or technical, you'll sound like a company.
Anyway, both work. I love 'em!
Brian Rose (http://www.heimidal.net)
Yes, Timmy (JC) -
I don't know about them being trapped in a recursive infinite loop, but I think for sure that Paul is. Better call Ranger Rick for help!
Mark (http://www.lightpierce.com/ltshdw)
The problem with only a thank you page is that is says nothing of the fact that the e-mail was received and is being looked after.
It can say that it is sent, but it cannot confirm that the message is in the inbox.
The difference is important for both the user (person sending original mail = 'client') and the other user (really), that is, the person who is trying to communicate with the client (sell something, or just have a good working relationship with his/her blog readers)...
Mike P. (http://www.fiftyfoureleven.com/sandbox/weblog/)
I tend to think the consideration to use or not use an autoresponder depends on the brand you're seeking to build or have built.
Personally, I think implementing an autoresponder for Whitespace would be out of character for the site. Whitespace has built its reputation for being a place of personal and - at times - heated discussion during all hours of the day and night.
A good number of the replies are directed specifically to a person, and its understood that said individual might respond in kind in a matter of minutes, hours, or even days. Given that environment, and adding the consideration to Paul's personal tag line "busiest person on the web", I think its understood he's not sitting in front of his monitor waiting for an email - therefore, it's unecessary and comes off as contrary to the Whitespace "brand" to implement an autoresponder - a thank you page should work fine by itself.
However, for a site like BusinessLogs, I think an autoresponder is totally appropriate. This, of course, is a business where a service is being sold. So any nod of confirmation to receipt of an email is a feather in the CRM cap of the company.
Mark (http://www.lightpierce.com/ltshdw)
It's so brilliant, it should've been obvious! Your notes about including some "You may find these interesting" links within the auto-response email are on point. It's all about keeping that great flow & interaction moving along. I'd venture to say, when a user hits up a contact form they're on the way out, so why not get them right back in there? I love it!
Bill (http://www.ghettocooler.net)
Paul,
Smart intelligent autoresponders are very popular
these days, and sometimes it is quite difficult
to tell a difference from an email sent by a
person!
For example, a few days ago I signed up for a
free course at GetResponse Autoresponders
and after a few days I got a personalized,
"Dear Kaysha" email asking me whether I had any
questions.
I responded to it and only after a few minutes
I figured that it was a clever autoresponder
that made me do it.
Call me a blonde!
~ K
Kaysha (http://www.autoresponders.com)
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#1
Sure you can me creative with these things,
but I'm still not convinced autoresponders aren't
just a pain in the backside.
If I've commented on a blog, I know I've commented there and I don't need some robot stating the obvious by filling up my mailbox.
The list of creative things do seem a good thing to include on a custom 404 page by the way...
AkaXakA (http://akaxaka.gameover.com)