Some people call them automatic responders or automatic email marketing software but essentially they are known as autoresponder or email autoresponders.
An autoresponder program or automatic responder is the software used for delivering an immediate reply in your email inbox whenever you fill up your details on a form box online to request for more information about a certain product or service, or simply submitting for an email list or a particular membership.
This automatic email marketing software simply sends out a message that has been preset by its user whenever it receives an email. There are some email autoresponders which only sends a single reply for every message it receives.
This usually happens when you sign-up for social websites like forums or online groups. If you notice, most if not all of these services uses email autoresponders to automate their tasks to build lists and track potential leads.
Those that send a series of email messages on a preset and pre-determined basis are called multiple autoresponders. They are used to send an instant reply, then a follow-up email a day later, followed by another two days later, and so on. In short, users can preset the email messages to be sent out at any intervals they require for the purpose of the message series e.g. an email course.
Hence, automatic responders are an essential part of marketing online. They are not difficult at all to use and everything will be automated once set up meaning your online business can run on its own 24/7. The success of your business online will very much depend on how effective you use them.
Some excellent autoresponders are Aweber and GetResponse. I personally have used them both and prefer Aweber autoresponders for its great interface which makes it easy to use and their excellent service while GetResponse autorespendors boasts an excellent service as well. I hope to do a in-depth review on the different services soon.