A Simple Hubspot Autoresponder Guide for Effective Email Sequences

Learn how to set up effective email sequences with HubSpot’s autoresponder in this simple guide. Automate and grow your business.

Oct 6, 2024

•

A Simple Hubspot Autoresponder Guide for Effective Email Sequences

Table of Contents

Do not index

Picture this: you’ve just finished writing a great email, the first stage of an upcoming marketing campaign. You’re feeling pretty good, but there’s one thing left to do. You must set up email automation to send it to the right people at the right time. You’re not sure how to do this, but you know that if you can figure it out, it will save you time and help your email recipients get the information they need when they need it. This scenario is common for HubSpot users and for a good reason. HubSpot Help Desk Software, along with its autoresponder, more formally known as HubSpot's email automation tool, lets you create effective automated email sequences that send targeted information to contacts based on their behaviors. Automating your email processes using HubSpot’s autoresponder can help you boost engagement and drive conversions without requiring advanced technical skills.

This article breaks down HubSpot’s autoresponder features and shows how to master them to optimize your email marketing performance easily. As a bonus, we’ll introduce you to ChatBee’s AI customer support to help you reach your goals faster.

What is an Email Autoresponder?

An autoresponder is a time-based email or message that you send out automatically after a visitor signs up for your email list. Depending on your autoresponder tool's capabilities, you can further segment your autoresponder emails based on other contact properties. Still, at its core, an autoresponder allows you to passively and automatically send pre-written messages. You can choose the number of messages that appear in an autoresponder sequence, and you can choose when they're delivered.

Some autoresponder sequences only have one follow-up message, sometimes just a “Thank you” message for subscribing to the email list. In other cases, the autoresponder can be quite robust, and deliver a series of on-boarding emails that escalate in persuasion, sometimes culminating in a sales pitch. This is typical in digital industries, where your email list is the primary sales channel to launch your products. For example, Ramit Sethi starts his autoresponder sequence with a friendly and informational email message.

Automate Customer Email Responses With HubSpot Autoresponder Emails

HubSpot email automation lets you send targeted, personalized email autoresponder messages to your contacts based on their interactions with your business. You can send a welcome email to new contacts who subscribe to your blog or niche email list. As they continue to interact with your business, you can use email automation to send them follow-up emails to help onboard them as customers.

The Complete And Definitive Guide to Writing Autoresponder Email Sequences

An autoresponder email sequence is a series of pre-written emails on a pre-defined schedule. It’sn’t rocket science; it’s just writing messages and then telling your email marketing software to send them out on specific days.

Where it differs from conventional email marketing is in its purpose and focus. While conventional emails are about telling readers about your new blog post or an upcoming sale event, autoresponder sequences seek to create a sense of “flow” between emails. But before you get into how you can make a set of flowing emails that will engage readers and keep them looking forward to more, you should know the difference between Notification and Narrative emails.

Notification

Messages that notify the reader about something and keep them informed. This can be a weekly newsletter, an update from your blog, or a reader survey. There is no real connection between the two notification emails. The email you sent last week doesn’t have to refer to the one you sent two weeks ago.

Narrative

Marketing messages that craft a broad narrative for the reader. Each email is a chapter in a story you create for your subscribers. Autoresponder sequences are narrative emails, which are great if you want to cultivate a relationship with subscribers.

They draw readers into your inner circle and captivate them with an ongoing story. They offer value. They give your reader a reason to keep an eye on their inbox for your following message. This engagement fosters the kind of relationship that turns subscribers into loyal paying customers (more on that in a minute). You’ve probably noticed most businesses use a mix of notification and narrative-focused messages in their email marketing, depending on their end goal.

Why Should You Care About Autoresponder Sequences?

They can operate on autopilot, saving you tons of time.

They send personalized messages to your different list segments, giving each segment the right offer at the right time. For example, fresh subscribers get a “beginners” email series that ends with a pitch for a cheap product, while existing customers get more sales emails that pitch a higher-ticket product.

Their narrative focus nurtures leads and builds a powerful and profitable relationship between you and your subscribers over time.

Considering that email marketing typically turns every $1 into $44.25. businesses that use email to nurture leads (like autoresponders) generate 50% more ready-to-buy leads at a fraction of the cost. Autoresponder sequences are a no-brainer.

How Do Autoresponders Work?

You’ve created a great freebie, such as an eBook, to attract leads. Once they give you their information, your magical journey begins. There are two ways to go from here:

After you capture a lead

You can start manually sending your autoresponder emails on a set schedule or automating your email sequence, as smart marketers do.

You can do what you want, but it's all about working smarter, not harder.

Your autoresponder will convert your leads into loyal customers without you having to lift a finger.

Here’s How it Works

A user performs a specific action, like opting for a free eBook.The user’s email address gets added to an email segment or a list of subscribers who took the same action. The user then automatically receives your emails on a predetermined schedule explicitly created for that segment. Your messages are personalized, specific, and targeted instead of generic and cold. This is how you maximize open rates and conversions.

Here’s Another Option

With automation software, you can also determine what user actions will trigger your autoresponder sequence. These are called ‘autoresponder rules’.

Autoresponder-Sequence: These rules can be customized to ensure you send the right message to the right person at the right time.

For example, your rule might be that anyone downloading a free eBook receives a series of emails. You can override this rule for subscribers already on my list or have purchased a product from you. This way, you don’t look like a jackwagon who tries to get existing subscribers to opt in for the same thing twice. Since this entire process, from opting in to email delivery, can be automated with the latest technology, you’ll have more time to focus on driving traffic and improving conversions.

Writing Effective Autoresponder Emails

Depending on your experience and skill set, the writing process can be the most tedious and frustrating part of email marketing. Put this section together to point you in the right direction and make the writing process easier. You don’t have to write David Ogilvy-level copy, but it does help to follow some rules like:

1. Give Before You Ask

This is the golden rule of writing autoresponder sequences and all marketing: Give value before you ask for a favor. Anybody visiting your site doesn’t owe you anything. They won’t give you their email addresses without a reason, and they definitely won’t tell you their budget, phone number, company position, or address without a substantial bribe.

This bribe can be a free eBook, in-depth email, sales page template, etc. When you share such bribes with your readers, they feel compelled to give back by acting, like clicking on a link, “liking” you on Facebook, buying a cheap eBook, whatever.

Remember: The bigger favor you plan on asking, the more value you should throw at your subscribers. Keep this nugget of wisdom in the back of your mind when you craft your emails: If you want readers to take big action, be prepared to deliver big value.

2. First impressions matter

Your first email to a fresh subscriber will set the tone of your relationship. If you want to ensure your subsequent emails actually get opened, make a big impact by giving subscribers huge value without asking for much in return in this first email.

For example, when you subscribe to the AppSumo blog, the first email you get is an incredibly valuable breakdown of how Noah Kagan built AppSumo for $50. It ties in perfectly with the theme of the email, how to turn wantrepreneurs into entrepreneurs. Noah could do it for a paltry $50, and he will show you exactly how he did it, which isn’t something you easily ignore or forget.

Creating Engaging Email Sequences to Build Subscriber Loyalty

Subscribers need to know instantly that your emails are worth reading. They’ll start looking for you in their inbox. Another way to start your sequence is by delivering your lead magnet and offering a friendly welcome.

For example, maybe you’re a health and fitness coach who has attracted some fresh leads with a sample weekly meal plan you put together. Your first email thanks readers for signing up and quickly reminds them how much more awesome their lives will be now that they have this valuable resource. Give the download link to your meal plan (or your lead magnet).

Building Anticipation in Your Email Sequence for Higher Engagement

Tell your subscribers that over the next few days/weeks, you’ll be sending them even more free tips to improve their lives and kick-start their health and fitness goals. Bullet out how these educational tips, real-life success stories, etc., will further benefit your subscribers. This will have your subscribers chomping at the bit for your next email and drive those open rates.

Some ideas of what content to include in your emails later in the post, but the point is to start strong by injecting value into your reader’s inbox with no strings attached. Later in the sequence, you can ask subscribers to contact me for a free consultation, visit my blog, or take action on my end goal.

3. Add some personality

Unless your autoresponder is being shipped to a group of robots, don’t write boring copy. Be real, be human, and show some personality in your emails. You need to crack jokes and go overboard, but your readers will sniff it out if you’re trying too hard to be quirky and funny.

What you need is that your emails don’t have to be the same old, cut-and-dry copy. Give your readers something they’ll have some fun reading, and you’ll get results. To write better autoresponders, try punching up your copy with these tactics:

Storytelling

Storytelling is the oldest trick in the copywriter’s book. That’s because it works. Storytelling isn’t so much about telling a story as about withholding information.

Keep your readers hooked on your line by revealing the story piece by tiny piece, slowly reeling them in with more irresistible little gold nuggets. That’s how you ensure your readers stick around until the end instead of hitting “unsubscribe” halfway through. For example, look at this email from OKDork’s Email1k course. Noah starts talking about babysitting his nephew and how it taught him about business.

okdork-2

This email could’ve quickly turned into another lame “4 business tips you should try right now!” you see floating around the Interwebs daily. But instead, Noah crafts this email into a personal and engaging story. Try using this fun little move in your next email:

Tell your readers that you’ll reveal something right at the very beginning. Offer some hints as to what that something might be. But don’t reveal it until the very end. In between, tell the readers how you discovered that something.

Remember: You don’t need to tell readers your life story. Again, think of things in bits and pieces. The same goes for your storytelling. Give people a glimpse into your life, and focus on a little sliver of my experience. Add a personal touch. Do you like to feel like you’re talking to a bot every time you open an email? Yeah, neither do your readers.

People Crave Authenticity

They want to hear that you’re a human, just like they are. You sometimes get clarity about your business while standing in line at Chipotle, and you fear public restrooms, too. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just show them you’re a person, not just another seller filling their inbox with offers.

Ramit Sethi's email provides a great example. He starts by talking about his encounter with bidets in Japan. It’s weird, funny, and maybe a tad inappropriate, but it makes the email much more fun to read. Shed some light on my humanity. Your readers will thank you for it.

Be Concise

The quickest way to kill any good vibes you’re building with your personality is to write emails like college essays. When you write an email, forget everything you learned in English Comp. Don’t try to sound fancy. Stick to short, sweet sentences. Simple language that’s easy to skim-read.

Remember: You want your readers to be as easily open and read as possible. Don’t slow them down with big words and long paragraphs. Cut all the fluff. Try to use the fewest words possible with maximum impact.

Aim for a grade 5 level on the Flesch-Kincaid reading ease scale. You can use this website to check your reading level scores. Write for the medium. An email is not a whitepaper or a press release. You aren’t writing for a generic audience. This email lands in an inbox between personal messages from a mom and a best friend. Email is a very intimate medium. And your writing needs to reflect this.

Here are a Few Tips

Use Hi, Hey, Greetings from [place name]!

[Recipient First Name] at the beginning of the email – just as a friend would.

Avoid formal greetings like the plague, like Dear, Sir/Madam, etc..

Use short sentences.

Keep plenty of space between paragraphs.

Make your email easy to skim read.

Address the reader directly with ‘you’.

Make them feel that you’re sending a personal email to them alone.

Write in a natural, conversational tone.

Use active voice (“I launched the product”) over passive voice (“the product was launched by me”).

Close with a friendly greeting such as "Talk Soon," "Take Care," or "Thanks!" Avoid formal closes like "Sincerely," "Yours Truly," "Regards," etc.

Use Power Words

Words that compel action or create an emotional state in the reader. Here’s a great list of power words to get you started. Now that we’ve covered how to write emails your readers will enjoy, let’s discuss how to focus your emails.

4. Write With a Purpose

Every email must have a Purpose. Before you throw down a single word, make sure I’ve clearly clarified why I’m writing this email. Ask yourself, “What is the exact purpose of this email?” Then, grab a pen and paper and write down the answer. It might be “Drive Traffic to Blog Post,” “Increase Facebook Likes,” etc. Tailor it to whatever my business’s end goals are and be specific.

Keep that piece of paper with my purpose close by while I write the email so it’s constantly on my mind. This purpose will also come in handy when I’m ready to call my readers to action. In my call to action (CTA), I’ll want to tell readers to visit my blog post, like my Facebook page, or whatever my end goal is.

5. Create Emails That Can Be Reused

Want to know how top marketers can write hundreds of emails for dozens of segments? They don’t try to reinvent the wheel every time they send an email. They write evergreen emails that never expire and can be reused with different subscriber segments.

For example, let’s say you have two lists, one of long-time customers who occasionally read my blog and another of fresh subscribers who’ve just downloaded their first free eBook from my site. Let’s say you want to send an email about Marketing Hacks.

Here’s how I can fine-tune it to fit both lists easily:

You can remove more advanced parts from the email and send it to new subscribers, labeling it Marketing Hacks for Beginners.

You can focus on marketing hacks that utilize my products and send them to existing customers, labeling them Marketing Hacks for Making the Most Out of [X Product].

You’ll have a whole library of “evergreen” content you can pull from and tweak to send to different subscriber segments whenever necessary. If you don’t have this yet, go online and start researching content that never gets old to your niche market. Buckle down and make myself write a couple of these evergreen emails now and then. You’ll be glad you did.

6. Use Open Loops

Open YouTube and look up your favorite monster movie trailer (Godzilla). Take note of how the trailer teases by showing glimpses of the beast and promising that something big, scary, and shocking is waiting for you. By the end of the trailer, there’s so much anticipation to see the monster that you’ll want to watch the movie even if you think it will bomb.

This storytelling technique is called an ‘open loop’ or ‘tension loop.’ Movies and television use it all the freaking time because it works.

Open Loop Starts

By revealing some gigantic promise or crazy thing (like how I made a million dollars) that instantly grabs people’s attention. But open loops don’t just give you the whole shebang of how it happens right then and there. Once they get your undivided attention upfront, they create anticipation by holding off on the rest of the story until later. You’ve got to stick around and see what happens, so you keep watching/reading.

If you use open loops correctly, autoresponders work the same way, creating anticipation and engaging readers in your narrative like:

Write an email telling readers you’ll reveal something big (like “How I sold 978 fiction eBooks per day in 2014”).

Craft a story about how I came across this big revelation (use storytelling).

Tell readers that you’ll unveil my process the next day at a specific time (keeping readers on the edge of their seats as they watch their inbox for my next message)

An open loop, like with this example, works for three reasons:

It pre-qualifies readers: If you promise to reveal something big in your next email, readers who open this message have already shown active interest in my offer. Since these readers are pre-qualified, they’ll convert at a much better rate.

It generates anticipation: As great as your emails might be, your readers are not motivated to wait for my next email in their inbox. By promising to reveal a secret then holding it off for the next email, you generate anticipation and get higher open rates.

It ties emails together: One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is creating autoresponder emails in isolation. Since one email doesn’t tie into the next, it doesn’t engage readers in my narrative. By using open loops, you’ll ensure that your emails flow into one another.

Your ‘big reveal’ should also be big enough to hold the reader’s interest. But don’t overdo it. Tease your readers too much, and they’ll hit “unsubscribe.”

7. Offer Proof

This last rule for writing autoresponders that convert is critical, especially when writing to hot leads who have just subscribed. Proofing the new concepts you are introducing to your readers will automatically beef up the content of my emails.

Even better, offering proof nudges readers further down my sales funnel, making it easier to convert them into paying customers.

Here’s How:

Let’s return to the know, like, and trust rule of marketing. It’s a fairly safe bet that if your subscribers know and like you, they’ll open your emails and read most of them. But, when it comes to getting readers to take the next step and hand me their credit card.

Trust is Key.

And as it turns out, proof builds trust fast. For example, let’s say you’re an author, and your ultimate goal is getting people to sign up for coaching on how to write eBooks. Before people will be willing to pay you to coach them, they need to know you have a clue what your talking about.

You can use an open loop, as you discussed in Rule #6, to tell the story of how you “sold 978 fiction eBooks per day in 2014.” This tells readers, “you really did this and so can you. Now let me show you how by working with me.” You don’t have just to tell them this. You can also show screenshots of my earnings to prove my expertise and success further.

There’s no need to make myself into a pompous jackass. That’s just going to make me lose readers. But the idea is to set myself up as an authority in my niche with real-world experience so people will trust me enough to opt in.

Proof

Is also really important when selling physical products. Let’s say your end goal is to have readers buy a bag of organic green tea. You need to:

Prove what sets me apart from the sea of competition.

Prove the benefits of my product.

You can do this by incorporating testimonials into your email, using case studies that prove some of green tea's specific health benefits, or doing whatever works. There are a ton of ways you can show proof. Just ensure you sprinkle it into your autoresponders somehow, especially if you're writing to fresh subscribers who haven’t given you their trust yet.

Here’s a quick list of ways to show trust-building proof in my emails:

Use snippets of case studies and clinical trials

Incorporate brief testimonials

Show before and after photos (especially for health products)

Tell your own story of how I went from point A to point B in X amount of time

Show screenshots of earnings, etc.

Try using one or more of these in your next autoresponder and watch your conversions skyrocket. But good writing makes an autoresponder work its magic on your readers. You’ve got to get my timing right. That’s where it comes in handy to know:

How to Structure Your Autoresponder Sequences

The order in which you send your emails will affect their outcome. Send a promotional email too early in the campaign, and you might lose your subscribers. Hold off for too long, and your red-hot leads might go cold. Depending on your subscribers and business goals, you can try out different sequences, testing your emails in various arrival orders. Here’s one sequence you can try:

Marketing oriented

This is one of the most widely used sequences, particularly among internet marketers. The idea is simple. Establish trust by offering lots of valuable content, dropping in a promo, and returning to useful content.

This is Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook action. It works because it balances commercial and non-commercial content. Your subscribers are likelier to trust a promo email if I’ve already primed them with rock-solid content.

Relationship oriented

If you’re a blogger, author, consultant, or coach who wants to establish a long-term relationship with your subscriber, this is the sequence for you. Instead of sending a promo email occasionally, a relationship-focused sequence involves sending over subscribers to a blog or any other asset I own where I can pitch my products. Use this sequence if you’re in for the long-haul and value relationships over sales and commissions.

Sales oriented

You have a segment that’s itching to buy. For these eager subscribers, a “brute force” sequence that pushes promo after promo can work, at least in the short term. You don’t recommend this for most people. If you must use it, be prepared to wave any long-term relationship with the segment goodbye.

Ticket Deflection

Reduce Support Tickets

Automate Support

Scaling Customer Support

Ticket Analysis

Ticket Queue Management

Why Do Businesses Need Autoresponders?

Autoresponders Save Busy Entrepreneurs Time

Autoresponders ease the workload of busy entrepreneurs, B2B marketers, and anyone wanting to nurture their leads. When someone takes the time to engage with your business, you don’t want to leave them hanging.

A well-synced, relevant autoresponder series ensures your audience doesn’t forget you, even when you don’t have time to message them. You can still build a great relationship with your audience and keep them hooked.

Autoresponders Help Nurture Leads

A well-planned autoresponder series would qualify leads and move them further into the buyer’s journey. When someone engages with your business, they are looking for answers. Autoresponder emails can address their questions immediately, helping to settle any immediate concerns. Your emails go out, and they can gradually introduce the reader to your business and explain how it can help solve their problems.

Autoresponders Improve Your Conversion Rates

Companies that nurture leads generate 50 percent more sales-ready leads, thus boosting conversions. Autoresponder emails help you do just that by sending automated, targeted emails to your leads that both engage and educate.

As the name suggests, these emails automatically respond to a user’s action on your website so you can start the conversation right away. The best part? They also help you organize so you can focus on other business tasks while the autoresponders do the work for you.

Autoresponders Filter the Right Audience

Autoresponders using double opt-in techniques and inline surveys can help you instantly filter your audience, minimizing the chances of knocking at the wrong door. For example, when someone subscribes to your emails, you can send them a warm-up autoresponder to introduce your business and its goals.

You can use the second email to survey them to learn more about their preferences and interests. This will help you segment your audience to send them the right information, products, or services to improve their experience and boost conversions.

Autoresponders Boost Your Overall Email Deliverability

Autoresponders allow you to strike up a conversation. Two-way conversations improve your email reputation score, tell email client algorithms that you’re important to the recipient, and thus, ensure you won’t end up in the spam folder.

Optimize Internal Operations with ChatBees' AI

ChatBees optimizes RAG with our AI customer support software for internal operations like customer support, employee support, etc. It provides the most accurate response and easily integrates into workflows in a low-code, no-code manner.

AI-Powered Optimization for Improved Accuracy and Efficiency

ChatBees' agentic framework automatically chooses the best strategy to improve the quality of responses for these use cases. This improves predictability and accuracy, enabling these operations teams to handle more queries. No DevOps is required to deploy and maintain the service.

Try our AI customer support software today to 10x your customer support operations. Get started for free; no credit card is required. Sign in with Google and start your journey with us today!

Hubspot Help Desk

Service Hub Hubspot

Hubspot Ticketing System

Ticketing Tools

Hubspot Operations Hub

Hubspot Notion Integration

Hubspot Tickets

Call Center Ticketing System

Best Ticketing Apps

Key Features of a Great Autoresponder Software

Mastering Your Email List with HubSpot Autoresponder Software

Email list management is critical for creating and maintaining a clean contact list. As you add contact information through site conversions, trade events sign-ups, and third-party lists, you want to ensure no contact duplication. That information is input in a way that it’s actionable. HubSpot’s autoresponder tool helps you manage your contacts with easy-to-use checks for this.

Market and Customer Segmentation for Personalization

Market and customer segmentation are critical autoresponder capabilities that automate and empower more personalized communications. Segmentation depends on clean, detailed data inputs so your autoresponder system, essentially an algorithm, can act on those inputs and automate personalization. These capabilities should make tag and classify leads and customize messaging for them easy.

Send Optimization

Send optimization tracks and aggregate open rates based on known information to optimize when leads on your email list are most likely to open an email. For example, say you want to test a weekly email newsletter to see if you can generate subscribers and drive clicks from the newsletter.

You could spend all your time writing, designing, and testing different ways to end the email newsletter. But if you don’t use software to optimize when you send it individually, you’re missing opportunities for opens and click-throughs.

How to Create an Email Sequence Using Hubspot Autoresponder

HubSpot offers one of the most powerful autoresponder capabilities on the market. If you're using other tools in HubSpot's Marketing Hub, such as our form builder and popup forms, you can easily set up auto-response emails upon form submission.

At a high level, there are two ways to send an email response to contacts who submit a form on your page:

Set up a follow-up email in the form options on your HubSpot page

Send an automated email through a workflow (Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise only)

Optimizing Follow-Up Emails With HubSpot Workflows for Personalized Engagement

For the former option, it's quite simple to set up. You simply set up a follow-up email to be delivered upon form submission (full instructions here). You can get quite robust with your targeting and follow-up email assignment through HubSpot's workflows. You can break things down by contact property data we've collected, like company size or which service the subscriber is interested in.

This allows you to tailor your follow-up emails to ensure they're more helpful and personalized for the user. You can set a sequence of several autoresponder emails and include behaviorally triggered messages- the options are endless. If you're using HubSpot's form builder, you can still easily integrate with another autoresponder solution in this list to get a simple setup working.

Create Automated Emails to Use in Workflows

To send a marketing email through a workflow, you must create and save the email for automation. You can create automated emails using either the marketing email tool or from within the workflow tool.

Create Automated Emails in the Email Editor

To create an automated email using the email tool:

In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Marketing Email.

In the upper right, click Create email.

In the dialog box, select Automated.

Email-type-automated Select a template.

In the dialog box, enter an Email name and click Create email.

Note: if you insert deal or ticket personalization tokens, the email can only be used in deal or ticket workflows, respectively. Contact and company personalization tokens can be used in any workflow type.

After composing and setting up the email, click the Sending tab. If you want to exclude low-engagement contacts, click the Don't send to unengaged contacts checkbox. If you have a Marketing Hub Enterprise account, HubSpot applies a send frequency cap by default to help prevent you from overloading a contact's inbox.

To disable this setting:

Unselect the Apply send frequency cap checkbox.

Click Review and Publish to publish the automated email in the upper right Automated-email-sending-tab-updated

Once the automated email is published, it will be available for selection in the Send email action in workflows.

Create Automated Emails in the Workflow Editor

You can create a simple automated email from within the workflow editor itself. Emails created in the workflow tool will have a basic appearance but can be customized further in the email editor. To create an automated email in the workflow tool:

In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation> Workflows.

Click the name of an existing workflow or create a new workflow.

Click the plus icon + to add a workflow action in the workflow editor.

In the right panel, select the Send email action.

Send-email-action Click + Create a new email.

Create-automated-email-workflows In the right panel, enter the details of your email.

To customize the email further, click the email tool link at the panel's top. After composing your email, click Save Email at the bottom of the right panel to save it. After saving your email, you can select it for use in any workflow. You can also access it from your email dashboard for further editing.

Note: if you edit your automated email after publication, any changes to the graymail suppression setting will not be applied.

Check the Authentication Status of Published Automated Emails

If you created automated emails that weren't configured to use a connected email-sending domain, HubSpot will automatically modify the email address to use a HubSpot-managed domain (e.g., hs-domain.com). To check whether any of your automated emails require authentication:

In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Marketing Email.

In the top right, click Email tools, then click Check automated email sending domain status.

Check-automated-email-authentication-status

Any unauthenticated automated emails will be listed in a table for review.

To fix the issue for a specific email, click Connect domain next to the email or click Change address to switch to an existing connected email sending domain.

13 Hubspot Autoresponder Alternatives for Your Small Business

1. ChatBees

ChatBees optimizes retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for internal operations with its AI customer support software. It enhances various support functions, including:

Customer support: Delivers highly accurate responses and integrates seamlessly into existing workflows.

Employee support: Facilitates quick access to information and resources with minimal setup.

Key features include:

Low-code/no-code integration for easy deployment.

An agentic framework that automatically selects the best strategy to improve response quality.

Improved accuracy and predictability, enabling teams to handle more queries.

No DevOps is required for deployment and maintenance.

Try our AI customer support software today to 10x your customer support operations. Get started for free. No credit card is required. Sign in with Google and get started on your journey with us today!

2. Zoho Campaigns: A Feature-Rich Autoresponder Tool

Zoho Campaigns provides a robust feature set, including autoresponder capabilities. It checks all the boxes for:

Autoresponder

Segmentation

List management

And more features

With features such as email editing and detailed reporting, Zoho Campaigns is a suitable email marketing option for businesses of any size. In terms of pricing, Zoho Campaigns provides three pricing options as well as a free plan. The free plan allows you to support 2,000 subscribers with up to 12,000 total monthly emails.

3. Mailchimp: One Of The Easiest Autoresponder Tools to Use

Mailchimp is straightforward to use for email marketers of all types. It provides all the functionality you need to manage your list, segment it, and optimize send times. In addition, the platform shines with its reporting and contact management capabilities.

4. Benchmark Email: A Simple Autoresponder Tool for Beginners

Benchmark Email is a great option for email marketers new to the game and lacking in design experience. The platform includes autoresponder capabilities for paid plans and a robust email editing tool to ensure you create the best emails possible.

Benchmark also provides list management, but it doesn’t support segmentation, so you’ll have a hard time delivering on the personalization needs that are core to email marketing best practices.

5. SendPulse: An Easy To Use Autoresponder With Multichannel Capabilities

SendPulse supports advanced email marketing capabilities within its multichannel marketing automation system. The platform allows novice and experienced marketers to create hyper-personalized marketing campaigns. SendPulse provides a dynamic user interface that changes the campaign-building process depending on user experience.

Email send optimization is one critical capability that needs to be added to SendPulse. You can send immediately or set a time, but there’s no support for optimizing send times based on user open behaviors.

6. MailerLite: A Simple Autoresponder Tool with Great Support

MailerLite offers an easy-to-use solution with an intuitive user interface for novice email marketers to get up to speed quickly. It satisfies all your needs for autoresponder, segmentation, and general email list management. The platform's guided, explanatory approach accelerates user capabilities to quickly get the most out of the system.

7. GetResponse: An Email Autoresponder Tool With Ecommerce Features

GetResponse matches everything you need in email marketing software with advanced e-commerce capabilities. It’s packaged in a platform suitable for all user experience levels and business sizes.

GetResponse empowers users to hone in on nurture marketing to move contacts down the funnel toward a purchase. Expect everything you need with autoresponder triggers, segmentation and personalizations, and list management.

8. Mailigen: A Straightforward Autoresponder to Help You Save Time

Mailigen is a straightforward email marketing service that provides everything you need. Its advanced autoresponder capabilities save you time by automating a templated series of emails you only need to edit and add branding. Mailigen also features all the capabilities you need for segmented personalizations and list management. It does lack the ability to optimize sends based on recipient behaviors.

9. Brevo: An All-In-One Autoresponder Tool For Email, SMS, And More

If you’re looking for an all-in-one tool that helps you automate SMS (pre-paid pricing), live chat, and email marketing, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is the best choice. All three communication methods are included in every package (even the free plan). This sets them apart from every other provider on this list and is a clear choice for most users looking to get started with an email autoresponder.

10. Campaign Monitor: A Versatile Autoresponder Tool For All Levels

Campaign Monitor offers an email marketing platform suitable for all marketers. It supports novice marketers with no campaign creation experience and experienced marketers looking to customize and complicate campaigns. Campaign Monitor’s wide range of features meets all your needs, with the autoresponder especially shining through.

11. Moosend: A Scalable Autoresponder Tool For Growing Businesses

If you’re a fast-growing business looking for an email autoresponder that scales alongside your business, Moosend is a perfect choice. It’s incredibly affordable for small businesses and has useful marketing automation features. From drag-and-drop email design to split A/B testing, Moosend offers everything you need to connect with and nurture your audience on a personal level from the moment they join your mailing list.

12. Omnisend: The Best Autoresponder For Ecommerce Stores

Omnisend specializes in ecommerce marketing automation, making it the best solution for online stores of all sizes. The platform is tailor-made to help ecommerce businesses make more sales without adding more to their plate. According to their homepage, their automations produces 335% higher conversions than traditional email marketing campaigns.

13. VerticalResponse: A Great Free Autoresponder For Nonprofits

VerticalResponse is an excellent choice if you’re a nonprofit organization looking to connect with new visitors. They offer a robust free plan (specifically for nonprofits) and a 15% discount for NPOs that use their platform. The specialized free plan includes 10,000 emails per month, with the 15% discount going to high-volume senders who need unlimited emails every month.

Ticketing Management System

Helpdesk Integrations

Ticket Management Tools

Most Popular Ticketing Systems

Smart Ticketing System

Ticketing Automation

Hubspot Ticket Automation

Helpdesk Integrations

Best Help Desk Tools

Automated Ticket Routing

How to Choose the Best Autoresponder System

Choose Marketing Automation Software for Your Business Before You Look At Autoresponder Systems.

Before selecting an autoresponder system, exploring your options within marketing automation software is crucial. Autoresponders are a feature of automation software, and starting your search here will uncover more robust options for your business.

Look for a Wide Range of Triggers

Check out the available email triggers. A trigger in email marketing is an event or action that causes an automated email to be sent. Here are some of the most popular triggers growing businesses typically use:

Page visit

Cart abandonment

Newsletter signup

Account creation

Webinar Registration

Inactivity past a certain amount of time

Milestones such as a certain number of orders or amount of money spent

Make sure you have access to as many of these triggers as possible. Even if you don’t need them all now, they may come in handy as your business keeps growing. If/Then Logic, or Conditional Logic, is a Game Changer. The best email autoresponders have a visual automation builder, with “branches” representing different outcomes. This is the easiest way to set up automated emails without technical skills.

User-Friendly Automation Builder

A quick and easy way of setting up your autoresponders can make all the difference between providers. It offers a drag-and-drop editor to create automation workflows. You'd see how the sequence looks and be able to adjust the steps and outcomes as needed easily.

Another critical factor is templates. Does your automation software offer workflow templates? Most of the workflows you’ll be using can be easily templated. Then, just tweak for the specific campaign and hit Start.

Deliverability

What good are complex automation workflows when the emails don’t reach recipients? Email deliverability is the rate at which emails make it to inboxes. Although your sender reputation heavily affects deliverability rates, the authority of your automation platform also plays an important role here.

Before choosing an autoresponder, ensure the platform complies with all the data privacy regulations relevant to your business and is highly credible in the industry.

Integration With the Rest of Your Toolbox

The best email autoresponders are part of a larger marketing toolkit that seamlessly lets you run multichannel campaigns. You need to grow your email list with consenting contacts, store them, and track activities on your website.

You also need an automated workflow editor to plan the triggers, conditions, and email (or email series) to send. That’s why, alongside autoresponders, your automation software should include a proper tracking and reporting system, CRM integration, A/B testing capabilities, subscription forms, and a template editor for building a strong email marketing strategy.

Use ChatBees’ AI Customer Support Software to 10x Customer Support Operations.

ChatBees optimizes RAG with our AI customer support software for internal operations like customer support, employee support, etc.. It provides the most accurate response and easily integrates into workflows in a low-code, no-code manner.

Try our AI customer support software today to 10x your customer support operations. Get started for free. No credit card is required. Sign in with Google and start your journey with us today!