For many online marketers, the holy grail is to turn every single lead into a committed long-term buyer.  However, that is extremely difficult and a large portion of those reached through marketing will not make a purchase.  On the other hand, there are techniques to improve the odds and reduce the friction and expense of marketing.  Email automation is one tactic that has proven extremely effective.

Auto-Responders

This tactic is very common for anyone that registers as a lead on your site.  As soon as they put their contact information into the form, they receive an email confirmation.  That may include offers for discounts, events or simply to welcome them into the community.  Those emails could also automatically be resent each week or every two weeks.

RSS to Email

This technology is a way to deliver content from your website (usually a blog) directly to your community via email every time you post.  You can create interesting, timely, valuable content on your site and alert your prospect list at the exact same time.  This keeps the leads interested and bought into your platform.

Bi-Weekly Emails

You may also created a regular email that is some combination of content, special offers and news about the company.  These should be delivered on a regular basis so that your community knows to expect them.  Additionally, they should have calls to action with links to Checkout pages to make the purchasing process as easy as possible.