- June 13, 2017
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Four Tips to Make Lead Nurturing Second Nature
Implementing lead nurturing in your marketing is a bit like being a Sherpa on Mount Everest: your job is to anticipate every potential obstacle in the customer journey, and provide your prospects what they need to feel comfortable taking those next steps up the mountain. But unlike being a Sherpa who risks life and limb, there’s only an upside to lead nurturing: integrated marketers who do it well can generate 50% more sales at 1/3 of the cost, and nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases compared to those who fumbled through the funnel on their own.
Lead nurturing is easier if you’re on a marketing automation platform such as Eloqua, Pardot or Marketo, but you can still lead your customers up Conversion Mountain by looking at your data and rolling up your sleeves.
Use Your Data to Discover Your Most Worthwhile Prospects
Not all leads are equal. Assess a prospect’s overall value and readiness by looking at behaviors such as time spent on your website and browsing behavior, and social media interaction. Use what you learn about these prospects to shape your overall strategy.
Plan for 10 High-Quality Touches
That’s what it takes on average, from the time a customer enters the funnel until a sale is made. At each one of these touches, add value to the interaction: have targeted content on your website, offer your leads access to a whitepaper or info about a webinar, and keep the conversation going.
Think Outside of the Inbox
Even the best email list will limit your ability to make sales. Supplement email marketing with social media, solid Web content, and even direct sales outreach. Coordinate the efforts of your sales and marketing teams so there’s no overlap.
The Right Email at the Right Time
It’s a given that you’re not sending out emails addressing “To Whom It May Concern.” But what’s really going to boost their effectiveness is when they are triggered by a specific event—say, if your prospects download something on your site or try to access guarded content. These well-timed emails generate up to six times the revenue, compared to the blanket approach.
Keep Exploring
Good lead nurturing is equal parts high-tech and high-touch, and it requires every part of an integrated marketer’s sales and marketing department to work like a well-oiled machine. Even if you can’t put a coordinated campaign into place immediately, you can still reap rewards from well-crafted efforts.
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