Lead nurturing is a process that helps organizations identify and engage prospective customers with relevant content while they are in the buying cycle.
Lead nurturing is not only about lead scoring. It is about nurturing leads and turning them into customers.
Lead nurturing is the process of engaging with potential customers until they are ready to buy from you. The process may begin with a lead score, which will indicate how likely that person is to buy your product. But this may not be enough to turn a lead into a customer, which means you need to be willing and able to engage in other ways – online and offline – in order to move the conversation onto the next stage of the buyer's journey and ultimately convert them into buyers.
Lead nurturing campaigns are typically sent to prospects at the top of the funnel, who are usually still exploring their options and gathering information about various options. These campaigns offer a variety of content, such as blog posts, research reports, or videos, that will help them make better decisions about purchasing your product or service.
It is estimated that the average person will make up to 100 decisions about a company before they decide to buy from them. And they’ll spend as much as six months doing it. This means that companies need to have a comprehensive lead nurturing strategy in place if they want to get a prospect from finding them online, through their marketing campaigns, and eventually into their sales funnel.
Lead nurturing starts with qualifying prospects and then building rapport with them over time, but it's about more than just sending emails. It’s about providing relevant content in a way that prompts engagement so prospects feel like you're talking directly to them and not just another business trying to sell them something.
Lead nurturing is a marketing technique that aims to increase the likelihood of a sale. It is an essential component of lead management, and a few businesses have mastered it.
To nurture leads effectively, you need a proper strategy. Here are 7 essential tactics:
#1 Utilize the lead and buyer’s journey
Buyer’s journey is a vital component of any marketing strategy. It helps marketers understand how customers think and shop, so they can focus their efforts on converting prospects into buyers.
The buyer’s journey is usually made up of 5 steps: Awareness, Interest, Evaluation, Trial, and Purchase.
It is important for marketers to consider the lead’s journey. In a perfect world, the customer would always be in the same stage of their journey and the lead nurturing strategy would never need to change. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and many leads will have different needs at different stages of their journey.
#2 “The Golden Touch”
Lead nurturing is an essential part of marketing. It’s the process of helping potential customers become customers. Lead nurturing does this by using a series of messages to create customer interest and guide them through the buying process.
Many marketers are looking for ways to improve their lead nurturing process and have found that adding in the Golden Touch can make a big difference. The Golden Touch involves some creativity with your messages to nurture leads through the sales funnel.
The golden touch is a strategy to nurture leads through the sales funnel with personalized messages. With this strategy, you can get prospects to feel more connected to your company and ultimately turn them into customers. This allows you to focus on the people who are most likely looking for your product or service.
The Golden Touch can be applied in many ways such as email, in-person meetings, social media, and more!
#3 Offer a demo of your product
Providing a demo of your product for lead nurturing can help prospects make informed decisions about your products.
For lead nurturing, it is important to provide potential customers with a demo of the product. A demo allows them to explore your product and see how it can help solve their problems. Demoing your product also allows the customer to ask questions and find out if it is right for them. Also, Demos demonstrates feature functionality.
Many companies are realizing the importance of a demo. A demo allows potential customers to explore your product and see how it can help solve their problems.
Demos can increase conversion rates by up to 2x. In order to create amazing, high-converting demos, Make your demo interactive so visitors can actually experience the product.
#4 Create a knowledge base or user guide on your website
The key to lead nurturing is providing your customer with the information they need to decide how you can help them. A knowledge base or user guide on your website will answer any questions they may have and provide you with the opportunity to advertise what you do best. Create a knowledge base or user guide on your website to answer customer questions and show them what you have to offer.
This will increase the trust of your potential customer and increase their willingness to contact you for more information.
*You can find a great example of a knowledge base on Help Scout's website.
#5 Create educational online videos
If you're a business owner, then you know how important it is to constantly be nurturing leads for your company. You may be struggling to find the right way to market your products/services online and leave potential customers with enough information to make a purchasing decision.
One solution for lead nurturing that has been shown to work well is educational, online videos. Videos allow viewers to get a closer look at the product and its features in a way that is more interactive than a static image or text. Create educational online videos to let leads learn more about your products/services before buying them.
Educational, online videos are a powerful way to nurture leads. They not only provide valuable information about the product and its features but also allow viewers to explore the product in a hands-on way.
#6 Email and Content Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most popular methods for lead nurturing. This is because it costs only a fraction of the cost of other marketing efforts and has a higher conversion rate when targeted to the right audience. However, for email campaigns to be successful they need to be well-planned and organized.
Send notifications when new content is published on your website or social channels, keeping people up-to-date with the latest knowledge from the industry and reminding them about your company as well as product offerings, while still giving them space for decision making and control over their time investment in your company or product offerings without feeling pressured to purchase something right away or make any decisions they might not be ready for at that moment.
#7 Social Media Marketing (SMM) Ads & Promotions: Retargeting
Retargeting, or the practice of using ads to follow potential customers around the web, is one of the most proven digital marketing tactics. This is accomplished by targeting particular browsers with ads that they have previously seen on a website.
Promotional Example:
A company that sells sports apparel can target customers who have viewed their website and clicked on "lead" items such as t-shirts and shorts in their online store.
