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Lead NurturingHave you ever found yourself frustrated because a client or prospect would benefit greatly from your product/service but they just don’t quite know enough about it to realise that YET? Yep, me too. With lead nurturing you never have to worry about a lead not being fully qualified again, or worry about sales lead conversion rates.

Sales Accelerant.

Did you know…

  • 2% of sales are made on first contact
  • 3% of sales are made on the second contact
  • 5% of sales are made on the third contact
  • 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
  • 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

Source: National Sales Executive Association

The route to successful lead generation.

Setting up a long term lead nurturing strategy and effective plan can be quite daunting. This whitepaper has got the push that you need. We’ll be covering lots of neat tips and tricks and some vital statistics, as well as how to set up your lead nurturing plan.

Lead nurturing is a critical way to keep prospects engaged and moving down the path towards a purchase. You may be new to the practice and want some help to get the ball rolling, or looking for more insights and tips to refine your current approach. Effective lead nurturing is done through a structured, building block approach. Begin at a practical level and then add more advanced layers driven and influenced by the results achieved as you go along.

Content Marketing.

What is your Aim?

ROIEach lead nurturing campaign will need a clear outcome which you’re working towards. Maybe you want to increase the number of sales qualified and sales ready leads. Or maybe improve conversion rates.

Despite having the ability to contact 92 percent of leads, Forbes’ research shows that brands touch base with only a quarter of them.

Need more leads? Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects see a 451 percent increase in the number of qualified leads. (The Annuitas Group)

Or maybe you just want to reach them faster.

Research shows that 35-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. (Source: InsideSales.com)

When they do reach out, often it’s too slowly. Forbes reports that 71 percent of generated leads spoil because companies don’t react soon enough.

In the end whatever your aim, you will be looking to increase the sales generated in some aspect of your business. So how are you going to make that happen? Consider what exactly makes a lead sales-ready in regard to this aspect. How can you ensure that these conditions are met?

Once you understand precisely what your lead nurturing plan is aiming to do (the KPIs), you can measure your success accurately.

Target audience profiles.

Develop a buyer persona

What kind of people tend to be interested in your product or service? Marketing Directors? CEOs? Remember distinguishing your audience doesn’t necessarily mean your wares/services are niche, only defined and targeted. Once you have recognised what kind of people your business should appeal most to, try to build profile definitions based upon real people who your products/services are well suited to.

Different Types of PeopleA great way to do this is by conducting interviews, 20-30 volunteers will suffice. Use these interviews to better your understanding of your audience. What are your audience’s interests, challenges and necessities? What kind of social media do they use? Is there any content which they have particularly enjoyed or would like to see during a lead nurturing campaign?

You can use this data to build your buyer personas. Really try to flesh out your personas so that they are believable. Imagine you are creating a film character. You need a name, job title, their industry, income and demographic info. The deeper the characters you create, the more this will benefit your business in the long run.

Once you have access to this level of information on your audience, writing lead nurturing content becomes much easier. Just think, “What would CIO Mark think of this?” Connecting with your audience is incredibly beneficial. If you get sent an email which feels like it’s been written just for you it will stimulate your interest, and you won’t be able to help but read on.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s likely there are several groups of people who will benefit from your business. Therefore you’ll need several buyer personas to get the most from your research.

‘Roughly three of every four of your customers want different pieces of content as they move through the sales cycle.’ (Source: SalesForce)

Content marketing planning. 

Create & Provide valuable content

You have your aim, you know your target market & what makes them sales ready. Now we just fill in the gaps. Even after having a conversation and a prospect showing a keen interest in your product or service, this doesn’t make a lead sales-ready. Patience is a marketer’s virtue.

Today people need to be more convinced than they ever have, before even filling out a form let alone making a transaction.

Gleanster reported that between 30 and 50 percent of the leads that enter a pipeline are better for future opportunities than current ones. Lead nurturing can really make all the difference.

In B2B you are rarely going to get any impulse buys, you have to nurture through your sales funnel to make prospects sales-ready. Therefore choosing what kind of content is very important, but you have the data to make it happen. Remember to consider which format appeals most to your audience e.g. whitepapers, video, blogs, webinars or other.

When you’re looking to inform your lead nurturing audience don’t be afraid to use old content, as long as it was successful and is still relevant today there’s a high chance your current leads will also find it useful. Just as importantly, let your prospects know how valuable this content is going to be. Headlines and subject lines are your friends. Use them to create urgency and excitement. If people don’t even open your emails, missing the valuable things you have to offer them, then it’s nobody’s fault but your own!

Timely communications.

Time Management

Time Keeping & WatchingScheduling your lead nurturing plan will make things easier to manage for yourself as well as ensuring that you don’t alienate leads. Whilst it’s understandable that you would want to inform your leads as soon and as frequently as possible, the last thing you want is for your content or newsletters to be labelled spam and/or to have prospects opt out.

Keep in mind that while your business is valuable to your leads, everyone has a lot on their plate. Even the most keen of prospects isn’t going to be able to make time for reading through your emails, then moving on to attached content every two or three days. Give your leads as much time as they need. But not so long that they forget who you are. Well spaced lead nurturing communications can make the difference between engaging and not enraging prospects.

Generally an email a month works fine but try to squeeze in some spontaneous emails if you can to draw people’s attention as they scan their inbox. Experimenting with your schedule can be really beneficial so don’t be afraid to catch people off guard every once in a while.

If you’re still unsure about how you are going to go about your nurturing schedule consider your sales cycle, your lead nurturing plan should adhere to this somewhat.

Measuring return on investment. 

Measure & Amend

Now that you have your lead nurturing plan has been thrashed out, there’s only one thing left. Making it happen. Well almost. Lead nurturing plans are a long term investment and tweaking your campaigns over time can go a long way. Compare success during your campaign and look to find out what is working, what isn’t and why. Always keep your initial goal in mind, strive for the best lead nurturing campaign you can and you will see a phenomenal return.

Lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times the response rate compared to standalone email blasts. (Source: SilverPop/DemandGen Report)

Email marketing ideas.

Example Lead Nurturing Email Approaches:

Lead Nurturing Man with Envelope in HandSo now that you are ready to proceed with your lead nurturing campaign, you may be wondering what kind of emails you’d like to start with. Sales Accelerant have listed the typical approaches to emails often found in a lead nurturing campaign so that you can find what will work best for your leads and your business.

Something to keep in mind, regardless of any email you send ALWAYS include a Call to Action (CTA). This is so vital and yet you see so many businesses, well, throwing away business. Don’t give your leads an excuse to take a look, or even buy later. Give them a great BIG button to press. Everybody loves pressing buttons.

Sales education. 

Educational

Giving value to your leads is always a good way to start. You are showing that you care about your customer base, you aren’t trying to rush them into a sale and that you’re a thoughtful expert in your field.

A great example for an opening email, would be something like….Inform your audience of the latest trends in this upcoming season, give advice on how to ensure your valued leads buy what suits them. Showing you care will go a long way.

Promotional email marketing.

Promotional

Promotional emails during a lead nurturing campaign can come across as spam, so keep them short and punchy. This isn’t an email to drive revenue, you are giving them a favour. Use humour and exciting language to ensure your readers understand they aren’t being pushed and to engage them enough to consider your proposal.

Lead generation best practice.

Best Practices

Technically a form of educational email, you can use this to target specific needs. Engage your audience by addressing their issues. Keep them on their toes and looking out for your next informative email. For example if a lead/client called or emailed your team regarding some tips in your field, what they’re really asking for is “Could you send us an email informing us how best to go about such and such”.

Product marketing. 

Demo/Product

Okay, okay. I know I said that your emails should not be driving sales… But a little one every now and then can’t hurt right? Seriously though, there are some rules you need to follow if you are planning on sending a product email:

Firstly, you never want to mention any of your products specifically early on in your sales lead nurturing campaign. You must ensure first that the lead is deep in your funnel and is clearly interested in what you have to say.

Secondly, you have to make an immediate connection as to why your lead could be interested in the service or product that you are offering, this should be part of a natural course your leads are taking.

Thirdly, it’s very important that these emails are highly personalised. Yes you have confirmed that this is relevant to your lead, but make them understand that you are only sending this to them personally because as an individual the product/service is appropriate.

Adding personal touches to emails.

Personal

Continuing on the more intimate side of things, remember how I mentioned in the time management section that sometimes spontaneous emails can be highly effective? Well a personal email during the string of communications during a lead nurturing campaign will drive home the WOW factor.

This email should be entirely tailored around each individual lead. Be a real person for a change and give your lead a chance to express themselves. This is an opportunity to humanise your brand and can often be a real winner in the conversions department.

Look.

Relevant emails drive 18 times more revenue than broadcast emails. (Source: Jupiter Research)

Recapping the whole human being thing. A good tip would be to try and approach every email like you are talking to a friend, sure this is business and you don’t want to turn off readers. But you don’t want to bore them either. Also, let your leads reply to your emails giving a good impression isn’t just about what you say, it’s about how you listen too.

If you are in the initial stages of your lead nurturing planning then I hope that this whitepaper has provided some useful information going forwards. The most important thing is to get started, keep your goal in mind at every stage and optimise where necessary.

Call Sales Accelerant today to kick start your lead nurturing process and accelerate sales growth.

If you would like any more help with your lead nurturing campaign strategy, planning or delivery, don’t hesitate to give us a quick call on 0845 3058145 or Email us if you prefer.