Effective Lead Nurturing Techniques
Effective Lead Nurturing Techniques
Lead nurturing is an ongoing process. Research shows that fewer than 10 percent of leads will immediately convert. In light of this fact, lead nurturing is essential to the success of any business.
Unfortunately, being aware of the importance of effective lead nurturing is only the first step. The next—and perhaps most important—step is knowing how to effectively nurture leads. What follows are five of the best ways to do just that so you are able to convert leads into customers.
1. Lead Scoring. When surveyed, marketers say that lead scoring is one of their most successful lead generation tactics. Leads scoring, in the most basic terms, is ranking leads in terms of their potential value. In other words, it helps to determine which leads merit a follow-up call directly with a sales rep and which leads can be nurtured further down the sales funnel. These metrics allow the most time, money and resources to be devoted to the most valuable leads.
2. Multi-Channel Lead Nurturing. No longer is an email-only lead nurturing strategy enough to convert leads. Today, you need to employ a combination of email marketing, social media, website content and outbound sales calls to get the highest conversion rate possible.
3. Personalized Emails. Email marketing continues to outperform all other lead nurturing methods. This is especially true when emails are personalized. Personalized emails are most effective when triggered by the following behaviors:
- Clicking on email links
- Downloading gated content
- Showing a significant level of engagement
4. Targeted Content. One way to look at targeted content is to view it as the right content delivered to the right people at the right time. Once you understand particular lead segments, you produce content that speaks to those leads and is delivered when they are most likely to see it. This type of lead nurturing can be especially challenging for marketers since it requires:
- Specific knowledge of prospects
- The creation of targeted and effective content that speaks to particular segments of prospects
- An automated marketing platform to identify, segment and target prospects in relation to your inbound marketing strategy
5. Timely Follow-Up. Statistics point to the effectiveness of follow-up calls when it comes to qualifying leads. A timely, well-researched email or phone call is the best way to convert inbound leads. That’s because, unlike cold calling, you know exactly what a prospect is looking for based on their browsing history.
Effective lead nurturing isn’t always easy. However, when done correctly, the results are well worth any time and money a business invests in the process.