According to Marketing Sherpa, 79% of marketing leads never even convert to sales, and that the most common cause of this is due to poor lead nurturing. Now we have to understand that the nature of lead nurturing has changed in recent times but it is still critical in B2B revenue generation.. Building effective relationships with potential customers throughout the buying journey is key to your marketing strategy’s success. Lead nurturing involves consistent communication with buyers across different channels at different points of the sales funnel. Successful lead nurturing bridges the gap between when a lead’s first interacts with your company and the point where they convert.
In today’s market, customers expect extremely personalised cross-channel experiences. Companies have to develop strong relationships through lead nurturing. Creating a personalised lead nurturing experience increases consumers’ propensity to buy and will shorten the sales cycle. Here is a quick guide on how to develop a successful lead nurturing strategy.
- Set goals
First you want to set the right goals. Remember that lead nurturing is a strategy for your business to achieve its overall goals. Start by looking at your current position, set considered goals from which you will set Stretch targets.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- How many leads do you generate each month and what is the source of those leads?
- What is the range of products you offer?
- What are the key audience groups that comprise your inbound leads?
- What percentage of leads are considered sale ready when they enter your database?
- And, finally, what is the life of a lead currently, and how they interact with your different channels of communication?
Lead nurturing is only part of an overall strategy, so, when setting goals, ask yourself how lead nurturing fits into the marketing communications you are currently sending.
- Identify your target audience
To identify your target audience, let your sales and marketing department work together to map out your current lead journey and database. To do this, you need to consider customers in your database, what prospects the sales department are talking to, and what types of customers they are closing.
Look at current successful leads to identify which accounts you should be focusing on, and those on which you should be spending less effort. After identifying your target audience, the next step is to create a lead scoring system to improve personalised attention.
- Creating a lead scoring system
Your sales and marketing teams need to develop a shared methodology for ranking leads. This will enable them to identify the customer’s journey and location throughout the sales funnel. Your scoring system should be based on the interest shown towards your business, the current place in the funnel, the behaviour so far and their persona.
Lead scoring systems enable you to identify prospects that can be fast-tracked to sales and those needing further nurturing. This is an important part of your campaign as it allows you to segment your target audience. Marketo statistics show that companies who use lead scoring see a huge lift in ROI.
- Incorporating Multi-Channel strategies into your lead nurturing
Customers move seamlessly across digital and offline channels. This makes incorporating sales- and social channels into your lead nurturing strategy a crucial part of your marketing plan. This way, you ensure reaching customers in the most effective way.
Websites are a great way to capture emails through contact forms, but they are also excellent places to start conversations. Personalisation software allows you to identify the person’s relevant attributes, such as intent and behaviour, and customise your lead’s online experience by presenting the most relevant content.
Make sure to include social media to retarget leads. Include direct mail and sales involvement into your strategy to make the most out of past interactions, and make your strategies mobile friendly to reach the most leads.
Source: B2C
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