Over 50 percent of those who respond to a company’s promotions or sales efforts are not in the buying stage. Lead nurturing is the process of encouraging prospects to the next step within the sales funnel. If the elements in the funnel are not prepared prior to garnering the leads, they will be lost forever… unless they return when they are ready to buy, which is rare.

Here are some eye-opening statistics provided by Marketo¹, Marketing Sherpa² that will demonstrate:

1. Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost.
2. Almost 80% of new leads never become sales.

Rather than waste time and money on 80% of leads that won’t pan out, a lead nurturing strategy that subdivides and isolates prospects is the best solution. Identifying the leads against specific buyer criteria is the most efficient way to weed out the non-buyers.

For example: In B2B, make sure the leads fit the perfect lead avatar by checking:

• Company name
• Title
• Authority
• Budget

Additionally, the lead’s activities on your website or landing can be tracked with analytics. If there is a high bounce rate, they are not interested. A typical bounce lead will land on the home page and within minutes, sometimes seconds they will leave.

If the prospect spends time reading the blogs and nothing else, they may be information gathering.  However, if the lead reviews product pages and pricing then they are to be nurtured.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is the route to lead nurturing. When using the wide variety of content marketing platforms and campaigns available, potential buyers are destined to be reached and sold in time.

Webinars, landing pages, email campaigns, video, blogs, infographics all have the ability to bring the prospect closer to being converted into a sale.  Yet, each element must be engaging and demonstrate an understanding of the “problem” that can be solved by the product or service being sold. These are often referred to as “pain points”, which is the emotional aspect of the problem.

For example: You are selling an SaaS service that will completely organize the prospect’s workflow. The prospect is having a difficult time keeping track of each project’s status. This brings on a feeling of frustration and being behind all of the time. It also makes the prospect feel like the business is never going to excel at the speed with which it is moving. On the other hand, the prospect knows how good it will feel to become organized, ahead of the game and on the road to having a successful and profitable business.

Those are the areas that should be subtly addressed within all of the marketing content pieces. Empathy goes a long way toward developing trust and confidence. Trust and confidence go a long way toward building the types of relationships that result in sales. See how that works?

Did you know?

• According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing has an ROI of 4,300%!
• Jupiter Research reinforces the importance of relevant emails vs. broadcast emails – a difference of 18 times more revenue is the result of relevance.

Lead Nurturing Automation

In case you haven’t already experienced the intricacies of creating nurturing content for every piece of the sales funnel, take it from us – automation is the answer. There are too many pieces and leads should be funneled into the appropriate stage. As mentioned above, not all leads are equal.

When the funnel is automated, it allows time to review results and tweak when necessary. The true potential buyers will be easier to identify and set up for conversions. There are several software options for automation; however you will need a full time staff to set up, administer, analyze and respond to any glitches or alterations that need to be made.

It is not rocket science, but it can be complex. We would value the opportunity to show how our comprehensive automated system can work for you.