Understanding the importance of generating leads and qualifying them for your business is already a big step, but it doesn't stop there. These are just the first steps of a long journey that may or may not result in more revenue for you, and a good part of that 'if' lies in lead nurturing.
Recent data from MarketingSherpa shows that 79% of leads do not become customers due to lack of nurturing, throwing away all the effort you made to generate them, as well as countless business opportunities.
When we talk about nurturing, the first thing that comes to mind is the act of feeding, sustaining, providing something until it is ready for a certain moment or action. Nurturing leads is exactly that: providing your potential customer with content about the subject or product/service they have shown interest in, to entice them to purchase. Reinforcing your brand, becoming a reference, and showing why you are the solution they are looking for to a present or future problem. Nurturing means being present, investing in the relationship with your lead, so that when the purchase decision is made, your company is the first to be remembered. It is a way to qualify them.
According to Forrester Research, working on lead nurturing often increases an organization's sales volume by 50% from its contact base, at a cost 33% lower than what is needed to acquire new ones. It is investing in what you already have, adding value to your brand, spending less, and selling more.
Email Marketing: The Path to Nurturing Leads
Lead nurturing is based on delivering content. This delivery is done automatically, through a sequence of emails, over a period of time established by the company's strategy.
In an era of significant investment in social media, you might think that email may not be that efficient, but a lead nurturing campaign is very different from a regular email marketing campaign.
According to expert Dan Zarella, the average click-through rate jumps from 3% to 8% when emails are part of a lead nurturing campaign, and the reason is simple: the content of the message. In lead nurturing, the material is based on a subject that the person has already shown interest in, so it is natural for them to want to read the content and be more engaged.
Moreover, well-planned and creatively crafted lead nurturing campaigns can increase a company's sales flow by up to 50%.
Fundamentals of Email Marketing for Lead Nurturing
Segmentation and Personalization
The lead nurturing process begins with the questions addressed in the conversion form. It is also important to create personas, which are nothing more than a profile of your ideal customer based on demographic research.
Segmenting your base is essential for your nurturing strategy because it will tell you not only what type of content to send but also in what format and frequency.
The better defined your persona is, the more targeted and accurate your content will be, and the lower the chance of error.
Timing
Lead nurturing follows the same premise as content marketing; the buyer needs to go through a journey, so plan accordingly. It is pointless to send a huge number of emails in a short period because the lead will not read them all, and you risk irritating them and burning an opportunity.
Before starting your nurturing flow, plan the content to be sent at each stage of the funnel. What will be addressed in each of them, how much at each stage, and what will be the time interval between them. This way, you will be guiding your lead and ensuring a good experience with your company.
The amount of content and the period can vary greatly depending on your market.
Remember that no one buys a car as easily as they buy a cell phone, just as not all leads will result in business even if you fill their inbox for months.
When leads go through all stages of the nurturing process and do not respond to the campaign, the ideal is to separate them, analyze what went wrong, and use that information for improvements in future campaigns.
Facilitate the Path
Not all leads need to go through all stages of nurturing before making a decision. Some may be mature enough from the first contacts, so be prepared. Include call-to-actions in all emails, with clear paths to make the sale or links that lead them to the material of the next stage of the funnel. This can speed up the nurturing process and the expected final result.
Nurturing leads is the best way to gain competitiveness in the market and boost your business. Regardless of your area of expertise or the size of your company, lead nurturing ensures greater efficiency in any marketing strategy.
If you also believe in the power of lead nurturing, want to develop this work in your company, but don't know how, talk to us! We are specialists in digital marketing.