An effective lead nurturing strategy will help you turn leads into buyers. But it’s not always easy – you have to fight for your audience’s attention with other companies and convince your potential clients why they should invest in your product or service. In this article, I’ll present the six best lead nurturing methods you can apply to help your business turn more leads into happy customers.
What is “nurturing leads”?
Nurturing leads is about building trusting relationships with people who have expressed interest in your product or service. A lead could be a person who asked a question about a product on your e-commerce site, or one who signed up for a demonstration of your SaaS product. It usually takes several interactions before a person goes from being interested in your product or service to paying, so it’s very important to have a well-organized lead nurturing process.
6 strategies and best practices for nurturing leads
1. Use chat to answer key questions
When a visitor comes to your website, they are looking for a solution to a problem. The faster you can show them how you can solve that problem, the more likely they are to become a customer. Live chat software can be a powerful tool for:
- Identification of visitors with purchase intent: Track who is interested in your products or services.
- Answers to questions that need a quick solutionA: Provide immediate support and information.
- Collecting information about potential customers: Get valuable data for further communication.
Research shows that live chat can increase conversion by up to 40%. Most live chat platforms can identify the site a visitor is on. If it’s on a pricing page, you can see it. If he or she is visiting two of your feature pages, you’ll know about it.
With this information, you can trigger a proactive workflow, such as a pop-up chat asking if they need more information about your pricing plans. If he answers “yes,” you can ask for his contact information and continue the communication. When that same visitor returns to your site in the future, you’ll know who they are and can use their communication history to help your sales or support team provide the most relevant information.
Most chat tools can also be linked to your CRM system, making it easy to track leads through your sales pipeline and always provide the most relevant buying experience for each person.
2. Use a lead scoring system to set sales priorities
Lead scoring is the process of assigning points to people in your sales pipeline.
For example:
- +1 point for visiting the prize page
- +1 point for participation in the webinar
- +2 points for communication with the team in chat
- -1 point for stating that the product is not in their budget
- +5 points for planning a product demonstration
As the lead’s score changes, you can send them different email sequences, trigger different chat messages, and tailor each interaction to their needs. Most lead management and CRM software includes lead scoring tools, and once you set up the system, you’ll be able to easily score leads and keep your team on the same page about which leads to focus on. Your sales team will be able to properly prioritize leads so they’re always communicating with those who are most interested in buying.
3. Add personalization to email sequences
Email is one of the best lead nurturing channels available to any brand, which is why 64% of B2B marketers report that their email marketing strategy is effective in achieving their business goals. There are several reasons why email is so effective for lead nurturing:
- High level of personalisationA: Your emails can be targeted based on criteria such as name, location, actions taken by the potential customer on your site and even their purchase history with you. Most quality email software providers allow you to segment your audience and create targeted campaigns for each segment, allowing you to create different campaigns depending on each person’s status in your channel.
- Easy automationA: Email software can help you create different campaigns that you can easily target specific segments of your potential customers. Once the system is set up, email campaigns are triggered automatically and you only need to engage when a potential customer takes an action you have asked them to do, such as signing up for a demo or starting a free trial.
- Option to choose calls to actionA: Use email to guide the customer through the entire buying process. For example, you may need to educate a “cooler” customer more than a “warmer” one. In the first email of the sequence, the call to action can be focused on an educational resource. In the fifth email, you can directly ask to schedule a demonstration. Being able to guide the customer through the sales process with targeted calls to action means you are in control of the interaction process, ensuring that your sales team spends time communicating only with highly qualified customers.
The best way to ensure that your emails always stand out in a potential customer’s inbox is to add unique personalisation. When your customers see a personalised email in their inbox, they’ll happily accept it, click on the added link or reply to it. When it comes time to offer to schedule a demonstration or start a trial, they’ll have all the information they need to make the right decision. Almost all email platforms have detailed analytics that allow you to track campaign metrics. Using these metrics, you can easily identify high or low performing sequences and report the results to your team.
4. Use multi-channel outreach to increase engagement
If you’re in B2B sales, you might consider using a multi-channel approach to reaching customers. You can use Sales Navigator to add a potential customer on LinkedIn and send them a personalized InMail message stating that you’re ready to help if they have any questions. This approach is effective because in addition to the information the potential customer has provided you, you’ll see additional information on their profile about their professional activities that you can use to personalize your message.
If you have obtained the phone number of a potential customer through a contact form or chat, you can call to check their interest. With each new interaction, be sure to record notes and conclusions in your CRM so that your entire sales team is aware of all the potential customer’s touch points with your brand. Adding multi-channel steps is a great way to show leads that you’re willing to invest the time and effort to make sure they have everything they need to make the right buying decision for their business.
5. Use case studies as content to drive sales
Case studies are an excellent tool for nurturing leads, which is why 61% of marketers use them as part of their strategy. Whenever possible, send case studies and social proof to your potential customers.
Case studies work so well as lead nurturing tools because potential customers see real success stories of people using your product or service and can imagine how those results could be applied to their business. Plus, it increases trust in your company. You can mention famous clients or show incredible results achieved at companies with similar characteristics to your potential customer’s business. We recommend preparing several case studies, each highlighting different benefits of your product or service.
For example, imagine you sell human resource management software. You could prepare a case study focusing on how it helps recruiters find the best candidates. You can send another example focused on the return on business investment from using your software to CFOs of client companies. You can give these materials to your salespeople, and they can use them to make the case to their team in favor of investing in your product or service.
6. Run retargeting ads to keep your brand top of mind
Running ads targeted to your ideal customer is a good way to raise awareness. However, if you want to increase conversion and acquire new customers through advertising, it’s best to use retargeting. Retargeting is the process of showing ads to people who have already interacted with your brand. For example, you can run retargeting ads for an audience that has visited pages with key features and price offers. It’s an effective way to keep your company top of mind and convey the various benefits of your product or service to potential customers. You can run retargeting ads with content such as:
- Video with customer testimonials.
- Link to the case study.
- Link to a blog article aimed at further educating customers about their problem.
This will help move the customer closer to purchase without making them feel like you’re using advertising to get them to opt-in. You can run retargeting ads on almost any advertising platform. However, to optimize the use of your marketing budget, focus on the channels you know your audience spends time on.
Conclusion
Effective lead nurturing will help you improve the communication process between you and your leads. The best practices we’ve discussed will help you stand out in your prospect’s inbox and ensure that they’ll be happy to continue interacting with your brand on their way to becoming a customer. Regardless of which channel you choose to implement your lead nurturing programs on, always personalize every interaction and add value to your leads’ lives. They will see you as a trusted advisor and will be happy to continue the conversation, even if they are not immediately ready to become a customer. When they’re ready, you’ll be the first person and company they turn to.
Need help implementing these strategies?
Contact us at AWDATAPARSING.COM to find out how our expert services can help you effectively nurture leads and grow your business.