What does lead nurturing mean?
Lead nurturing is the process of maintaining relationships with potential customers who aren’t yet ready to buy. Successful lead nurturing initiatives anticipate buyers’ needs based on customer segmentation, who the buyer is on an individual level (i.e., position, location, industry, department, etc.), and where they are in the customer journey
The necessary acts for nurturing leads are:
- Putting sales leads into groups based on their unique wants, needs, and actions
- Getting specific information and dealing with it will help with their specific problems
- Keeping in touch with leads daily to keep them interested
- Keeping an eye on how engaged leads are and making changes to tactics as needed
Regarding business-to-business, the buyer is rarely ready to buy immediately. Lead nurturing is meant to close the gap between the first contact and the decision to buy by giving the buyer a unique experience and forming relationships that will eventually lead to sales.
Like words
- Lead nurturing automation uses software to make developing leads easier and less time-consuming.
- Lead nurturing funnel: getting to know potential customers and seeing each interaction as a chance to make a sale, like a sales funnel.
- Lead nurturing software is a digital technology that makes developing leads easier.
- Lead nurturing workflow is a method for keeping in touch with leads over time and sending them helpful content or offers they can use.
Why lead nurturing is essential.
A salesperson must talk to a prospect eight times on average to get the first meeting.
And the average sale takes almost three months to finish. For more complicated B2B deals, it can take well over a year.
Put another way, one meeting doesn’t matter in the big picture.
Follow-up with leads helps businesses build strong ties with their customers.
- See if they can get more suitable leads.
- Make their ideal customer profile (ICP) better.
- Get more of the people they’re talking to to buy.
- Get more loyal customers and raise their lifetime value (CLV).
- Please find out more about their target group.
Developing leads makes selling more fun and gives the buyer more value.
Generation of leads vs. nurturing leads
Lead creation is finding people interested in your product or service and getting them to buy it. Its main goal is to gather a group of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) that the sales team can work with further and become paying customers.
Content marketing, social media advertising, search engine optimization, and email marketing are all common ways to reach more people and get them to give contact information or interact with a brand.
Essential parts of lead creation are:
- Getting a lot of people to visit through different marketing methods
- Getting personal information and figuring out how interested people are
- Sorting leads by how likely they are to become customers
- Giving MQLs to the sales team so they can get more involved
Lead fostering is the process of getting to know already qualified leads and helping them through the buyer’s journey so that they become customers.
Lead nurturing, and lead generation share some tasks. For example, buyer-enablement content can be used to bring in new leads. However, the main goal of lead nurturing is to keep in touch with current customers rather than getting more people to contact you.
Different Kinds of Leads
To focus your sales efforts on the leads most likely to turn into deals, you need to know about the different types of leads.
There are seven kinds of leads, which are:
1. Cold leads
A company can call cold leads when they are not yet interested in their product or service. They might fit the ICP, but they haven’t done anything to connect with the brand.
Cold leads generally come from sales reps’ efforts to find new customers, so they don’t even know they exist.
These leads need to be contacted first to see how interested they are. The most popular ways to contact cold leads are cold calling, cold emailing, and targeted advertising.
People may be interested in personalized content that addresses their possible pain points, but that is generally only possible after the first contact.
2. Warm leads
People who are “warm leads” are interested in the product or service but aren’t ready to buy yet.
People who are interested in the business usually take the first step. They visit the website, sign up for the newsletter, or follow the company on social media.
You can keep warm leads interested by giving them educational content like blog posts, webinars, or case studies. This will help them understand the company’s goods and see how they fit into the bigger picture.
Before they’re ready to talk to the sales team, buyers are usually further along in the buyer journey. This means sales outreach isn’t always the best way to find new leads.
3. Warm Leads
Hot leads are people who are who are interested in a vendor’s product or service and are about to make a choice. They may have asked for a sales demo, go to a sales show, or talked with your sales team in depth.
Hot leads need to be followed up on immediately and in a personalized way. Salespeople should stay in touch with customers, answer their questions, and offer solutions tailored to their needs.
4. More information on qualified leads
A qualified lead (IQL) is a possible customer who has given you their contact information in exchange for educational material. They are still in the early stages of the buying process and may need more information before making a choice, so they have asked for information.
Companies can grow their IQLs by providing helpful content like ebooks, whitepapers, documentation, product pricing documents, and more.
In some cases, the information given might need more background, which could mean that the sales team needs to get in touch.
5. Leads that are good for marketing
Meets certain factors (job title, company size, etc.) that make them a good fit for the product or service. An MQL is a lead who has interacted with marketing materials (like signing up for an email list or downloading content).
Targeted ads showing the product’s unique value proposition are suitable for MQLs. This can include email marketing, ads that appear again, and personalized offers that get people to interact with the brand more.
6. Leads that are ready to be sold or accepted
SRLs are leads that the marketing team thinks are ready to be turned into sales. They are interested in a company’s product or service and have met specific standards, like a lead scoring threshold.
The marketing team should quickly send SRLs to the sales team so that they can follow up. As the buyer moves through the buying cycle, salespeople should address any concerns that are still open and offer custom solutions.
7. Leads that are good for sales
Sales-approved leads, or SQLs, are leads that the sales team has checked out and decided have a good chance of turning into deals. They have clarified that they want to buy and meet the company’s ICP.
The sales team needs to give each SQL individual care and work on getting past any last objections so the deal can be closed.
To keep SQL’s business safe, they must communicate often, make customized offers, and negotiate.
Top Strategies for Nurturing Leads
The simple goals of lead nurturing are to build relationships with customers, keep them interested and up-to-date, and move possible buyers through the sales pipeline.
To reach these goals, sellers use various methods to give leads useful information and tailored experiences.
Marketing with Email
Engaging with customers through email is one of the best ways to get to know them better. It’s easy to set up and use, and prospects will check their email several times daily.
A drip strategy is the best way to get warm leads and MQLs. Sending them exciting information about their buying journey will keep them interested (and maybe even get their attention).
Email segmentation is essential for lead nurture programs. The content sent to leads will be more relevant to their needs if they are put into groups based on their likes, hobbies, and stages of the buying process.
Marketing with content
Delivering helpful content to a business’s target group through all channels is called content marketing.
Among these are:
- Posts on a blog
- Movies and videos
- Papers in white
- Case studies are
- Online meetings (webinars)
- Talk shows on a disc
- Posts on social media
At each step of the buyer’s journey, content should be tailored to them and focus on teaching and entertaining them.
Internet Use
Besides websites, social media is the most common way for people to talk to each other for buyer research. Customers use social media to stay updated and connect with brands at almost every stage of the buying process.
Social media is beneficial for lead development. It can be used to connect with prospects, keep them interested, and let leads know about new products and services.
Marketers should use posts, videos, polls, memes, and other types of social media material to keep people interested.
Fill out surveys
Businesses often use polls to get information about their current customers, find out more about the experience of a past customer, and keep an eye on their market as a whole.
You can also use surveys to keep in touch with leads. People who fill them out are very interested in the company’s product, and some answers to poll questions may mean that a sales team member should get in touch with them.
Calls for sales
The best way to get buyers interested is to make sales calls. Even though 80% of prospects say they would rather receive personalized letters, sellers can deal with objections, answer questions, and give more personalized service during a call.
It’s also possible to build connections during sales calls, which is something that emails and email threads can’t do.
Best Practices for Lead Nurturing
Get information about your customers.
You need customer data before you can do anything else to nurture leads. Without it, sellers and marketers can only rely on their gut feelings.
There are several ways to get information about customers for lead nurturing efforts, such as:
- Visits to websites
- Sending in forms
- Participation in social media
- Signing up for emails
- Previous reaction to cold outreach
Sales and marketing teams need data to determine the best frequency, types of material to send, and channels to focus on when engaging with leads.
The gathered information must be up-to-date, correct, well-organized, and usable to be helpful.
Actionable information includes a lead’s job title, company size, industry, location, and desire to buy. All of these things can be used to group customers into different groups.
Learn about Buyer Personas
Based on study data, the idea behind buyer personas is to make up profiles of a company’s ideal customer. They show what drives, interests, and challenges your target customers, making grouping them easier.
Personas should be in a company’s sales plan, where it’s easy for sellers to find them when they’re researching a new lead.
Draw out the customer’s journey.
Buyer personas are an excellent place to start, but they’re not the only thing you need for a lead nurturing plan to work. Companies must also know the path their customers take so they can better guess what they’ll need and what will bother them at each stage.
This can be done over time by listing all the times a customer interacts with your business, such as internet visits, emails, and calls.
Making a picture of the buyer’s trip is helpful. The sales and marketing teams can stay organized and ready for almost any situation if they follow steps with different contacts and backup plans.
Score and divide lead to get more leads.
Lead scoring is a mathematical process that gives each lead a number score based on their traits, online actions, and engagement with a brand.
Businesses can focus on the leads most likely to close when sales reps give them better scores and more weight. This shortens the sales cycle and allows for more personalization.
When using lead segmentation, you can create similar leads based on business, location, and job title.
When sales and marketing teams have different groups for each type of lead, they can tailor their approach to each customer segment based on generalizations.
Make a plan for targeted content.
Before publishing the information, you should consider how it will be shared. The following structure is what most businesses use:
- Figure out who your target group is and what they need so that your content speaks to them.
- Make a plan for the buyer’s journey. At each step, address pain points and give helpful information.
- Put bottom-of-funnel (BoFu) material at the top of your list because it targets leads who are ready or almost ready to buy. These will help your business right away.
- Use a content schedule to make sure your content is consistent and fits with your marketing goals and important events.
- Use different types of material, like blog posts, ebooks, webinars, and case studies, to meet the needs of people with different learning styles and preferences.
- Keep track of and analyze how well your content is doing so you can improve your approach and make sure your leads are connecting with it.
Use more than one channel.
It’s easier for businesses to run marketing campaigns now that digital platforms are more popular, but customers’ needs have changed.
A McKinsey study called B2B Pulse found that B2B buyers use ten outlets during sales, which is twice as many as they did in 2016.
But that’s what they want—94% of them say it works as well or better than the sellers’ old models.
This makes an easy but essential point: companies need to meet buyers where they are and use a variety of channels to do so.
Follow-up on time
Deals are over when time runs out. A difference of five minutes in reaction time can destroy the chance of qualifying a lead by 400%, shocking even by today’s standards.
It would be impossible to answer every lead in five minutes or less, which is why most businesses use marketing automation tools.
As part of a program to keep leads interested, sales and marketing teams can use automation to set up emails, text messages, and other ways to reach out. Follow-ups can be sent to leads on time, even when reps aren’t available.
Retarget based on the stage of the buying process.
For example, the Rule of 7 in marketing says that a possible buyer needs to see or hear a message seven times before deciding to act on it.
Retargeting means showing ads and emails to leads who have already connected with your business in some way. It helps people remember companies and gives them the extra “push” they need to make the sale.
Personalization can help.
Every buyer needs something unique. For both B2C and B2B buyers, knowledge is essential. Buyers want sellers to know what they need before they ask.
Adding a customer’s name to an email’s subject line or text is one way to use personalization in lead nurturing, but there are other ways. For sellers to understand who their buyers are, they need to listen carefully, respond quickly, and offer solutions that are specifically designed for each buyer.
Leads will enjoy it, and businesses should use every chance they get to gain the trust of potential customers.
Metrics for Lead Nurturing
1. Rate of Conversion
The lead conversion rate is the number of leads that move through the sales funnel and end up as customers. This measure helps you figure out how well your lead nurturing is working and where you can make changes.
You can also look at the conversion rate on a smaller scale to see how well certain lead-grooming efforts work.
You can check customers’ engagement with an email drip promotion without linking it to a closed deal.
2. Pipeline for sales
The number of leads in different steps of the sales process is shown in the sales pipeline. Businesses can determine how well their lead nurturing strategies work and estimate how much money they might make from sales by tracking how leads move through the process.
3. Score for Lead Engagement
A lead engagement score is a number that tells you how much a lead interacts with your business and content. A higher score means more connection, which can help you sort leads into groups and focus your nurturing efforts on the right ones.
4. Ratio of Contacts to Customers
The contact-to-customer ratio looks at how many leads were produced and how many customers were bought. This measure helps you determine how well your lead nurturing process works and where to put your resources.
5. Number of Customers Kept
The percentage of people who keep buying from your business over time is called the customer retention rate. A high retention rate means you are good at developing leads and building strong customer relationships.
6. SQLs vs. MQLs
You can determine how well your marketing and sales are working together by comparing the number of MQLs and SQLs. A good mix of the two shows that the lead nurturing process works well.
7. Score for each lead source
With a lead number per channel, you can see how well each marketing channel gets good leads. This measure can help with channel-specific optimizations and allocating marketing budgets.
8. Attention to Customers
Customer response is an essential measure of success, even though it’s not as easy to measure as some others. Lead grooming efforts with high response rates usually mean the efforts were well-targeted and the leads had a good experience.
Technology for Lead Nurturing
CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are essential for lead handling because they organize and keep track of lead data.
CRMs let companies track how leads interact with their brand, divide leads into groups based on specific criteria, and automate jobs like following up.
CRMs help sales and marketing teams work together better by giving them a central place to store and analyze lead information. This lets them tailor their nurturing efforts to the specific needs of each lead.
Automation in Marketing
Marketing automation tools make nurturing leads easier and faster by automating tasks like sending emails, arranging posts on social media, and sharing content.
Businesses can use these tools to stay in touch with leads, send them personalized content based on their actions and preferences, and keep track of engagement data.
Marketing automation automatically takes care of boring jobs and gives businesses helpful information that lets them focus on strategy and optimization while ensuring leads get timely and relevant information.
Software for Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing software is made to make developing leads more accessible and more effective.
It sorts scores leads based on predefined criteria, runs drip campaigns automatically, and gives businesses data that helps them find high-potential leads, sends them relevant content, and keeps an eye on their engagement.
Lead nurturing software is usually sold as an add-on or set up immediately in marketing automation or CRM. However, it can also be bought on its own.
Making sales possible
Sales support technology gives sales teams the information, tools, and training to follow up on leads and close deals.
Enablement tools help sales reps learn more about their leads and interact with them better. They include sales collateral, presentation materials, CRM integrations, and data.
