Optimizing The Sales Funnel with Lead Nurturing!
According to independent research conducted by Adobe Marketo Engage, almost 50% of the leads in any given system are usually not ready to buy. So, what do we do now? To convert these leads into customers, it is essential to build trust in them and maintain a relationship with them at every stage of the sales funnel. This is where lead nurturing comes into the picture.
Earlier, the usual sales funnels for products and services were shorter than today i.e., leads converted to consumers quickly as they lacked the resources to compare their options. In 2022, with all the digital and technological resources, most buyers like to take their time to research before the actual purchase. This lengthens the customer journey, and the chances are the leads might even forget about your brand during this period!
To make sure that doesn’t happen, you need to keep reminding your leads about your brand and make them believe that they can trust you. And that is exactly why lead nurturing is of the utmost absolutely importance.
Getting started with your lead nurturing strategy
Here are the simple steps to set up a successful lead nurturing campaign:
Step 01:
Determine your market, the leads you already have in your database, prospects, and closing buyers. Define your leads according to these factors.
Step 02:
Do regular check-ups and remove duplicates. Keep your data updated and build your lead list.
Step 03:
Start with a two-dimensional segmentation system to categorize your leads. The two dimensions can be,
- The stage that a lead has crossed
- A variable that is important to your business (age, buying capacity, geographic location, etc.)
Step 04:
Keep track and analyze your lead nurturing campaign regularly. Track the number of clicks, the messages that you are sending out, and the time of the day when the interactions are taking place to optimize your strategy accordingly.
Ingredients of a successful lead nurturing strategy
A simple lead nurturing strategy can include sending emails to your potential customers. But accommodating a more advanced strategy is an art. A complex strategy expands to a combination of many components. Here’s what an effective lead nurturing strategy should include:
1. Lead Scoring
Understanding a lead better and marking their position in your brand’s buyer model helps you decide your lead nurturing strategy. Lead scoring systems thus evaluate every lead according to demographics, buying capacity, the kind of content they are engaging with, their determination towards the purchase, etc.
2. Content Marketing
Be it textual, video, or audio, content marketing includes creating valuable and relevant content for your customers and leads to engage with.
3. Distribution
Multichannel distribution is the best way o make sure your content reaches your potential customers effectively. From social media to your brand website, and direct emails, interconnecting all these channels to maintain seamless communication with your customers is the key to successful distribution.
4. Retargeting
Brands usually lose a lot of leads at every stage of their sales funnel. Retargeting advertisements focus on categorizing these leads and creating relevant retargeting ad campaigns to win those leads back. As they become a part of the funnel again, you might get another chance to convert these leads into purchases.
5. Marketing Automation
Marketing automation technology is an essential tool to boost efficiency and sales. An automated lead nurturing campaign ensures that your leads are exposed to the most relevant information at the right time.
Lead nurturing is more important than most businesses believe it is. No matter what the scale of your business is, a successful lead nurturing strategy can result in,
- More sales
- Larger purchases
- Improved performance
Small and medium businesses with lengthy sales funnels profit the most from lead nurturing tactics by building and enforcing a relationship with their potential customers. The lead nurturing process can help you identify your leads and buyers at different stages of their purchase journeys and guide them to an eventual purchase!
Comments are closed.