“One of the most important things is correctly identifying the activities you want to score. For example, pick the whitepapers you know leads read prior to conversion and assign them a score. Don’t assign a score to all whitepapers. Next, include a combination of scoring properties to identify the best qualified leads to nurture. E.g job title, industry, company size, and activity history.” says Kushlani De Silva, Marketing Consultant.
4. Build out your email marketing campaigns
Automated email campaigns will nurture leads that have handed over their details but aren’t yet ready to buy. You might have got their contact details after they:
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Downloaded a piece of content from your site, like an ebook, a checklist, or a whitepaper
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Called up your sales team for a demo
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Joined a webinar or an event you hosted
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Enquired about your services or product and requested more information
Once you’ve got their details, you can start the nurturing process by landing in their sacred inbox.
Any decent email marketing platform will enable automated sequences. Like with all other parts of a lead nurturing strategy, different leads will need different information. The email sequence they are enrolled in will depend on the insights gathered from the previous three steps.
Some examples include:
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Welcome sequences and campaigns
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Customer education campaigns
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Competitor differentiation campaigns
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Re-engagement campaigns
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Post-sale campaigns
Someone who’s new to your brand will be best suited to a welcome sequence where you introduce your products and begin trust-building. A lead that is weighing up their options might be better suited to a competitor differentiation campaign, while a lead that’s just made a purchase should be put straight into a post-sale campaign.
5. Create targeted content
Nurturing leads is a balancing act of starting conversations, developing trust, showcasing your authority, and presenting your solution as the best possible option. Once leads are enrolled into an email sequence, it’s time to start building a relationship with them and nurturing them towards a sale.
To do this, send them content that suits their needs at that exact moment.
Content should answer questions they might have, ease their concerns, and make purchasing your product a no-brainer. Use your segmentation data to create engaging content. For example, a lead in a managerial position might need content on organization, managing people, and scheduling tasks, while a small business owner might need help with scaling, juggling their time, and identifying stakeholders.
Take KnowBe4 as an example. They ask visitors how many employees they have. When a lead selects an option, they’re taken to a specialized portal full of information targeted towards the needs associated with a specific type of business.
As well as deciding what your content should be about, think about how leads might prefer to consume content. If they’re busy, short articles might work best, but if you’re teaching a complicated process relating to your product, a video demo is probably more appropriate.