Although it would be ideal, it is clear that not every single prospect will buy your products or services when they first visit your website. In fact, according to one study done by a well know marketing automation platform company, about 96% of website users are not ready to buy on their first visit. An effective inbound marketing strategy should include lead nurturing to keep visitors engaged with your company.

WHAT IS LEAD NURTURING?

Lead nurturing is the process of developing and reinforcing relationships with your prospects and buyers with appropriate and relevant content at every stage of the buyer’s journey. There are multiple ways to nurture leads; some of them include: personalization, multiple touches, timely follow-ups, multi-channel nurturing, etc. While lead nurturing is primarily focused on email marketing, you can also consider other channels to be more successful, such as: social media, remarketing, retargeting, and one-on -one interactions.

 

BENEFITS OF LEAD NURTURING

1. Maintaining relationships. Lead nurturing is a great way to not only warm up potential customers but also keep building loyalty and trust with the ones you already have.
2. Length of sales cycle. Buyers are taking more time to educate themselves and explore options before making a buying decision. With a lead nurturing strategy in place you can shorten the sales cycle while increasing the conversion rate.
3. Engagement. When you provide knowledge and value to your leads, you have more chances to connect with them, create trust and make an impact.
4. Impact. As every good strategy, lead nurturing will require you to set goals. Make sure to measure the results based on leads, audience, and content.

HOW TO APPLY LEAD NURTURING

Now that you have decided to move forward with a lead nurturing strategy, it is important to consider the following:

1. Set SMART goals. 
2. Segment. In order to have more impact with your audience, you need to provide content that resonates with them. There are multiple ways to segment your audience, the more specific, the more chances you will have to connect with them, resulting in a more successful program. 
3. Know your target. Maximize your efforts by investing time in getting to know your audience, this will help you create content completely aligned to their needs.
4. Content. Create relevant and valuable content to help move prospects from one stage of the buyer’s journey to another, you need to provide credibility and expertise in your field to be considered a trusted partner. 
5. Measure and optimize. A successful strategy requires continuous monitoring and work. Measure, analyze, and Optimize continuously to ensure you are achieving the results you are looking for.

Need help? At Ecreative, our digital marketing specialists can assist you to create successful lead nurturing programs. Contact Ecreative and get started today!