Olivia Atkinson
It’s all well and good generating leads, but are they being nurtured into marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and then sales qualified leads (SQL’s) as they work their way through the buyer’s journey, or are they just sat going cold?
You want people to convert, fill in a form, download a guide, make an enquiry, and engage with your company. But, what you do after that is just as important to keep them interested in your solution.
79% of marketing leads never convert to sales due to the absence of lead nurturing.
Think about how many potential customers you’ve missed out on by not doing enough to keep them engaged. A huge part of lead generation is making sure there are follow up’s in place.
You should never assume that a contact will simply get in touch if they want to find out more. Chances are, they’re not asking for help as a competitor of yours has reached out to them sooner offering help.
We’ll take a look at 5 characteristics that are key to every successful lead nurturing piece.
Trustworthy
A big part of nurturing your leads effectively is making sure they trust you. Reaching out to people can come across as quite strong and off-putting so try to offer help instead of selling.
If someone has enquired on a specific service or product page, why not have an automatic email that goes out to them?
It could acknowledge that you’ve received their enquiry and in the meantime whilst you review their submission offer them content like a guide or a blog on that specific service or product.
Even reaching out to people that may only have downloaded a guide or datasheet to let them know you’re there if they have any questions can build trust.
You can also create trust by offering a variety of levels of opt-in, clearly stating what lies ahead and delivering what was promised.
Communicating The Right Message At The Right Time
A big part of reaching out at the right time is having the right data on your contacts. Understanding your leads needs, their position in the buying cycle and their role can help you create robust personas.
Not only reaching out with the right insight but also at the right time can be the difference between keeping a lead warm or losing them.
The odds of a lead entering the sales process are 21 times greater when contacts are contacted within 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.
Your Content Should Be Conversational And Helpful
Having a nurturing campaign that remembers the receiver is a human too is vital. Personalise your message by speaking to each lead about their industry and pain points to discover how you can best advise them.
Even if you’re solution isn’t a good fit, by offering help and guidance on what they should be looking for can build trust. This could lead to a future order from them or even them recommending you.
Personalisation can be a lot of work to set up, but having the right automation platform can help make it simple and scalable, such as a CRM system.
Stay Consistent On Multiple Channels
Having a strong online presence means using an array of platforms to convey your message successfully.
On each platform, your message should be consistent and unified. If they check out your social media, it should be in line with what your website and email marketing say. This way you’ll be recognised for your consistent branding and it's clear what you can offer people.
Download The Ultimate Guide To Social Media here.
Get Strategic And Look At The Numbers
With most things, the numbers show the true success rate of a campaign. Make sure to make note if you are manually calling or emailing without a CRM to track it for you. Looking at the numbers monthly can help realign the focus of what’s working well so you can do more of it.
You need to be able to measure the impact of your efforts, this way it can be easily demonstrated to others.
Conclusion
The building products market can be intense at times with companies shouting about why they’re different or better. Sometimes in the construction industry, the buyer’s journey can be months or even years.
However long or short your average buyer’s journey, lead nurturing is essential to keep them in touch with your brand as they move through their buyer’s journey.
Having targeted, helpful and relevant content can help prospects educate themselves on your solution, in their own time. Good quality and educational content is at the heart of lead nurturing as it comes across as helpful.
Download our free guide to content marketing to help build the foundation of your lead nurturing efforts.