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How to Build an Effective Lead Nurturing Campaign

How to Build an Effective Lead Nurturing Campaign

Set Up Your First Lead Nurturing Campaign

Last week, we focused on how to effectively nurture leads with the right content at the right stage of the sales funnel. This week, we’re going to focus on how to set up a lead nurturing campaign using email as the platform. Lead nurturing, when implemented using marketing automation is a way to naturally Lead Nurturing Campaignguide potential customers through the sales funnel. According to Gleanster, between 30% to 50% of the leads that enter a sales funnel represent an opportunity for a sale yet are not ready to commit to a purchase. These are the folks you need to place in your lead nurturing campaign.

Let’s look at your assets and see what we can do…

You have the website, all of the latest social media accounts with a steady flow of new leads. But your company seems to be falling short when it comes to converting those leads into sales. This is where the nurturing in lead nurturing comes into play. Effectively nurturing prospects will help to convert more than half of those leads to sales at a lower cost. We are assuming you have gathered a fair number of leads likely via a form fill for a newsletter or some type of gated content, you now have access to your prospects email addresses. This reason is why email is the most common channel for lead nurturing campaigns. Now that you have this vital information, you can begin forming your nurturing campaign.

Lead Nurturing in 3, 2, 1…

Follow these steps to build out your first lead nurturing campaign.

Step 1: Define Your Audience

The first step before you begin sending out emails is to determine who you want to your campaign to target. A common mistake during this process is assuming that every lead is the same, WRONG! It is vital to break your audience up into different segments to better personalize messages. Define your audience using demographic and behavioral patterns in order to better understand their buying patterns.

Step 2: Offer a Unique Value

If your lead didn’t convert to a sale within the first visit to your website don’t be surprised, it is completely normal. If they did, we wouldn’t be here talking about how to convert prospects on to sales. However, keep in mind that a person does not want to be sold on a product directly after discovering it. You need to give prospects time to “marinate” and to do this, you need to show them what value your company has and why they should choose you over your competitor. Do this by offering valuable pieces of content such as:

  • Blog posts
  • eBooks
  • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts/Videos
  • Webinars

Offer prospects a constant flow of updated, relevant material to keep hold of their interests. Crossing content between segmented audiences is okay in this instance.

Step 3: Set Goals for Each Email

It is understood that prospects don’t want to be sold, rather made to feel as if they are being taken care of (hence, “nurturing”) during their purchasing process. We also discussed what type of content should be going out with your emails but do you have a clear vision of what results should stem from your emails? Keep an organized chart of all emails prepared for disbursement. In your chart, include the following:

  • Email Subject Line
  • Call-to-Action (CTA)
  • Type of Content
  • Goal of Email

This chart is a good way to stay organized and easily keep tabs on the task at hand and to ultimately reach your final goal – a sale. Each section of your chart is important and should not be overlooked, but we put an emphasis on your call-to-action. Once you have provided your leads with relevant content such as links to blog posts or an offer to download a free eBook, then you may introduce prospects to your product(s).

Step 4: Create your Lead Nurturing Emails

Now that you have mapped out content, CTAs and order of distribution, it is now time to create your emails! Your prospect emails should contain the following messages:

  • You know something about your prospects and are looking to learn more
  • You have a valuable offer and understand why it’s of value
  • They would be missing out if they didn’t take the offer proposed
  • You want to help them with their needs

When creating your emails, be sure to do so in a manner that makes sense for both the purchasing cycle and the customer. Be sure to pay careful attention to the frequency of your emails. The last thing you want to do is push a prospect to the verge of “Unsubscribe”.

Step 5: Determine your Email Campaign Timeline

Okay, you have prepared your email content, set goals and mapped out which content will go with each email. The next step is to determine when your emails will be distributed and the best way to do so, is by following your company’s clearly labeled sales cycle. For an example, here are three areas in the sales cycle to take note of:

  • Awareness: Use this stage to educate and intrigue your prospects with relevant content such as…
    • Ebooks
    • Tip Sheets
    • How To’s
  • Engagement: This stage is meant for prospects that have taken the time to participate, like…
    • Read a blog post
    • Downloaded a white paper or fact sheet
    • Viewed a video
  • Consideration: At this time in the cycle, the prospect has turned into a lead and is almost at the point when they would move into sales, but until that point, nurture these leads with items such as…
    • Product demonstrations
    • Follow up consultations
    • Customized estimates

As you build out your schedule, keep these items and purchasing stages at the front of your mind. Remember to not bombard your prospects with emails, as that is the quickest way to lose them all together. As a business, your purchasing cycle could differ from others so prepare your emails to coordinate accordingly.

When Should You Start a Lead Nurturing Campaign?

A lead nurturing campaign starts every time a prospect enters your sales cycle. Assuming you have acquired a constant flow of incoming prospects, lead nurturing will focus on generating more revenue from each lead. Biznet Digital has lead nurturing down to a science and is here to help anyway your company needs, from creating content to executing an entire campaign, we’ve got the resources to help you.