According to Forbes (Marketo), 71% of B2B marketers use content marketing to generate leads, 93% of B2B companies say content marketing generates more leads than traditional marketing strategies, and 60% of B2B decision-makers say content provided by companies helps them make smarter buying decisions. Clearly, content marketing is an effective strategy for generating leads. But what then? How do you turn leads into promising prospects and ultimately convert them into loyal customers?
When inboxes and spam folders are flooded by the daily onslaught of marketing emails, you might question the effectiveness of relying on email to cultivate customer relationships, let alone generate new leads. However, when done correctly, lead nurture campaigns can do just that and more, including
- Draw prospects into a funnel of high-quality content
- Raise brand awareness
- Educate prospects about products and services
- Establishes trust
- Convince buyers to choose your brand over another
Lead nurturing campaigns are an effective strategy for both B2C and B2B brands and sales statistics show that email is nearly forty times more effective than either Facebook or Twitter at new customer acquisition. Further, the majority of prospects would rather communicate with sales reps via email, and 89% of marketers say email is their primary channel for lead generation.
A well-planned and executed nurture campaign will include a series of communications designed to establish trust and build a relationship while guiding a prospect through every stage of the sales funnel. The list below details top lead-nurturing practices to utilize.
1. Keep the content relevant, yet varied. Capture as much information as you can about your prospect’s concerns, then use your email content to show that you are an authority on the subject and can offer solutions. Through a series of emails, vary your information, allowing it to build in a logical progression. In this way, you keep providing fresh, relevant, and engaging content for your prospect.
2. Segment your audience. The more you can tailor your email to the individual prospect the better your results will be. Creating buyer profiles and segmenting your prospects into subgroups based on a common set of characteristics, such as behavior, values, demographics, and customer type will help you personalize your emails and ensure your message resonates with your intended target.
3. Personalize the sequence as much as possible. This includes using personalization tokens such as a personal greeting, a personal signature, and sending from your email rather than your company or “info@company.com.” Tailoring content to the individual prospect’s interests or area of concern will help make the email feel as though it was written manually rather than completely automated. However, automating your campaigns and incorporating “if this, then that” scenarios will keep your campaign on a timely schedule, ensure each email you send is responsive to the action your prospect takes and effectively leads your prospect towards a purchasing decision.
4. Frequency is everything. Most people do not enjoy receiving emails every day from a company they are only considering. Sending emails too frequently can make your customers and prospects tune you out. Similarly, not sending emails often enough can make them forget about you entirely. Optimal frequency will vary by industry, but most email subscribers say they want to receive an email at least once a week.
5. Always keep them moving through your funnel. Even with a long-term sequence, each bit of content should be aimed at getting a prospect to convert. Once they do convert, make sure that you remove them from your sequence so they do not continue receiving the emails. Also, include a link in each email that allows the recipient to skip the content and convert right away–in case they feel especially ready to go for it.
These are just some of the basics to keep in mind and there are a number of ways you can manage your leads, and increase your conversions, through automated campaigns, data tracking, and analysis. As a digital marketing agency, Fuze7 offers complete email marketing services, along with high conversion landing pages and funnels that serve to keep pipelines full and help drive prospects to action. If you are ready to take your email campaigns to the next level, contact us today.
