lead nurturing: what is it? and why should i care?
DESCRIPTION
This short preview walks you through the ins-and-outs of lead nurturing and gives some pointers on how best to leverage it.TRANSCRIPT
What is Lead Nurturing? And, Why Should I Care?
It’s “relevant and consistent dialogue with viable potential customers regardless of their timing”
It’s also a relationship building approach utilizing different media to provide value until a lead is “sales-ready”
Brian Carroll says,
So, why should you nurture leads?
...b/c 50% of new leads are NOT ready to buy
Because, nurturing leads turn a “not-ready” prospect into a sales-ready prospect faster...
...you’ll get more from the leads
you already have
...you could raise win rates on marketing-generated leads by 7%
Plus, it decreasesopen-to-close
rates...
and, it decreases the % of marketing generated
leads that are ignored
In complex sales, most of the selling happens when the sales person isn’t around
So what will you need before you start?
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Define: “sales-ready” lead#1
Work with your sales team to determine a universal-lead definition to ensure successful “hand-off ” to sales
Identify buyer personas#2
For Example:
1. Name & Age2. Organization & Size3. Job Title & Daily Tasks4. Business Problems5. Online Behavior6. What Part of Decision
Process are They In?7. What Questions Do
they Ask?
Gather content#3
To save time & resources, conduct a content-audit to determine what’s usable and what’s not.
Be critical.
What content really provides value?
Determine what you will need
#4
You’ll need people to define and structure your nurturing strategy, you’ll need pre-planned and created content, and ideally, you will need a marketing automation solution to make the sending process based on behavior, automated
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So, what does the process look like?
First, develop a content map
Since you’ve identified buyer personas, you’ll want to use the content you have to answer questions that personas might ask at a given stage of the sales-cycle
Then, create content to fill in the holes
Once you’ve mapped the content you have, create new content that’s buyer-specific, educational, and that adds the value to help prospects navigate down the path toward a sale.
Always be consistentacross channels
Consider the “rule of 5” by creating versatile content that can be used and consumed in a variety of formates
Then, plan for multi-channel
distribution
Don’t rely on the “push” mentality
* Leverage your website a hub, use social media as a distribution channel & be
where your prospects are
Finally, use a marketing automation system
This technology will help you organize & automate your content-flow to ensure relevant messages to prospects based on their behavior