Lead Nurturing, by definition, is a marketing strategy that creates engagement with customers through a continuous dialogue with them. This means that at whatever stage of the purchasing process the user is, he will be educated and informed by the company through targeted communication based on the target. With this technique, the company is not only promoting, but building a relationship of trust with customers. The ultimate goal, in fact, is to create a positive perception of the brand, products and company to meet all needs in an appropriate manner.
How does lead nurturing work?
Lead nurturing is rarely a matter of immediate sales. Instead, it's about inspiring real commitment and keeping the brand at the forefront of the target audience's mind throughout the customer's lifecycle.
Lead nurturing essentially works on two fronts:
- Educate the target. A company with an adequate mentality in doing lead nurturing would never spam its audience with generic sales emails. This type of communication does not teach the public anything, nor does it lead them to make any kind of purchase. Lead Nurturing, on the other hand, consists in identifying the specific needs of the public and then adapting the content to the different target segments (or even to individual users, when necessary). Lead education campaign content should be designed to inform and entertain in a personalized and relevant way.
- Lay the foundations for sales. Even the best marketing can be completely useless if it doesn't ultimately translate into sales. But if you are not in a hurry to sell and build a relationship of trust, there is a high probability that the contact will turn to us when they are ready to buy.
Lead Nurturing Tools
To create engagement with a specific contact, be it lead, customer or simple user, the Lead Nurturing strategy uses very different tools, trying to exploit as much as possible all the different touchpoints available. Although this technique is widely used to establish a concrete relationship with the potential lead, the user can also be engaged in a phase that is not properly suited to the range of action of Lead Nurturing. In Lead Generation, the user is attracted to a certain product content, with the aim of converting it into a lead and then into a customer; in Lead Nurturing, on the other hand, the important thing is to nourish the user's interest at any stage of his buyer journey. A contact descending into the conversion funnel is not always ready to purchase, which is why it must be guided and continuously stimulated by the company communicator. Similarly, a contact who has already become a customer should not be abandoned, but periodically updated and educated in order to possibly cross-sell.
Benefit of lead nurturing
- The opinion of an expert.
The interesting thing about Lead Nurturing is that, if applied in a thoughtful and adequate way, it can significantly increase the brand authority.By giving an informative cut to the communication, the user will perceive you as a professional in the sector and not as yet another inveterate salesman. Identify yourself with the person reading on the other side of the screen, understand what they want and provide them with the information they are looking for: this is the formula for creating a serious and trusting relationship.
- Stimulates growth.
Most of the leads, once they have descended into the funnel, are taken by doubts and decide not to buy immediately. What would happen if these were left to fend for themselves? Your company would likely see them fade into the distance, as would the efforts made to attract them and advance them along the purchase path. Avoiding this waste is possible thanks to the Lead Nurturing strategy.More than 50% of overseas marketers say that Lead Nurturing increases sales opportunities by 10%. This is because: leads are not left to themselves in the final decision and customers are not abandoned after the purchase.
- Automation
Properly managing the countless touchpoints available today and at the same time producing personalized messages based on the target and interests, can seem an onerous and complicated process. Fortunately, platforms are now available on the market that allow you to automate all relationship and contact processes with the target audience, combining artificial intelligence tools to provide the correct communication for your marketing strategy.
Come and visit us at the IAB Forum on November 15th and within the Lead Generation Workshop: from strategy to contact management! E-Business Consulting will also talk about effective Lead Nurturing strategies depending on the target and business objectives. Contact us for any needs or details!
