The article below, by the author of this blog, a Business to Business marketing and demand generation expert, published in TheCustomerCollective, SandHill.com and CustomerThink. We also wish to share it with our valued readers here.
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According to lead generation expert, Brian Carroll, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, as many as 9 out of 10 visitors to your website are not ready to buy now.
This means you need to find a way to stay in touch with those 9 and build trust – so that when they’re ready to buy, they buy from you.
The process of keeping in touch with prospective buyers by sharing valuable information till they’re ready to buy is called “Lead Nurturing.”
Should you do Lead Nurturing?
Here are some salient facts from experts:
• Sales lead expert, Mac McIntosh, found that six months after inquiring, 23% of the surveyed subjects had bought the product or service, from the promoter or from a competitor. An additional 67% indicated that they still intended to buy but they were not ready.
• According to Forrester Research, companies that excel at lead nurturing are able to generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead.
• According to CSO Insights, companies that excel at lead nurturing have 9% more sales reps make quota, and enjoy a 10% shorter ramp up time for new reps.
• According to DemandGen Report, nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20 percent increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.
Today’s marketers must synchronize their marketing throughout the buying process, providing potential buyers with high quality content that is contextually relevant. As Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer showed, buyers look for content throughout the buying cycle.
It’s clear lead nurturing makes economic sense, but most B2B sellers have no idea how to set up a lead nurturing program. So our goal here is to share actionable information.
What are the 7 Keys to a Successful Lead Nurturing Program?
1. Lead nurturing starts with research
Figure out who your ideal buyers are and research what makes them tick. What are their problems? Where do they go for information? How do they like to consume information? The better you know them, the better you can communicate with them.
2. Develop a content map
We have a sample on the Free Tools page at Find New Customers, but you want to map your content across the buying process using many buying variable, such as industry, stage of process, title, media type, etc. Your goal’s to help them move through the buying process.
3. Create missing content
Your content map will undoubtedly have holes. Create content to fill those holes.
4. Walk the buyer on a journey from Problem to Solution.
Your content should walk them on a journey – from the problems of today to the solutions of tomorrow. With your insights, you should understand their problems and how your products and services will be the solution to those problems.
5. Use Catch Factors® (credit: Ardath Albee of MarketingInteractions) to get their attention.
Make sure each piece of content can identify one or more Catch Factors
• Urgency (Why do they need it?)
• Impact (What will result?)
• Effort (How hard will it be?)
• Reputation (Can I trust you?) and
• Intent (Why should I buy from you?)
Include a Call to Action (What you want them to do, such as visit a landing page to learn more) and a Cliff Hanger® (Ardath Albee)
– think of the TV show “Breaking Bad” or “Rescue Me” Each show ends with scene from next week. Exciting stuff. That’s a cliff hanger. You want to grab their interest and keep it.
6. Space out your communication
Between 2 and 4 weeks is generally best. It’s ideal if you can ask the prospect for his or her own preferred pace.
7. Launch your program, measure the results and refine your program.
Lead nurturing should be a continuous journey, and not a task.
Jeff Ogden, Find New Customers, @fearlesscomp, www.findnewcustomers.com