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

e: bgago@genius.comt: @BarbraGago

Thank you!

Genius.comhttp://www.genius.comt: @genius_com

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