Who is Involved in Your Lead Nurturing Campaign?
Cecily Giancaterino
May 25, 2023
∙
17 min read
Lead-Gen
You’ve heard it many times: nurturing leads converts more prospects into customers. But no one tells you what effective lead nurturing really is. Companies implement a strategy, but the components of successful lead nurturing may be missing.
That’s a problem because lead nurturing truly is an important part of any marketing strategy or sales cycle. Here is a guide to what’s involved in creating a great lead nurturing process.
Key Takeaways:
Nurturing leads converts more prospects into customers. But no one tells you what effective lead nurturing really is. Companies implement a strategy, but the components of successful lead nurturing may be missing.
That’s a problem because lead nurturing truly is an important part of any marketing strategy or sales cycle. Here is a guide to what’s involved in creating a great lead nurturing process.
Here are some things you can do to craft a winning lead nurturing strategy:
1. Utilize email marketing to attract and segment leads.
2. Maintain your company's social media presence with fresh and relevant content.
3. Always follow up with your leads in an appropriate fashion.
4. Conduct surveys to learn more about the needs of your customers.
5. Understand and use sales funnels.
What Is Lead Nurturing?
Lead nurturing is simply when a business builds a relationship with a potential customer. It’s an important component of inbound marketing, which is the use of social media, content marketing, and other online communications to grab a prospect’s attention. When done well, it keeps your company top of mind.
If you have too many dormant leads, lead nurturing is perfect for resurrecting a potential customer’s interest in your company. After all, they could have been waiting to hear back from you and thought that you lost interest in them. Today’s sales cycles are longer than they’ve been in the past, as buyers today do more research and explore more options, thanks to the wealth of information available online. Fostering relationships lets them know your company is one of those options.
Lead nurturing introduces prospects to your company. Landing pages often don’t have enough room to show the value of your products and services. Lead nurturing gives you the opportunity to fill in the details and demonstrate how you address a customer’s pain points.
Unfortunately, the benefits of lead nurturing are not realized at many companies. Some include it as part of their marketing strategy but then let it fall by the wayside. That’s often because they’re not sure how to go about it.
No matter how you implement it, lead nurturing is similar to any other relationship. The more you put into it, the more you’re likely to get out of it. That said, there are some best practices that result in leads being converted into loyal customers.
Email Marketing Offers a High Return
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to start and nurture the buyer’s journey. Out of all the ways to reach new leads, email campaigns often offer a higher return than other efforts.
That’s partly because email marketing is more cost-effective than advertising and partly because it’s more personalized. Dividing email subscribers into smaller groups based on criteria defined in your CRM system is a great way to make leads feel like you’re talking directly to them.
For example, if you obtained a group of email addresses from website visitors who downloaded a whitepaper or some case studies, you know they’re interested in a particular topic. Lead nurturing emails can then use that interest to start a new conversation. If you’ve spent the time to develop unique buyer personas, take what you know about your audience and use it to refine your targeting.
A marketing automation platform will help you through the process of identifying, segmenting, and targeting the right groups to email. Some of the functionality these platforms offer includes the ability to send triggered emails based on certain actions. This includes when a user downloads a certain piece of content or clicks on a link on your site or in email, or if they simply display a high level of engagement with your site.
Just make sure your emails are concise, friendly, and relevant to your recipients. Always include a call to action (CTA) at the end. CTAs direct your leads to take an action to learn more, and this is a lower-cost opportunity to learn more about their interests.
The Types of Emails You Can Send
One of the reasons email marketing has such a great rate of return is that it’s very versatile. You can send all sorts of content to interested leads, increasing the chance that you’ll send them some content that really appeals to them. Some of the types of emails you can create include newsletters, product updates, industry news, promotions, and more.
You can even direct leads to other sales channels. For instance, if you’ve acquired a lead through your website or a webinar, your emails might point them to a retail location or to download your mobile app.
The opportunities are really endless with email marketing. Don’t overdo it, though. Make sure every email marketing campaign is targeted and personalized and has the potential to move a customer through the sales funnel.
Maintain a Social Media Presence
Social media is a great way to start up a new customer relationship. It offers an easy way for interested parties to talk to your company, in a place where they spend their free time. This is particularly true if you are targeting the 18–34 age demographic.
To acquire new leads on social media, you need to maintain your presence. Make sure your accounts are updated with relevant content regularly and on the right platforms. It also helps to be mindful of the latest trends and memes going around the internet.
Once you’ve got some interaction on social media, respond to those who post comments and questions. This is great for keeping the attention of new leads. And on a side note, social media is also good for chatting with existing customers. You might even consider creating a dedicated customer service account.
Social media also presents an opportunity for ad retargeting. Potential customers who may have forgotten about your products and services will remember the ad campaign and your company.
Always Follow Up With Your Leads
It may seem obvious to follow up with potential leads, but that doesn’t mean it always gets done in a timely manner.
A follow-up email or phone call at the right time is more effective than automated methods. So what is the right time? It will depend on how you last had contact with the prospect. If it was via a website conversation, then an immediate follow-up is in order. On the other hand, if you just talked to a lead on the phone, you’ll want to work out a follow-up time with them and stick to it.
No matter when you do the follow-up, make sure you’ve given yourself enough time to do some research. Look into their company or LinkedIn page and see what you can learn that might lead to an effective follow-up conversation.
Keep Your Data Up to Date
When you have a number of people in your sales and marketing teams, keeping a prospect's details up to date can be a real challenge. If the prospect deals with different team members each time they get in touch, getting an overall picture of the client and their needs and intentions can be a tricky process.
CRM software can assist with your data management and appointment setting; when new calls and information about contacts comes in, each team member can update that person's profile as appropriate — immediately sharing any new developments with the rest of the team should someone else happen to take a call from that prospect in the future. When using a CRM with other features such as e-commerce analytics and email marketing, a contact's details can be updated with information about those channels too, giving an overall picture of their interest in you.
However, the most important factor in a CRM's effectiveness is the need for all users to update it consistently with all pertinent information. One member of staff forgetting to update it or even purposefully withholding information can mean the difference between a happy and unhappy customer; so ensure that all staff members are trained to use any such tools to the same level and they use them routinely.
Align Sales and Marketing Strategies
Sales and marketing teams can contribute equally to lead nurturing efforts. When the strategies in both departments are aligned, you’ll get more conversions and customer retention rates will also improve.
Start by identifying which points in the buyer’s journey marketing is responsible for and which parts belong to sales teams. Find the part of the process when a lead transitions from one team to the other. Various metrics like lead scoring, click-through rates, workflow enrollment, and conversion rates can help you pinpoint the moments when a new customer moves along the sales process.
Setting expectations, responsibilities, and goals across sales and marketing will help each team hold the other accountable. You might even consider drafting a service level agreement (SLA) between the two groups so that everyone is clear on what they should be doing to bring in more customers.
Conduct Surveys
Understanding your leads requires you to understand their needs. Surveys present a great opportunity for potential customers to tell you exactly what those needs are — in their own words.
Of course, asking them about their needs in person, over email, or in phone calls is something you should always do. But online surveys tend to bring out information that customers don’t relay in person.
Perhaps that’s because they feel more comfortable writing about what they’re looking for. Or it could be that they just weren’t thinking of something the last time you talked to them. When presented with a survey, people will take more time to think about their answers.
Once you have a good amount of survey data, it can be used to further your targeting and segmentation efforts.
Monitor Preferred Contact Channels
In our personal and professional lives, we all know that people have communication preferences. Some people prefer chatting on the phone, others like email, others may prefer text messages or social media. If a client has a certain preference, it's important to oblige by that method of communication.
Additionally, always note how you came to be in touch with that person in the first place. Did you meet them in person at a trade show?
Did they find you through a web search? Or did they come to be on your radar through an online lead generation method like a web form or a resource provided in return for their details? Establishing this information about each contact can play a big part in what content they would most like to receive and how.
For example, if someone downloaded a free ebook in exchange for their email address, not only have they shown an interest in your company but also in the content you produce. This means that they may well be interested in regular blog post roundups or even information about further downloadable resources.
Of course, you can also intersperse these with the occasional offer here and there, but a 100% hard sell approach here would likely turn these people away.
For another example, imagine that someone visited your booth at a trade show and seemed very interested in your product — almost ready to buy. This person would probably be much better contacted by email or phone with an exclusive offer tailored to visitors of the show.
These are the types of potential leads that are much closer to buying than the first example, so you need to strike while the iron is hot! However, if it does turn out to be a no, that doesn't mean you can't try and pique their interest with more information and offers going forward.
Understand Sales Funnels
Sales funnels can help greatly with lead nurturing campaigns. To summarize the concept, visualize a standard kitchen funnel with the wide end at the top and the narrow end at the bottom.
Imagine new or uninterested leads entering at the top, and progressing down through the funnel represents them becoming more interested in your offer and closer to buying. Those who make it out of the end of the funnel are those who have agreed to buy.
This may seem like an unusual metaphor for the sales process, but a sales funnel can be broken down into the different stages of your sales process. If you split your leads into these categories, it helps you and your team visualize where each lead fits into the big picture.
The funnel image works well because you are likely to start with a large amount of less interested leads and the group gets smaller as people drop out of the process.
Starting at the wide end and moving towards the narrow end, a sales funnel's categories may take a similar path to this example:
Uninterested Lead > Interested Lead > Active Enquiry > Sent Quote > Agreed Quote & Invoicing > Receipt of Payment > Delivery of Product/Service
Use Lead Scoring
Lead scoring is the practice of ranking prospects on a scale from most to least potentially valuable to your company. The purpose of this is to focus on and prioritize the most valuable contacts or perhaps market differently to prospects depending on their perceived level of value.
This exercise also forces you to evaluate what prospect characteristics mean the most to your organization as a whole. Lead scores can be driven by the potential monetary revenue that that prospect may bring in. Perhaps it could be a different factor entirely such as potential retention levels or the likelihood of repeat business.
Maybe your score could be a mixture of different factors. However you choose to score your leads, make sure it ties in seamlessly with your business and what you're after in a client.
Using sales funnels and lead scoring are great ways to evaluate how valuable each lead is to you. They also help you pinpoint which leads need what information at what time, and in what ways. Using these tools will convert more leads and keep customers happy.
FiveCRM Is Your Solution to Lead Nurturing
You probably already know you need a robust CRM solution to do effective lead segmentation and email targeting. FiveCRM has created such a platform. It’s the only CRM specifically designed for telemarketing — but that’s not all.
We also offer lead management software that helps you fill the sales funnel. With our lead generation tools, you can generate and convert higher-quality leads. Custom scoring, tracking, scraping, and warming tools help see your leads through every step of a lead nurturing program.
Our integrated lead management software gives you in-depth customer details, bringing you next-level visibility into every lead. FiveCRM also helps you find decision-makers with our integrated LinkedIn contact scraper.
To see how FiveCRM’s suite of products can optimize your lead nurturing strategy, send us a message or stop by our site today.
FAQs
Q: Who is involved in a lead nurturing campaign?
A: A lead nurturing campaign typically involves multiple stakeholders, including marketing and sales teams. Marketing teams develop and execute the campaign strategy, while sales teams follow up with leads, provide personalized communication, and guide prospects through the sales process.
Q: What is the role of marketing in a lead nurturing campaign?
A: Marketing teams play a crucial role in a lead nurturing campaign. They create content, develop targeted messaging, segment leads, and automate communication. They focus on building brand awareness, establishing trust, and delivering valuable information to engage and nurture leads.
Q: How does sales contribute to lead nurturing?
A: Sales teams contribute to lead nurturing by following up with leads, providing personalized communication, addressing specific needs, and guiding prospects towards a purchase decision. They leverage their expertise to build relationships, overcome objections, and close deals.
Q: How can marketing and sales collaborate effectively in lead nurturing?
A: Effective collaboration between marketing and sales is vital for successful lead nurturing. Regular communication, sharing of insights, and alignment on lead qualification criteria and messaging ensure a seamless transition from marketing-generated leads to sales follow-up.
Q: What types of content are used in lead nurturing campaigns?
A: Lead nurturing campaigns utilize various types of content, including educational articles, blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, webinars, and email newsletters. The content is designed to provide value, address pain points, and guide leads towards a purchasing decision.
Q: How can automation tools support lead nurturing campaigns?
A: Automation tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems and marketing automation platforms, support lead nurturing campaigns by automating repetitive tasks, scheduling follow-ups, and tracking lead engagement. They enable personalization at scale and help streamline the nurturing process.
Q: What metrics should be tracked to measure the success of a lead nurturing campaign?
A: Key metrics to track the success of a lead nurturing campaign include lead conversion rates, engagement rates, email open and click-through rates, and the progression of leads through the sales funnel. Additionally, revenue generated from nurtured leads is a critical indicator of success.
Q: How long should a lead nurturing campaign last?
A: The duration of a lead nurturing campaign depends on various factors, including the sales cycle length and the complexity of the product or service. Typically, lead nurturing campaigns can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
Q: Can lead nurturing campaigns be customized for different buyer personas?
A: Yes, lead nurturing campaigns should be customized for different buyer personas. Understanding the unique needs, preferences, and pain points of each buyer persona allows for tailored messaging and communication that resonates with specific segments of your target audience.
Q: How often should leads be contacted in a lead nurturing campaign?
A: The frequency of contact in a lead nurturing campaign depends on factors such as the buyer's engagement level, the sales cycle length, and the complexity of the product or service. Regular communication is essential, but it should be balanced to avoid overwhelming leads.
Michael King says...
"I can’t think of a time where a client has requested something that we weren’t able to do with FiveCRM. Unlike most systems, it has a lot of flexibility."
Managing Director, Senior Response
JAINE HUSBANDS SAYS...
“Each client, and each of their campaigns, has its own unique specifications. We essentially needed to set up mini CRMs on one platform to meet those requirements.”
Operations Director, Team Telemarketing
Why wait?
Start improving your outbound efficiency now, with the most customizable Telesales solution on the market.