Let's start building a successful email lead nurturing campaign
If you are already a skilled email marketer and you're driving leads and closing sales, congratulations! But we know there are lots of you who are just starting to implement email marketing into your inbound marketing efforts.
In order to properly implement a strategic lead nurturing campaign we must first grasp what exactly lead nurturing is. In a nutshell, lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with your leads and enables marketers to develop and align marketing materials specifically for their leads for continued engagement. According to our friends at HubSpot, - "50% of leads are qualified but not ready to buy."
Whatever stage you may be at with your email marketing, in today's post we are going to guide you through the most effective ways for closing more leads with an email nurturing campaign.
Ready... Set... You've got mail.
Determine your Goals
It sounds simple enough right? - As easy as it sounds, if you neglect to map out your goals you could completely derail your email marketing campaign. Whether you're trying to increase the number of leads or increase lead quality, make sure you determine your goals, audience and success metrics before you start building your campaign.
We have talked about establishing goals for email marketing campaigns before. Check out one of our most recent posts on email marketing and determine your goals for fast and effective results.
Start Nurturing from the Beginning
As soon as your prospect expresses any interest (i.e. visits your site, retweets a post, etc.) be there to start nurturing as soon as they enter the horizon. If your prospect becomes a blog subscriber, begin sending them information that is aligned with their interests. For example, if your prospect is interested in sales-related topics, provide them with content that talks about sales and then nurture them with additional material to get them in a position to buy.
Educate your Readers
Educating your prospects is very important if you're looking to close a sale. It is always one of the easiest ways to shorten your sales cycle. Focus on one topic per email so you aren't bombarding your lead with too much information at once. If you educate them overtime, with relevant content, you can move them through the funnel based upon which stage of the sales process they are in. Focus on educating your reader and offering solutions to their problems without being too "salesey." Remember that inbound marketing is about enticing and attracting prospects and leads, instead of intruding and interrupting like many traditional marketing techniques.
Harness the Power of Marketing Automation
Marketing automation refers to software that is designed to automate your marketing tasks. In essence, marketing automation nurtures leads through the buyer's journey (or sales funnel) with the use of content that is aligned with your prospects needs and interests. Marketing automation is a highly beneficial tool to use in your strategy because you can get more personalized with the content you send. You'll start sending content that is based on your prospects behavior and what stage they're in, rather than blasting general information. If your prospect is in the early stages of the funnel, you want them to be reading information that sparks an interest. If the prospect is moving further down the funnel, you want to provide them with information that motivates them to schedule a demo or purchase your offering.
Segment Your Audience
For a more efficient and effective strategy start segmenting your audience to improve your overall results. I highly recommend segmenting your audience by persona and lifecycle. The benefits of segmenting your contacts are endless, but just think of how much more organized your process will feel when you can differentiate your prospects and leads from your customers. With this in motion you can guarantee you're providing the right content at the right time.
Get Personal
For the best results with your email campaign, all of your emails should be personalized! Tailor your emails around your prospects actions, behaviors and interests. And when they have questions about something that you're offering, make sure they're directed to the right person in your organization. Selecting the right representative for every question can make a good impression on your prospect, which will ultimately guide them through the final stages of the funnel and make your company stand out as someone who exceeds their expectations. If you want to connect with your prospect and build a lasting relationship you need to break the stereotype and show that you truly care about their business.
Get Permission
Before you start rapidly sending out a series of emails consider how this could scare your leads away. With permission marketing you can start delivering anticipated, personalized emails that will resonate with your recipient. With permission marketing you reach your lead in a whole new way. Instead of just delivering information you earn the right to entice your readers overtime. Permission marketing understands that your lead isn't ready to rush things but they need a series of emails tailored to every need.
Think of permission marketing to be a little like dating. You don't just ask your lead to be your girlfriend on the first date! You earn this right overtime. Good things come to those who wait, or who are patient and cautious but still motivated to see results.
Harness the Power of Smarketing
If you are unfamiliar with the term smarketing, it is the process of aligning your marketing and sales teams. If you are generating leads but your sales team isn't there to follow up, your email marketing efforts will be a waste of your time. Since your sales team are the ones who are connecting with your leads they should know the background of information of what your leads are downloading. This will allow for your sales team to get personal and have an understanding of their interests and needs.
We have found that putting smarketing to the test has increased our number of leads and conversions. Need help getting started with smarketing? Check out this post from our friends at HubSpot.
In essence lead nurturing has been highly beneficial to our success and as a result we have seen an increase in our conversion rate! How do you plan on implementing these tips?
What did you think of today's post? Share with us in a comment below!
Image Source: Shutterstock
Tag(s):
Demand Generation
