Lead Nurturing Best Practices

Lead Nurturing Best Practices

Provide more valuable content with expert insights.
The first priority in lead nurturing is to make sure you have something valuable to teach your leads. Think of your lead nurturing emails as mini blog posts. For example, your first nurturing email might focus on the “top five considerations to make before purchasing IT Asset Mgmt solutions.” Continue teaching your leads something new, and they will value receiving your emails.

Focus on one relevant topic per email.
Each nurturing email should be focused around one topic and include a call to action. Put yourself in your lead’s shoes as they are bombarded by messages all day long. Keep the content of your email tied directly to the topic the lead initially converted on. For example, if your lead downloaded a FAQ white paper on IT Asset Mgmt, they are likely near the top of the funnel, researching a future purchase. Your first email’s topic could be “selling the importance of IT Asset Mgmt to your management team.” Speak directly to the problem your lead is trying to solve.

Keep it short.
The lead should be able to glance at your email and know within five seconds the value it provides to them.

Ensure the emails progress naturally.
Carefully planning the flow of your emails will help you create well-rounded campaigns that pull your leads through the sales funnel. The first email after the initial conversion might be educational, while subsequent emails should continue to educate while giving the lead an opportunity to convert a second time. Work with your sales team to determine what qualifies as a sales ready lead and craft your lead nurturing campaigns accordingly.

Test your emails and track key metrics.
It’s not about email open rates. It’s about progressing the lead into pipeline and revenue.

Personalize the emails.
You should be sending different emails to different types of leads and personalizing them to who they are specifically. This not only includes who they are as a consumer, but also what their interactions have been with your business thus far. Did they sign up for updates? Have they gotten an automated welcome email? Did they purchase from you once already? Those are all things that should influence and change the content of the email.

Follow these tips to get started:

• • Define the multi-touch email nurturing campaign for each segment
    How many emails, how often, the best topics that focus on must solve problems. The calls to action for each, the proof points (testimonials you will use) then for each email…
  • Choose a purpose.
    Have a goal in mind for your message, whether it is answering an FAQ, delivering on a promised reward, introducing a new product, offering a discount, or sharing other content to engage the lead.
  • Personalize the greeting and subject line.
    An attention-grabbing subject line and a personalized greeting are the initial hooks of a lead nurturing email.
  • Address pain points.
    How can your product improve this lead’s life if they were a customer? Point out a problem that they have that you can solve.
  • Include testimonials.
    Knowing that someone else was pleased with your product or service grows the lead’s trust in your business.
  • Share a knowledge bomb.
    Including a striking piece of information or research will give your lead something that they’ll remember later on their path to becoming a customer.
  • Use a CTA.
    Encouraging your lead to interact with your business through a call-to-action pushes them toward a conversion.
  • Follow up.
    Once the email is sent, track what happens next. Did the lead click on your CTA? Did they continue interacting with your business? Did they do nothing? Use that information to determine the effectiveness of the email and to influence what you send to them next.