What if you could implement a strategy that would drive 50 percent more sales-ready leads? Shockingly, it's not a new technology or even a new approach. Lead nurturing is a sales tactic that is all too frequently overlooked.
Nurturing existing customers to engage in the sales funnel is particularly valuable for email marketing.
Nurture (verb) To nurture somebody/something is to care for and protect somebody/something while they are growing and developing. Oxford Dictionary
Fundamentally, there are two categories of customers: new customers and existing customers. If you are focused on capturing new customers, this is lead generation. But, according to Small Biz Genius, 80 percent of these leads never convert. Which would mean 80 percent of your marketing budget doesn't convert.
When you nurture existing customers or previously engaged audiences, you are focused on lead nurturing. It's a strategy dedicated to long-term relationships, encouraging new transactions from a target audience already engaged with your brand.
As you nurture this segment, you guide them through the sales funnel, strategically developing the engagement towards a transaction or other end goal. The key to this approach is understanding the buyer's journey as it relates to your brand's well-established sales funnel.
Nurturing already engaged customers generates 50 percent more sales with significantly lower costs (Invespcro) than straight lead generation.
Lead nurturing is especially pertinent for email marketing. A series of thoughtful, automated emails triggered by customer behaviors gets "4-10 more responses than standalone email blasts," as per Small Biz Genius.
The key? Emails must be highly targeted and timely. Effective email nurturing requires list segmentation, personalization, tailored content, and a call to action to bring customers further along their self-directed sales journey.
Automated emails should be personalized to where the buyer is on their journey. For example, did they visit your website, make a purchase six months ago, sign up for a newsletter, or abandon a cart? Their previous engagement and current behavior dictate how you'll follow up.
We tapped our in-house email marketing expert to find out what approaches she recommends for nurturing customers through email.
Fifty-one percent of email marketers say email list segmentation is the most effective way to personalize lead nurturing. Small Biz Genius
Our WUNDERWORX expert advised that personalization is the number one way to nurture leads. And no, that doesn't just mean using their name in the introduction.
Personalization comes from customer intelligence that feeds into list segmentation. You should use this intel to know exactly where they are in their buying journey, to personalize content and offerings specific to their interests
Targeting users with content relevant to their position along the sales funnel yields 73 percent higher conversion rates. Aberdeen
Whether your audience is in the early engagement stage, deep into evaluation, or just about to make a purchase, you have to deliver real value. Focus on keeping the lead 'warm' by leveraging relevant content, promoting applicable videos, providing discounts, and offering real solutions.
A good tactic for long-term nurturing campaigns is to avoid overly salesy emails. Instead, focus nurturing emails on value-add, specific to where the buyer is in their engagement journey.
Ninety-three percent of US companies do A/B testing on their email marketing campaigns. Truelist
What message, subject line, images, and call to action will work best for your goals? The best way to find out is through split testing, also known as A/B Testing. Compare the results of two slightly different emails, and analyze the open rates, click-thrus, and purchases.
The more you test, the more you'll discover successful tactics. As per our expert, "Test until you find out what works." It's as simple as that.
Email marketing, unlike any other channel, touches every stage of the sales funnel. Whether you are B2B or B2C, email marketing is incredibly versatile—and it is the only channel you truly own.
Our lead nurturing campaigns are highly personalized, employing the power of four terabytes of up-to-date consumer data on 260+ million Americans and 25+ million Canadian adults. This unprecedented intel delivers consumer intelligence on an extraordinary scale.
Let WUNDERWORX help you cut through the inbox noise to increase open rates, click-thrus, and sales. Let's have a conversation.