The 5 Best Ways to Nurture Leads

Last week, I discussed some easy ways to capture more leads on your site. The inevitable question then becomes, So now what?

According to the B2B Marketing Benchmark Report, 74% of all B2B leads are not "sales-ready." So how do you stay relevant and keep your brand top of mind until those consumers are ready to buy? You need to drive those leads to the sales finish line. Let's talk today about the car that will get you there.

Here are five best practices to effectively nurture leads so most become new sales for your business.

1. Qualify

Before you bring them into your car, you should make sure this person is right for you. You know your target consumer – does this person fit that criterion? Determine if someone is a good lead with a brief quiz. It doesn't have to be invasive or extensive, just a few pointed questions that lets your organization know if this is a person worth further investment.

Qualify your leads with a brief quiz. Make it fun. Optimize it for mobile. And keep it short.

2. Use E-Mail

Yes – Snapchat and Twitter and Pinterest are all buzzy and trendy and fun. But when it comes to nurture campaigns, use e-mail as your vehicle. 74% of consumers prefer to receive commercial communications via e-mail. E-mails' organic reach and click through rates are exponentially better than any other medium out there, including Twitter and Facebook.

Don't get fancy with this – use e-mail as the vehicle that will drive your leads to salestown.

3. Use Dynamic Content

If there's one thing you take away from this, understand the importance of dynamic content in lead nurturing. Generic e-mail blasts will not work. Instead, use content to attract leads and gain knowledge about each lead. Then use that knowledge to customize relevant e-mails fueled by dynamic, engaging content.

If you have stagnant, old, irrelevant content fueling your nurture campaigns, they simply won't work. Your car won't run. It will sputter and stall.

Let's say you have a real estate website. Someone comes to your site and expresses interest in a specific property. Your nurture campaigns should include information on that specific property. These e-mails are relevant to what they are interested in and feature content they connect to. Your car is cruising!

It doesn't have to be real estate. Let's say you sell home insurance. You pull in leads from your website by providing a safety assessment of a property they identify. You then e-mail them periodically about changes that occur within their neighborhood – i.e. weather patterns, crime statistics, burglaries, etc. – that directly correspond to the type of insurance you sell. This type of content is dynamic, compelling, and will be consumed.

4. Keep the timing consistent

If you send e-mails once a quarter, they won't be effective. The goal of any nurture campaign is to stay engaged with your leads and make sure you're top of mind when they're ready to purchase. So keep the timing consistent – weekly or at least twice a month is best.

It's a lot of work to create custom e-mails at this pace, so you'll want to utilize a system that automates the process. Just turn it on and let it do the work for you. It's like cruise control.

5. Make your Call to Action Clear

In every single e-mail, there should be a clear call to action, so when the lead is ready for purchase, they know what you want them to do. In the case of the real estate site, it can be the name and contact information of an agent. Whatever the path, make sure it's clear for the lead to find how to close the sale. Without clear directions, your car will just drive around in circles.

So let's pull this all together: you want to qualify leads first, use e-mail to maintain the conversation, reach out to them frequently, and have a clear call to action. The most important thing, though, is the fuel: dynamic content. Without that, this car will not run. With dynamic content behind your nurture campaigns, you'll see tremendous results.

We have turnkey and custom solutions that use dynamic content to effectively nurture leads. Wouldn't you like 35% open rates after three months of a nurture campaign? That's the power of good content. We have the answer. Contact us today to learn more.

Next week I'll discuss tips on repurposing this type of content to drive traffic.

To view the original article, visit the Onboard Informatics blog.