Why Lead Nurturing Works

What is lead nurturing?

If lead generation is the creation of potential customer interest into the products or services of a business, then lead nurturing is the nourishing of this interest.

Lead nurturing recognizes that many leads created by lead generation are not sales-ready but are still valuable. In fact, 70% of these non-sales ready leads will eventually buy. The goal of lead nurturing is to move a prospect from any non-buy phase (awareness, interest, learn, shop) to the buy phase.

For example, if you were a supplier of plumbing pipe and you called all the plumbers in your area to ask them if they wanted to buy from you, then that would be lead generation. A large percentage of the plumbers would not be interested in buying from you, however some will agree to be sent more information, these contacts you would put aside for lead nurturing.

Your lead nurturing program could be as simple as, every 3 months you:

  • Email information sheets on the latest pipes to the plumbers and track opens/reads of the email.
  • If they read 3 successive emails;
  • Call them about your new customer promotion (20% off).

The key is that any information you send to your prospects must be useful to them, even if they don’t end up buying from you. This kind of dialog helps build trust and develop a relationship, which moves prospects towards the buy phase and ultimately generates sales-ready leads.

Is lead nurturing right for you?

There is no doubt that lead nurturing is cost-effective; companies that use it generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost.  However, lead nurturing does take longer to generate leads. Unlike a once-off lead generation campaign, lead nurturing is an ongoing activity which requires a bit more thought.

If you already have an up-to-date contact list of prospects who have requested more information, then you are well set to begin a lead nurturing program. If not, you will need some lead generation to build this list.

Can someone do it for me?

Many marketing agencies can help you put together a lead nurturing program; however you should look for an agency who can execute the program without outsourcing to unknown parties. Also look for an agency who can clearly articulate the ROI to your business.

Some agencies also offer pre-packaged lead nurturing programs, which remove all the hassle associated with creating and running a lead nurture program. These packages will include everything necessary such as list buying, list building, content creation and telemarketing.

Alternatively you can start with something more simple such as following up your direct mail or emails with telemarketing.