In an industry focused on massive lead generation, marketers can forget that sales involve more than just acquiring leads.
This mindset is also evident when marketers spend most of their capital on getting traffic to their website with SEO, but none of their time and effort on converting the traffic when it gets there.
It’s a numbers game for some people, and the man who has the best numbers wins…or does he? Do an increased number of leads contribute to your bottom line?
Some would argue, yes. This notion may be correct, but a middle ground exists between the two.
If I threw you a bunch of leads who were looking for content writing services, yet you sell social media management and you are terrible at writing, would you gain any profit from those leads? Most likely, not. If I threw even more leads your way and you never gave them what they wanted with proper communication and nurturing, would you gain any profit from those leads? Not a chance.
So, now that we dispelled the equation, Leads=Profit, we can now come up with a new equation that explains this dynamic in more detail.
Leads +Proper Nurturing= Profit
The missing link is nurturing.
Nurturing occurs further down the sales process. Once you acquire leads, you will need to start building a relationship with them.
What constitutes a lead?
Regardless of your internet business, you will acquire leads. They can come in many forms…
- New email subscriber
- New customer – Nurturing aids in repeat sales
- New potential client – Every client that contacts me about my services is a potential sale
- Fans/followers – Though fans/followers on social media are not identified as leads in the technical sense, any person who could potentially become a sale can be nurtured. This nurturing will be much less invasive, though.
Here are some tips to nurturing leads all the way to a sale:
A Match Made in Heaven
Know your leads! When you met your spouse, did you nurture the relationship by giving what they DIDN’T want. Heck no!
For email content, you must know from where you leads arrived. This is best achieved by segmenting email lists by topics. If you run several websites with different topics, you must separate the campaigns so the messages are directly targeted to the person seeking that information.
If you are an affiliate marketer who is using email lists to slowly introduce a merchant’s product, your emails will target the potential buyer at each phase of the sales process. For example, your first email may court the lead and subsequent meals will deliver content that prompts a sale.
If you are selling a product or piece of software, the nurturing may take longer, especially if the sale requires a larger money investment. You need to start the relationship by sending them tips and information related to your product. Once you see a response or a rise in engagement, you can introduce more product-related emails, demos, offers, etc.
Become familiar with the type of lead. If someone simply requests more information on the product, the lead can be identified as a cold lead. The more inclined the prospect is to purchase, the hotter the lead, which will necessitate a more aggressive campaign that targets leads further in the buying process.
Be Normal
I know this sounds trite, but all too often marketers take on a persona they think their prospects want. They become mutant beings with canned phrases and inauthentic verbiage. Have you heard the mantra, “People do not buy from companies; they buy from people”?
Be human; be transparent; be normal. You can instill a human side to your campaign while still remaining professional. The more transparent you are, the more a lead will trust you and what you are offering.
Are you nurturing your leads?
Jenna Scaglione is a content writer, internet marketer, and a lover of family, friends and life. Jenna enjoys learning, growing and discovering the newest and latest trends on the internet. Known as "Lady Content", she lives in sunny Socal where she helps her clients around the world increase brand awareness on the internet through content writing and social media.
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