When we’re making a purchase, most of us shop around for the best deal—or the best quality, or service, or all of the above. Which is why most leads don’t immediately convert to sales, regardless of where they enter the sales funnel.
According to MarketingSherpa, 73% of leads are not ready to buy when they first give you their contact details.
This is where lead nurturing comes in. These strategic campaigns work to create relationships and encourage consumers or businesses to become active prospects, and eventually, customers. Now more than ever, we’re finding that people don’t want to feel like they’re just a number. They want a personal connection. And above all, they want content that’s relevant to them.
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A recent article in Entrepreneur magazine concurs. “You can no longer create a single funnel or lead magnet and expect success. Your audience are at different stages, and your job as a marketer is to give them the right content at the right time.”
Again, it’s about getting personal. It’s important to first build intimacy with your audience—you can’t sell 24/7. Work to create relationships by providing value and quality, not quantity. Do that by considering where your contacts are in the sales funnel. The Entrepreneur article explains that scenario, placing prospects into three buckets:
- The Sidewalk. Those who are not aware they have a pain or problem
- The Slow Lane. Those who are aware they have a problem, but don’t know enough about the process or methodology to move forward
- The Fast Lane. Those who are ready to commit to a solution, but need more information about what the solution is
After you identify where your leads fall, create specific messaging for each.
This brings intimacy into your lead generation and becomes relevant to the right people at the right time.
- People in your sidewalk are not aware of their problem, so you need to produce micro content that illuminates their pain.
- If they’re in your slow lane you need to educate them about your process, which means more in-depth content (articles, guides, videos, etc.).
- Once they enter your fast lane, you can share intimate and detailed content with them, such as webinars, training sessions and phone calls.
Shamrock helps our clients manage lead nurturing campaigns—making meaningful, personal connections (with the right message, at the right time) using an automated marketing platform.
How do you nurture your sales leads?
If you’re interested in learning more about content strategies and automated tools for lead nurturing campaign management, connect with me on LinkedIn.
