Implement a Lead Nurturing Campaign that Works

One of the most exciting things about digital marketing is it makes the process of lead nurturing so much easier than it was in the past. Instead of spending hours on the phone and miles pounding the pavement, you can use simple online tools to bring highly-motivated customers into your fold.

In order to help you understand how to implement lead-nurturing in practice, we have put together this sample campaign for a fictional company called A1 Solutions. They help small businesses get the most out of their technology, and they are most interested in attracting customers that either doesn’t have an IT partner or are unsatisfied with their current partner. Keep in mind that this is just an example – these tips would work for any company interested in lead nurturing.

Step 1: Find the Lead

The difference between lead nurturing and simply driving traffic to your website is that lead nurturing gives a name and a face to the traffic. That way you can tailor specific strategies around the needs of your visitors, and offer a personalized touch that is usually absent from a basic website.

A1 solutions know that its target audience is interested in getting more from IT, saving money on IT, and making sense of quickly-evolving technologies. They start writing keyword targeted blog posts focused on these issues and post them weekly on their website to attract interested small businesses. At the end of each post, they include a call to action saying “Learn more about effective small business IT solutions by downloading our free whitepaper.”

Since A1 solutions know these issues are important to its customers, and everyone is interested in getting something for free; the whitepaper is an appealing offer. But in order to download it, visitors are asked to provide their name, the name of their business, and their full contact information. This is not a lot to ask for, and for most visitors, it is a small hurdle in order to get the whitepaper. But for A1 solutions, it begins building a database of interested leads. In addition to whitepapers, a business could use:

• eBooks
• Podcasts
• Slide Show Presentations
• Coupons or Discounts

Step 2: Address the Lead

Now that A1 Solutions has the contact information for interested leads, it is simple to send a follow-up email thanking them for downloading the whitepaper and pointing them towards other relevant blog posts/content. This helps A1 Solutions in a number of ways:

• It keeps the lead focused on A1 Solutions
• It helps establish their IT expertise
• It helps define a lead’s needs in more specific terms
• It offers the lead a chance to reach out to A1 solutions directly

Step 3: Nurture the Lead

Even if the potential client takes no action following the initial follow up email, A1 Solutions sends out a second follow up checking in on the client and pointing them to more content. The goals are essentially the same as step 2, but this is a crucial juncture in the lead nurturing campaign.

If the lead is generally interested, they will make the effort to engage further. If not, the second follow up might seem like unwelcome pestering. The key is crafting a carefully worded email. Be sure to include these elements:

• An attention-grabbing subject line
• A personalized greeting
• Clear, concise, and direct messaging
• Links to relevant and increasingly specialized content
• A strong call to action

Step 4: Hook the Lead

In its third and final follow up email, A1 Solutions makes a strong statement encouraging the lead to contact them directly to begin developing a customized IT solution. In order to sweeten the deal, they offer a free assessment, a month of free service, or some other special offer. The lead is clearly instructed to call a certain number, visit a certain part of the website, or speak directly to a certain expert. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for the lead to begin engaging with the company directly. If the lead nurturing campaign has gone as planned, the lead will draw a certain conclusion about A1 Solutions:

• This is a company that understands my needs
• This is a company that has reached out to me personally
• This is a company that is proactively courting my businesses
• This is a company that respects my time and investment

A Lead Nurturing Campaign Can Work for You

Wouldn’t you want to do business with a company like that? Keep in mind, too, that by using digital tools, much of the work of a lead nurturing campaign can be automated and later analyzed to gather valuable insights. This approach doesn’t just produce more leads in less time with less work, it helps you to maximize the value of each one of those leads. If you are interested in starting your own lead nurturing campaign and you need an expert partner, work with the digital specialists at Studio C5.

Request a free digital marketing consultation.