You’ve recently redesigned your website. People are starting to contact you through your new contact form. You’re excited but a little overwhelmed. You’re wondering what to do with all of these new contacts. Lead nurturing is the answer.

What is lead nurturing, you ask?

Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with those who contact you with the goal of earning their business when they’re ready. In practice, lead nurturing is a marketing effort. It is focused on engaging with current and potential customers in a way that encourages them to progress toward a specific action. 

This approach is a timely, efficient, and targeted way to connect with your contacts. By taking this kind of approach, you can deliver helpful content with the right context. For example, sending emails to those who subscribe to your newsletter. Regardless of which marketing channel you use in your lead nurturing strategy, it’s an opportunity to both provide value to your leads and grow your business.

Here are five elements of building your lead nurturing strategy:

1. It’s About Time!

Like with any marketing strategy, successful lead nurturing provides value to your leads by offering them the information they need at the right time. Consider where in your typical customer’s lifecycle each lead is. Then, nurture that lead according to their interests and lifecycle stages. 

For example, you wouldn’t send an email welcoming someone to your mailing list who has already been on it for some time. Likewise, you wouldn’t write a blog directed at a new prospect like you would one for an existing customer. 

2. Consider Your Content

When it comes to your website, pages your leads visit and content they consume indicate how you should nurture them. That is why you should adapt your marketing messaging to stay relevant to those who follow you. This helps you win new customers faster while keeping up the conversation with your existing customer base. 

For example, let’s say you own a home improvement store. If a contact downloads a checklist titled “Tips to Prepare Your Home for Winter,” then you can send a follow-up piece of content building off that subject. It could be a blog post on how to make sure pipes don’t freeze. This way, you continue the conversation with additional content relevant to what they’re interested in learning about.

3. Be Patient

On average, it takes around 6-8 interactions to generate a viable sales lead. That’s 6-8 conversations or pieces of content that your contacts interact with before they become a qualified sales lead.

You may be excited about making the sale, but it won’t happen until your potential customer is ready. Make sure you’re ready when they are by keeping the conversation going through the content and other interactions. 

4. Use Automation

You may be a hands-on kind of person, but marketing automation can be your biggest asset when it comes to lead nurturing. When we say marketing automation, we refer to software that can be used in automating your marketing actions. Many marketing professionals automate repetitive tasks, such as emails, social media, and other website actions.

Regardless of which marketing channel you use, automation technology makes these tasks easier. It helps you deliver your content to your leads at the right time and in the right format for them. You can even develop nurturing campaigns that deliver content based on actions your leads take with your company. 

For example, you can trigger events after contacts take certain actions by using marketing automation software. These can include downloading a piece of content, opening a specific page on your website, or requesting information from you through your website’s contact form. This, in turn, saves you time by allowing your contacts to find the information they’re seeking on their own terms.  

5. Make a Plan

Like with any other marketing action you take, you need to have a plan. Knowing what you need to do before you start any lead nurturing campaign helps you develop strategies that add value to your leads and existing customers alike. Think about which leads you’d like to nurture and focus your efforts on them. 

For example, buyer personas are a useful tool you can use to create the most relevant content for your lead nurturing campaigns. They also help you to understand who will be consuming it. Your persona should paint a picture of who you ideally want to reach. By having an image of the person you’re trying to reach, you can create the right content for them.

Ready to Start Lead Nurturing?

Your lead nurturing strategy can serve as the foundation to build successful content marketing campaigns upon. When you create a lead nurturing strategy, you help grow your business and provide value to your leads at the same time. If you want to start a lead nurturing campaign, but aren’t sure how we can help. Contact Links Web Design for a free consultation.

Links Web Design is a marketing agency in Bangor, ME, and Fruitland Park, FL.