What is lead nurturing?
The definition of lead nurturing is really quite simple, it's about developing relationships with your leads and nurture them through the buying process.
That's the short version, of course, because there's a lot more to it than that, so let's go into a little more detail.
Often, at least half of the leads in a company database are not yet ready to buy. Regardless of how you got your lead, whether it was by giving them a free guide, through a webinar you held or some other activity, because there are hundreds of ways to generate leads. After all, just because they gave you their information doesn't mean they're ready to give you their money. If you expect them to, that's naive and may actually lead to them rejecting you before you've even had a proper chance.
Lead nurturing - what to do
Your leads are valuable, so take care of them - one way to do that is through lead nurturing! Your leads want information. They don't want to feel pressured to pull out their wallets before they're ready! If you pressure them, you risk losing them forever.
When you first contact a lead, instead of going straight to the steel, just take a softer approach. Most leads won't get excited by a call from you saying, "Hey look at these great products we have! Buy something! " Not to mention no one.
No, instead you should take a more humble and attentive approach. Instead, you should send them your marketing materials that get them interested in what your company does and why they might want to work with you. It's important to know where in the buying process your leads are so you send them relevant, targeted content and not content that will scare them away because they're simply not far enough down the sales funnel.
Why is lead nurturing important?
You cannot go directly from lead generation to conversion. That's simply not how it works, sorry..
Lead nurturing is a much more sustainable strategy, not to mention the economic benefits. In fact, studies have shown that companies that actively engage in lead nurturing achieve up to 50% more sales, at 33% lower costs. So the return on investment is much better when the marketing team works on lead nurturing before the sales team gets their hands on it.
Lead nurturing is therefore incredibly important to include in your strategy. The time it takes to nurture your leads is nothing compared to the return on investment you'll see because of it.
