6 Simple Ways To Improve Lead Nurturing

We are moving away from a time where lead generation follows a transactional paradigm. The new way relies on building strong long term relationships between brands and consumers, based on trust, transparency, and value exchange.

As such, the need for strong lead nurturing has become more important than ever as lead buyers aim to maximise value by nurturing all leads that don’t instantly convert and build a strong relationship for when they are ready to.

In this article we set out 6 pillars of lead nurturing you should follow in order to build the strongest possible relationship with prospects and maximise your ROI.

1 - REMEMBER, NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU

One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is talking about themselves and overtly over-selling their good or service. The only thing you should be doing is explaining how you can help your prospective consumer and make their lives better.

Nobody cares about your company. Nobody cares about the awards you have won. Nobody cares about you in any way at all, other than how you can actually help them.

Ultimately people - and consumers - are self-interested and selfish. They have every right to be. They are allowing you the privilege of appearing in their inbox or answering the phone to you, so whatever you do, do not think that talking about how great you are will impress them.

Instead, talk about how you can help solve their problems and make their life a fraction easier, then they may start to care.

2 - GOOD PERSONALISATION TAKES A LITTLE EFFORT

Newsflash, beginning an email with Dear {First Name} is not really personalisation. At least it’s not personalisation worth bragging about. Any idiot with a basic mailing set-up can get a person’s name right, but really, that’s surely a given.

Personalisation means truly understanding a prospect’s needs, wants and pain points, and consequently sending them content which addresses these on a personalised and granular level.

Segment your data, personalise your content, build trust based on proving you understand them.

3 - IF YOU DON’T KNOW, THEN ASK

Okay, if Number 2 seemed difficult, this is why we have number 3. If you don’t think you know enough to personalise your nurturing then you need to go and find that information out! And as they say, if you don’t ask you’ll never know.

A quick survey out to your leads is a brilliant way to build your understanding, segment your data, and personalise your nurturing.

4 - VALUE, VALUE, VALUE!

Once again, it all comes back to value. What are you offering a consumer? What are you giving them? How are you justifying them taking 2 minutes of their day to give you attention?

If you can’t offer actual value then there is no point in contacting someone.

If you can offer value then you can build trust, and all good relationships are built on trust.

Think of it like this: If you haven’t got something valuable to say, don’t say anything at all.

5 - BE CONSISTENT

We’re back to the old way versus the new way. Transactional lead gen is dead. Lead gen now requires building strong relationships, and that takes time. To optimise your lead nurturing, and to get the most out the leads you have, you need to be in this for the long run.

Good lead nurturing requires a consistent approach. Do not expect miracles overnight, but do expect better long term results and ROI if you can be consistent in your nurturing approach.

6 - USE MULTIPLE CHANNELS

How do you like to be contacted? Email? SMS? Phone call? Something else?

Everyone is different and requires nurturing to be done on THEIR terms. If you can segment, use multiple channels, and use the channel best suited to each individual prospect, then you will see far better results.

Remember, it’s not about how you want to contact them, but how they want to be contacted by you. Following that, you can personalise your nurturing. And if in doubt, just remember to ask!

Need us to go a bit deeper? This article was based upon a podcast. You can listen to the full podcast on Spotify or Apple now.