5 Traits of True Lead Nurturing Programs

Not all lead nurturing programs are created equal. There are some, which generate leads, and others, which burn holes in marketing budgets. To make a lead nurturing program work, one needs to think about multiple facets including the strategy, tactics, technology, and content. But before we get to that, let’s understand the characteristics of a true lead nurturing program.

Provide value, not sales pitch

This one has been done to death in terms of mentions on the web but is still conspicuous by its absence in most lead nurturing programs. It is critical that lead nurturing addresses the pain points of the leads and not sending sales pitch at drop of a hat (read download). Invite prospects into your world and make them comfortable by listening to what they want and addressing their problems – become there trusted adviser.

Keep them engaged. Don’t overwhelm with content

Keeping your prospects engaged with value content without drowning them in a deluge of content is critical. Understand what information your leads need and at what frequency; and them feed them with the right content at right intervals. In addition, remember you may have to breakdown your master prospective lists into smaller lists and build content and publishing calendars for each category.

Don’t push

Don’t jump the gun to send a sales pitch each time your leads open your mails or better, download your content. Keep nurturing till they ask you out – literally. Determine the level of interest at each stage of the sales cycle and create content to help your leads’ progress through the funnel, naturally.

Personalize your message

As mentioned before, segment your leads according to their status in the buying cycle, their demographics, their needs etc and then create targeted content for each of these segments. Avoid sending mails/content that come with “made in factory” tag, rather create content to reflect niche studio creation, produced especially for the lead who is receiving it. This includes personalizing mailers and not using company name in the from field.

Stay focused

Keep your focus on the needs of the prospects. While it’s good to expose the prospects to third party content, but if that is all you do then you are probably benefiting the third party as a trusted source of content. Also, all your content should be around topic(s) your leads want to read. Sending random emails on varied topics, just to keep the reader engaged will not serve the purpose. Evaluate at every step to see where the interest levels are going and what information the lead is seeking.

With these specs in mind, go ahead and create your lead generation program strategy. Need help? Stay tuned for our next post.