We all know that for a B2B business to thrive and dominate, you need an absolute over-the-top plan to wow your prospects and nurture them, right?
Yes, and there is no shortcut to this success, B2B lead nurture takes a lot of effort, no matter how many people tell you otherwise. But, you can use automation so a lot of it gets done on your behalf.
In this blog, we are talking about best practices that will help your B2B company nurture leads more efficiently. We’ll also show which ones you can automate! So, let’s begin!
An ICP is a description of the type of company that would benefit most from your products or services. This profile includes information about the company's size, industry, revenue, pain points, and goals.
In order to create an ICP, first, collect information about your target audience through surveys, interviews, and analytics. Then, develop a fictional character using HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool.
Anything, literally anything you do, requires planning to do it properly. Lead nurturing shouldn’t be any different.
The goals you can set can include increasing engagement rates, shortening the sales cycle, improving lead-to-customer conversion rates, or enhancing lead quality. Clear goals also help track progress, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate the value of lead nurturing to stakeholders.
A lead scoring system is kind of like a test, where you are giving out points for a lead for meeting certain criteria and taking points for not meeting certain criteria or doing something else.
An example of this would be like this:
Positive Points:
Negative Points:
From this scoring, you can make decisions about ABM, and also decide which leads are not proper, and count them out from your marketing effort. You can automate the entire lead scoring with HubSpot!
Group your leads based on specific criteria such as industry, company size, job role, or buying behaviour. Follow your ICP to segment your leads. This segmentation will allow you to send different messaging to different groups of leads.
For example, if you have a lead group with a company size of over 1000 employees, and another lead group with a company size of 10-50 employees, you can tailor the messaging for these two separate groups, which will be appropriate.
A funnel usually have four stages:
But, in recent years, we have saw the shift from AIDA to inbound methodology, which is:
The main difference between these two models is that Inbound Methodology takes post-sales communication into account as well. This means, you shouldn’t stop marketing to someone just because they bought your product. Keep your marketing focus on them as well, and focus on gaining value from them as well.
Develop a content calendar to plan and organise your lead nurturing efforts. This calendar should include:
This means, planning absolutely everything that will go out to your prospects and leads, and have them approved by a senior marketing manager or advisor.
Automated emails are a powerful tool for nurturing leads and driving conversions. By segmenting your leads based on their actions, behaviour, and interests, you can deliver highly relevant and personalised content that resonates with their needs.
For example, you might send a welcome email to new subscribers, a follow-up email to attendees of a webinar, or a personalised product recommendation based on past purchases.
SLA, or Service Level Agreements are an agreement between marketing and sales departments of a company. An SLA ties both parties to a certain level of commitment and SMART goals that the other party, and in turn, management, can hold accountable for.
An example of an SLA can be:
“Marketing will generate 10 qualified leads in a week and Sales will call them within 1 hour of receiving the leads”
Having an SLA like this will only increase the performance of your employees.
While email and social media are often the primary channels, personalising your outreach with phone calls and direct mail can create a more memorable and impactful experience.
For example, you might send a personalised email to a lead who has visited your website, follow up with a phone call to address their specific questions, and send a direct mail piece to celebrate a milestone or offer a limited-time promotion.
Lead magnets are powerful tools for attracting and capturing leads. You can offer free reports, checklists, or templates in exchange for contact information. These will help you in two ways:
Use personalisation techniques in your communications, such as addressing leads by name, referencing their company, or tailoring content to their specific needs. Personalisation increases engagement and demonstrates that you understand their unique challenges.
In our experience, we always saw that personalisation leads to a better open and click through rate.
Provide logical steps and calls to action so you can guide leads through the buyer's journey and increase their likelihood of making a purchase. This involves mapping out the various stages of the sales process, creating compelling content at each stage, and providing clear instructions or offers to encourage leads to take the next step.
You can automate your buyer journey tasks with HubSpot, and create the entire buyer journey from HubSpot as well.
Offering valuable, educational content is a key strategy for building trust and establishing your brand as a thought leader. This can include blog posts, whitepapers, webinars, case studies, and other forms of content that address your target audience's needs and interests.
For example, you might share a blog post on a common industry challenge, host a webinar on a new technology, or publish a case study highlighting a successful customer implementation.
You can send marketing emails, sales emails, and also blogs from HubSpot.
You probably got those leads by spending money, so you might think you don’t have to anymore. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Leads go cold faster than you can celebrate getting them.
So, you have to spend money on setting up retargeting leads that have gone cold and make them understand your value. Retargeting also helps reinforce your message and encourages leads to return and engage further.
Include case studies, testimonials, and customer success stories in your lead nurturing campaigns. These elements of social proof help build trust and credibility by showing how your product or service has successfully solved problems for others in similar situations.
Share detailed, relatable stories of success. If you can, you can create a portfolio of testimonials and case studies to really drive the point home that you are an unquestionable authority in your field.
Your prospects, especially if you are a product, might have a major point of concern, is that they never really saw your product in action, or tried it.
Provide opportunities for leads to experience your product or service through free trials, demos, or consultations. This can help move leads closer to a purchase decision. Also, during the demo, you can answer questions and clarify any objections they may have to persuade them to buy your product.
Establish a regular follow-up schedule for engaging with leads. Consistent follow-ups means you care about them as a lead, and you are genuinely interested in addressing their needs. This, in turn, will help build trust and a positive relationship.
Regular communication also keeps leads warm, reducing the risk of them losing interest or turning to competitors. And also keep this in mind, if the leads are warm enough, they are probably already leads or prospects in your competitor as well.
Implementing data enrichment on your CRM allows you to collect more detailed information about leads, enhancing the quality and depth of your lead profiles. This also means you will get more data without really asking them for it.
This process involves supplementing the basic data initially provided by leads with additional information sourced from various tools and databases like Clearbit and Apollo, and online activities. You can gain a comprehensive understanding of each lead's needs, behaviours, and preferences.
ABM involves creating highly personalised and targeted outreach plans tailored specifically to the needs and challenges of decision-makers within these organisations. By customising content, communications, and marketing campaigns to address the unique pain points of each account, you can build stronger relationships, demonstrate value, and increase engagement.
ABM is a pretty expensive affair, and it should only be reserved for high-ticket clients. Don’t try to do it for everyone, or you will see that you are losing money acquiring clients.
Identify common objections or concerns that leads may have and create content that addresses these issues. Creating content that directly responds to these objections (FAQs, blogs, case studies), you can provide clear answers and practical solutions that will remove doubts and build trust.
This helps make it clear to leads that your product or service can solve their problems, and it will ultimately reduce friction in the decision-making process.
Even though this point isn’t directly related to lead nurturing, sometimes your leads aren’t converting because where you want them to convert, isn’t suited to do that job.
Ensure your landing pages are optimised for conversion with clear messaging, compelling CTAs, and minimal distractions. A well-designed landing page can significantly improve lead conversion rates.
If you need more information, you can read it on our blog here.
Host webinars or live events to provide valuable information, demonstrate expertise, and engage directly with leads. These events offer a platform to showcase your knowledge, address specific industry challenges, and present your products or services in a way that resonates with your audience's needs.
Engaging directly with leads through interactive Q&A sessions or discussions helps build trust and a more personal connection. This will ultimately result in more money coming down your pipeline, and all you have to do is spend an hour presenting a slide your team members can make for you!
It is a pretty well known fact that video content is highly engaging and can make everyone understand complex ideas more clearly and memorably than text alone. It helps build a stronger connection with your audience, showcases your expertise, and shows the real-world benefits of your products or services.
Using YouTube also expands your reach, as the platform's vast audience and search capabilities can attract new leads who are actively seeking solutions in your industry.
Influencers are called that because of a reason. The reason being, they can influence people. Shocking, I know.
But, they can actually turn public opinion if you can give them some motivation to do so. Partnering up with them can have serious benefits to your sales, especially if you can time it right and do it with the right people.
Their status as authority figures will also give you second hand credibility, and that will lead to your customers trusting you more.
Lead nurturing is about building relationships and trust, not just pushing for a sale. This approach requires you to focus on providing value through helpful content, resources, and personalised communication that genuinely addresses the needs and challenges of your leads.
When leads feel understood and supported, they are more likely to stay engaged, consider your offerings, and ultimately convert into loyal customers.
When leads or customers have a positive experience with your business, they are more likely to share their experience with their network, effectively acting as brand advocates.
If you can design an effective referral program, it can incentivise leads to spread the word, helping you generate new, high-quality leads who are more likely to convert due to the established trust from the referral.
SMS is the best form of communication, It directly reaches the client, and they are incredible. SMS has an incredible 98% open rate. So whatever you will send, they will be reading it. SMS provides a direct and personal way to reach your leads.
You can also reach them at their appropriate time using a SMS platform. You can send them reminders and special offers. Because SMS messages are typically read within minutes of being received, this channel is highly effective for immediate engagement and follow-up.
Monitor the source and attribution of your leads to understand which channels and campaigns are most effective. This data enables you to allocate your marketing budget more efficiently, investing in the channels that yield the highest returns.
Also, analysing lead attribution helps refine your lead nurturing strategy by highlighting successful tactics, allowing you to replicate and optimise them for better results.
Implement drip email campaigns for lead nurturing over a longer period. These automated sequences are designed to deliver emails at predetermined intervals, allowing you to stay top-of-mind with your leads without overwhelming them.
This sustained engagement helps build trust, strengthens relationships, and encourages leads to take action when they are ready, ultimately increasing conversion rates.
We have said earlier here, that leads go cold way sooner that you want them to be. That is why, we have to continuously develop strategies to re-engage cold leads. You can do it via sending tailored emails , offering exclusive discounts or special promotions.
Personalised follow-ups, whether through emails or calls, can help remind leads of the value you provide and encourage them to reconnect, ultimately revitalising the relationship and moving them back into the active sales pipeline.
An onboarding series means, whenever a lead signs up for your email marketing, you will enrol them in a usually long sequence of emails, often 10-15 emails long. We have even seen chains that are almost 50 emails long. These chains are a pretty solid way of ice breaking and warming your leads up.
This is also a great way to share your company's mission, unique selling points, and benefits with the lead. This proactive approach to lead nurturing also helps your leads feel informed and welcomed.
Develop a system to reward leads for their continuous engagement with your marketing. These reward programs can have serious levels of conversion boosts and can often push even the most reluctant leads to try out your product. This also encourages lost leads to come back as well.
A well-designed rewards program can incentivise leads to take desired actions, such as attending webinars, downloading content, or making a purchase, by offering points, discounts, or exclusive access to valuable resources.
Interactive content, like quizzes, calculators, or surveys, is a powerful tool for engaging potential customers and gathering valuable information about their preferences and needs. But, in order to get the experience properly, you have to make it fun. That way, you can get their attention.
If you get their attention, you can encourage them to share insights. This data can then be used to better understand and serve the leads, tailoring offerings to meet their specific interests.
Create an online community or forum where leads can connect, ask questions, and engage with your brand. This community-driven approach allows leads to engage with your content and offerings more deeply, discover new ways to benefit from your products or services, and receive valuable insights directly from peers and experts.
Also, active participation in such a community can keep leads engaged over time, increase brand loyalty, and ultimately drive higher conversion rates.
The landscape of digital marketing and lead nurturing is constantly evolving, with new tools, platforms, and strategies emerging regularly. Staying current with these changes is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and effectively reaching your target audience.
Experimenting with the latest innovations—such as emerging social media platforms, advanced CRM technologies, or AI-driven personalisation tools—enables you to explore new, more efficient ways to engage with your leads.
A lot of your leads might be willing to purchase your products, but they are not doing so because they are worried about the price. A bundle or a package might convince them to finally make the purchase.
Bundling also allows you to offer a complete solution that addresses multiple pain points. It also delivers more benefits at a potentially lower combined cost. This approach not only enhances the perceived value of your products or services but also encourages leads to consider larger purchases.
Set up behavioural triggers that automatically initiate follow-up actions when a lead takes a specific action, such as downloading an eBook or visiting a pricing page. Timely engagement can increase the likelihood of conversion.
For instance, if a lead downloads a whitepaper, you might follow up with a personalised email offering additional resources or a consultation. This way, you maintain momentum, nurture the relationship, and increase the chance of conversion.
Regularly update and share case studies that showcase successful customer experiences. Case studies provide tangible proof by highlighting real-world examples of how your offerings have solved problems, delivered results, or improved outcomes for existing customers.
If you can craft an amazing case study portfolio, you can address specific objections, showcase unique selling points, and provide relatable scenarios that resonate with leads.
Use dynamic content in your emails. That way, you can send personalised messages to your leads based on their behaviour, preferences, and demographics. You can also ensure that every message is relevant that way because people will only receive content that is relevant to them.
If you can pull this off, it will not only increase engagement but also enhance the effectiveness of your email campaigns. Dynamic content helps build stronger connections with leads, improving conversion rates and fostering long-term customer relationships.
Deploying chatbots on your website enables you to engage visitors in real-time, providing immediate assistance and capturing valuable lead information. Chatbots can interact with visitors as soon as they arrive on your site, guiding them to relevant content, answering frequently asked questions, and offering support throughout their journey.
This instant engagement helps keep visitors on your site longer, reduces bounce rates, and improves the overall user experience. Chatbots can also collect information, and send them to your CRM for advanced analytics.
Your leads want to buy your products, yes. But, more importantly, they want to solve their problems. You have to position your product as a problem solver first, and a product second. The way you do that is by focusing heavily on the “Pain Points”, or the challenges your leads face.
If you did your research before you did it, you know what these specific pinpoints are. You can tailor your messaging to directly address these concerns. Focusing on how your own product solves these problems will also make these products more relevant to your leads.
Well, a lot of you already kind of have this practice, right? You probably already send your leads special content you don’t send out to your blogs and social media.
What you can do is segment them even more. We used to have a client who used to offer a 3$ offer to their non-paying list. Once people buy that, they are transferred to a different list where they get even more exclusive content.
This makes leads feel valued, which will only result in you getting more and more leads. When leads perceive your brand as a consistent source of valuable content, they are more likely to remain engaged, and at the end of the day, will become your customers.
You have to, absolutely, have to be proactive in your marketing. Otherwise, you will be chasing clouds while your competitors are riding in them. Your target audience’s needs and expectations are evolving with each passing day. You have to evolve too.
This maintains the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. It also protects your brand reputation by ensuring that your marketing efforts are always relevant, professional, and aligned with current industry standards.
Follow blogs, industry leaders, and thought leaders in their personal profiles. If you can, connect with them in a way that you get the news even before it becomes public knowledge. This will help you get ahead of your competitors, and send a clear message to your leads.
Content Syndication means simply republishing your old content, giving it a fresh coat of paint and a polished rework if necessary.
You can also distribute your lead nurturing content across third-party platforms. It is a massively popular way to expand your reach and attract new leads. You can share your valuable content with a broader audience that may not yet be familiar with your brand.
The types of content can be articles, whitepapers, infographics, or it can even be webinars. It will massively help you with establishing your authority and set you up as a thought leader in your industry.
Keep track of engagement metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. These metrics provide insights into how leads are interacting with your content, what resonates with them, and where there might be drop-offs or disinterest.
With this data, you can identify patterns and trends that reveal which messaging and tactics are most successful. This allows you to refine your content, optimise email subject lines, and adjust your CTAs. It will also tailor your overall strategy to better meet the needs and preferences of your leads.
Keep an eye on your competitors’ lead nurturing strategies and tactics. It will provide valuable insights into what works well in your industry and identify opportunities for differentiation.
Understanding how your competitors engage with their leads, the types of content, and the channels can help you gain a clearer picture of market trends and customer expectations. Analysing their strengths and weaknesses allows you to refine your own approach. You can use tools like Brandmentions, SpyFu, Buzzsumo to keep an eye on your competitors.
Use marketing automation tools to automate repetitive tasks such as follow-up emails, lead scoring, and data entry. Automation allows you to set up workflows that automatically send personalised follow-up emails based on lead behaviour or triggers, ensuring timely and relevant communication without manual intervention.
It also helps in scoring leads based on their engagement and activities, allowing your team to prioritise high-quality leads. Automation frees up your team to focus on more strategic activities, while ensuring consistency and precision in your outreach efforts.
Send surveys to leads to gather feedback on their needs, preferences, and satisfaction levels. This feedback allows you to identify areas for improvement and refine your lead nurturing strategy to better align with their expectations and preferences.
Regularly reviewing and considering survey responses into your strategy can help you know what type of content is truly relevant and engaging to your audience. When the customers see that their voices are being heard, they will of course.
You can analyse data like past interactions, purchase history, content engagement, and communication preferences if you integrate a CRM with your own systems.
You can better understand each lead's unique needs and interests. Integrating CRM with your lead nurturing strategy enables you to segment leads more accurately and deliver personalised messages and content that resonate with them. This data-driven approach helps build stronger relationships, enhances the relevance of your communications, and ultimately increases the likelihood of converting leads into customers.
This is the final nail in the coffin for almost every business. They find a winning system, and then they start repeating the same moves over and over again. It quickly becomes boring, repetitive and inefficient.
What’s even worse, is some gurus think this is a one-stop and they start selling the formula itself, and you just know it never works. So, what you have to do is change things up, at least once each quarter. Test different elements of your front facing things, specially your landing pages and lead magnets.
You can do so with new email blasts or newsletters as well. Test subject lines, messaging, and timing. Use A/B testing to determine what works best and keep on optimising your approach.
Now that you know all there is to know about lead nurturing, it is time to conduct a thorough audit of your system.
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