Lead nurturing tips that every business should know

Email is one of the oldest digital tools that marketers still rely on today, but senders continue to batch and blast campaigns that don’t result in sales leads or produce a return on investment.

By Amy Birch, campaign manager, Wired Marketing.

The key to a successful email campaign which produces leads is to engage your contacts with a relationship building strategic plan.

To run a lead nurturing email marketing campaign, you must build trust with your contacts to encourage them to engage and interact with your campaigns, each time you send to them.

Follow these five tips, to ensure your campaigns produce results, whenever you send:

Add value Position yourself as a thought leader and offer your contacts something that is relevant and interesting to their industry. Send a whitepaper, an e-guide, or your latest blog posts.

Segment your data Ensure your content is suitable for the recipients by segmenting your data into different groups for targeted and accurate campaigns. For example, your clients should receive a different email compared to your prospects.

Be personal Personalising a campaign using a contact’s name, company or position within your content is a sure fire way to kick start a relationship. Always make sure the content is relevant and based on the individual such as latest pharmaceutical news for those contacts in the pharmaceutical industry.

React to behaviour Create a 1:1 connection with your contact by using automated emails that are based on the recipient’s behaviour, such as a purchase, a download, or a click in your email campaign.

Combine messages If you are only sending sales emails, your contacts will be turned off and won’t engage. Mix it up and send a combination of sales offers, value added content, and newsletters to keep them interested in your brand.

Don’t forget, you must also nurture your existing customers in the same way. It’s much easier to convert an existing customer into a repeat buyer, than to convert a cold prospect. According to eConsultancy, email marketing delivers an average return on investment of £24 for each pound spent; therefore consider a lead generation strategy when targeting your prospects.