Lead Nurturing Basics | How to Get Started with Lead Generation and Drive Conversions
As the number of leads you generate increases, it becomes increasingly important to have a system in place for nurturing those leads until they’re ready to convert. Lead nurturing is the process of developing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel, and providing the information and support they need to move forward in their buyer’s journey.
While lead generation is about getting new leads into your sales funnel, lead nurturing is about developing relationships with those leads so that they eventually convert into customers. Studies have shown that it costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one, yet most companies focus the majority of their marketing efforts on generating new leads, rather than retaining the ones they already have.
Lead nurturing is an important part of the sales process because it helps you build relationships with your leads, keep them engaged with your brand, and eventually turn them into customers. It’s a long-term process that requires consistent effort and attention, but it’s worth it when you see your conversion rates go up and your customer lifetime value increase.
There are a few different ways you can go about setting up a lead nurturing program, but we’ll walk you through the basics of how to get started so you can start driving more conversions from your marketing efforts.
1. Define Your Buyer Personas
The first step in any lead generation or lead nurturing program is to define your buyer persona. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. If you don’t have a clear understanding of who your target audience is, it will be very difficult to generate or nurture quality leads.
When creating buyer personas, be sure to include as much detail as possible. In addition to basic demographic information like age, gender, location, job title, and income level, consider adding things like interests, pain points, goals, and values. The more specific you can be about who your ideal customer is, the easier it will be to create content and campaigns that appeal directly to them.
Once you’ve created your buyer persona/salespersonas , take some time to think about what sort of information they would need at each stage of their buyer’s journey . This will help you determine what content you need to create and what sort of messages will resonate best with them. Keep in mind that people in the awareness stage are just beginning their research and are likely not ready to buy anything yet. On the other hand, people in the decision stage are much closer to making a purchase and need more targeted content that speaks directly to their needs. By understanding what sort of information each type of persona needs at each stage of their journey , you can create more targeted content that will help move them through the funnel faster .