Ramp Up Your Sales Cycle With A Lead Nurturing Email Campaign

Approximately 73% of new leads never convert into a sale.  Hefty percentage, isn’t it?

What’s a business to do about that?

The answer is simple: create a lead nurturing email campaign. And if you’re thinking what’s that? Or where do I even begin? Keep reading…

Buyer Personas

Identify who exactly you are targeting.  Note: don’t say everyone!   You can NOT effectively market to everyone with the same message. It simply doesn’t work. If you haven’t created buyer personas, I highly recommend you take that step before you do anything else.

Hubspot offers a bunch of great resources that can help you walk through this process. Ultimately, it is a combination of demographic and psychographic questions that help you really get to the heart of who your ideal client is and what they truly care about.  It is only when you have a full understanding of their worldview (what makes them tick), that you can begin to create content that will resonate with them.

Targeted Content

Now that you know who you are targeting, you can get busy creating the content. You will need to create different lead nurturing email campaigns that take into account buyer personas, buying stage (where they are in the sales process), and product interest. On average, email nurturing campaigns consist of 3-5 emails. And if they show interest, they can then be moved into another campaign. Here are some ideas for your emails:

Welcome

Introduce new prospects to your business. Be clear and set expectations around they type of information you will be sending them.  Begin building awareness and sharing information that they’ve shown an interest in.

Educate

Showcase your expertise. Talk about ways they can solve their problem.  Open their eyes to a new way of thinking. Provide a fresh perspective.  Highlight different products or services. But, remember don’t overwhelm them with too much information. Focus on one topic per email.

Differentiate

What makes your product or service different from your competitors?  What are the advantages of choosing you? Don’t be modest - it’s your time to shine!

Motivate

Demonstrate how your services can help them feel better.  Focus on what motivates them.  How will their life be better or easier if they invest in your product or service?

Request Feedback

Send out a survey, ask what they are interested in learning from you.  The absolute best place to get content ideas is from the people who are dealing with the identified problem.

Timing

Understanding where your prospect is in her buying journey is crucial. Someone who is only beginning to research options or solutions will want educational information like ebooks, checklists, or short videos about your products or services. As they move to the middle of the funnel, they'll want more detailed information like webinars, case studies, or free samples.  And finally, those who are ready to purchase will respond best to to free trials, demonstrations, quotes or even a sales call. Tracking the buyer's journey and syncing it up with the proper email nurturing campaign that introduces the right content at the right time is when you'll begin to see results.

Targeted lead nurturing email campaigns when implemented properly, will help you to better connect and engage your audience. This content is strategically designed to nurture the leads by educating them and supporting them as they move down the sales funnel, ultimately resulting in improved conversion rates.

Getting Started

If you’re feeling overwhelmed at the thought of writing all this content, take a deep breath. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. If you want some additional guidance, download my FREE Product Launch Check List. It’s designed to strategically walk you through developing content to promote your products or services, paying particular attention to the lead nurturing process.

I’d love to hear what types of lead nurturing campaigns have been most successful for your business. After implementing them did you see your conversion rates go up? Have questions? Contact me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauren Fonvielle is a copywriter, marketing maven and storyteller extraordinaire. Lauren works with solopreneurs and small business owners to create powerful content that tells a story and resonates with readers. She specializes in writing email campaigns, sales pages, and blogs that both educate and motivate audiences to take action. Follow her on her blog at www.laurenfonvielle.com.