If you work in sales, you know turning a lead into a sale takes time.

As lovely as it would be to ring someone up and for them to place an order for your product or service immediately, this is rarely the case.

The company may not have the budget; they may be in a contract with someone else; they may not know enough about you to make a buying decision. Most leads that enter your sales funnel are nowhere near ready to convert straight away.

Lead nurturing is the process of developing your relationship with your prospective customers and keeping your brand at the forefront of their mind, so when they are finally ready to buy, they will come to you.

Research has shown that prospects receive on average ten ‘touches’ from the time that they enter the sales funnel to the time they become a customer. These ‘touches’ can be anything from an email, a social media message, a page on your website, even a targeted ad.

The beauty of lead nurturing is not only will your prospects be more likely to buy; they are more likely to buy more.

So, how can you use lead nurturing to keep your prospects engaged? You can use a variety of different channels of communication to engage with your prospective customers, and we have listed some of our favourites here.

1. Email

Short of picking up the phone, sending an email to a prospective customer is the most direct way of nurturing your prospects. You need to ensure any emails you send are personalised, relevant and inspire engagement.

For example, send them a link to a news story relevant to the industry they work in that they may find interesting, or if you are attending a networking event in their area, drop them a line to see if they are attending too.

2. Website

Your prospective customers may have questions about the product or service you provide, and targeted content on your website is a great way to provide them with additional information. Find out what your prospects are asking and create content on your site that will answer all their questions.

Once they have visited your site…

3. Retargeting ads

Retargeting ads, whether on other websites or social media, remind prospects that have visited your website that you are still there, nudging them even further towards becoming a customer.

4. Social media

Posting informational, informative posts on social media will encourage your prospects to engage with you. If you have an advertising budget, paid social can amplify your messages even further, targeting new audiences that have things in common with your existing customers.

In summary, you need to be engaging with your prospects, even if they are not quite ready to buy from you. If you don’t use lead nurturing, you may very well find that one of your competitors will be.

If you need help filling your pipeline get in touch with us today.