Companies all around the world have adopted B2B inbound marketing strategies in the hope of generating more leads for the company. However, generating leads is on a level playing field when it comes to importance with one crucial thing. Keeping those leads. Without strategies to cherish and maintain leads, there will be no progress due to leads generated within or for a company. Here are some of the most productive and helpful lead nurturing tactics that can be used to maintain leads that are generated in the day to day.
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1. Lead Categorisation
Different types of leads each require their own specific and different types of nurturing. Not every lead that is generated can be maintained with the same set of skills or using the same methods as others. However, there are standard approaches which can be used for different types of leads. The five generalised buckets which leads can be put in are as detailed below. Categorising these leads is the first step to effective lead nurturing after generation. The lead categories are:
- Non-qualified leads generated
- Action qualified leads generated
- Sales qualified leads generated
- Sales accepted leads generated
- Marketing qualified leads generated
2. Utilise Technology to Help Advance Lead Nuturing
Technology is one of the most crucial and important aspects of our modern day society. Although it is not something we hope for that robots take all of our jobs in the future, it is important to recognise that technology is taking a more important role in the jobs we complete in our day to day lives today. There are a lot of tools available to help the average business to business marketer with their work in maintaining leads that they generate, three of which are:
- Advanced IP research tech
- Auto-nurture email programmes
- Workflows for marketing processes
Pro tip: Lead nurturing remains an integral part of a successful inbound marketing strategy. Not sure how to follow up with leads? Check out our blog – Lead Nurturing 101: 5 strategies for following up with leads
3. Set your Priorities Straight (Prospects First!)
A lot of B2B marketing ‘experts’ will tell you that leads don’t know what they want or need, so they won’t differentiate between targeted and generalised information that is being sent to them. This is absolutely not the case. Prospective leads will pick up straight away if the information they are being sent is not correct for what they need and if they are just being lumped into a generalised pile, they will know. This can all be avoided by adopting a ‘prospects first’ mindset and mentality when generating and maintaining leads for your business. This means:
- Inviting your prospects to opt-in (and opt-out!) of your communication
- Letting your prospects set the pace for your relationship with them
- Prioritising what they want over what you need
4. Take Time to Understand & Investigate your Prospective Leads
It is definitely difficult to know everything about a prospective lead before you have contacted them, and though you might not need to know everything about them beforehand, it is this previous knowledge that will set your business apart from others trying to do the same thing. Find out what state the business is in, if there is any movement, what they are looking for, what they are struggling with. You can do a large majority of this research online and through general digging around your potential prospect. Here are five of the best ways to investigate and understand your prospect before you take the plunge and go for them:
- Tracking their visitors
- Looking at their website analytics
- General online company research
- PURL’s
- Keep a track of your research and progress along the way
5. Mix up Your Lead Nuturing Tactics, Dont be Predictable
You cannot sit at a desk all day and simply copy and paste the same strategy onto different projects consistently. That simply does not work anymore! Not only is it too predictable and may be written off just simply because the methods used are unimaginative and overused; you also cannot use the same strategy because leads are not all the same. Tom Dudley, a business expert at Researchpapersuk, commented that “Different types of leads and even similar leads will often have vastly different inner workings and moving parts which cannot all be exploited and maintained by one singular strategy.” The world is definitely not ‘one size fits all anymore, so don’t treat it like that!
Pro tip: Lead nurturing is underutilised. If you’re a SaaS or tech business you should be thinking about lead nurturing tactics as part of your core go-to-market strategy. Check out our blog for the best B2B Lead Nurturing Strategies 2021
6. Blocks of Lead Nuturing to Steer Clear Of
Lead nurturing is one of the most important things to think about as a business to business marketer in the 21st century, and like any business move, there are things that often stand in the way of it being done to the best of its ability. These ‘roadblocks’ are faux pas’ which are often committed by B2B marketers.
- Becoming spam accidentally: Don’t flood people with too much, too fast. They will get annoyed, see you as spam, and you will lose the connection all together.
- Pursuing unengaged subscribers: If they are not engaged, either get them engaged or focus your efforts somewhere else. Don’t waste time, energy, or resources.
- Pushing for results straight away: Don’t push too fast, because you might just push your prospects away. Good results might take a little bit of time to get off the ground in the first instance.
7. Always be Re-examining and Evaluating your B2B Techniques
Don’t ever let yourself settle. Jessica Harris, a marketing writer at Draft Beyond, noted, “The silliest thing you can do in any situation, especially a business one, is to let yourself get too comfortable. If you relax and think you have got a handle on someone’s business or their attention, there will be another cat just waiting to pounce on them when you take your eye off the ball.” However, if you are consistently looking at your B2B lead nurturing techniques and trying to improve them, you won’t run into this roadblock as much. If you relax, someone will pass you up without you even knowing.
About the Author:
Alex Dubinsky is an online marketing strategist at Speech Writing Service and Luckyassignments Manchester. He has a great passion for reading and writing in his spare time. He also contributes his work to Gum Essays.