Why Lead Nurturing is Now Marketing’s Domain

Once upon a time, B2B lead nurturing was strictly the domain of the sales team. Using trade shows, print ads, and occasionally broadcast spots, B2B marketers generated leads, which were passed along to the sales department. Salespeople then followed up with the leads, nurturing them on the phone and sometimes even with a three-martini lunch. 

This mythical lunch was a part of the lead nurturing process. During these lunches, the salesperson demonstrated his or her knowledge of the industry, entertained the potential customer(s), and eventually got around to selling. 
Today, much of this nurturing process takes place online. B2B buyers self-educate online by consulting their peers, checking review sites, and visiting company websites. Forrester Research says that as much as 90 percent of the buyer’s journey may be complete before a prospect reaches out to a salesperson.

So who’s nurturing the prospect during the 90 percent of the buyer’s journey that can take place online? It’s the marketing department.

The three-martini lunch has moved online – it’s a lot healthier that way – and it’s B2B marketers who are nurturing leads by entertaining and educating prospects with email and other digital content. The most effective marketers are deploying a multi-channel nurturing approach, going beyond the email inbox and using tools such as display and social advertising to nurture leads. Here are some numbers that show the value of lead nurturing for marketers:

• Forrester Research says that businesses that are effective lead nurturers produce 50 percent more sales-ready leads at a 33 percent lower cost. 
• The Annuitas Group found that leads who have been nurtured make 47 percent larger purchases compared with leads that have not been nurtured. 

Despite its value, lead nurturing can sometimes remain a fuzzy concept for many businesspeople. Lead nurturing is essentially keeping the lines of communication open with prospects who aren’t currently ready to buy. To explain this concept further there is no shortage of metaphors. Here are six of our favorite lead nurturing metaphors:  (Note: Click here to see a visual representation of these.) 

1. The 3-Martini Lunch: These fabled lunches were entertaining, educational, and often got around to some selling. This is exactly what B2B marketers are now doing with their content marketing. 
2. A Seedling: In this metaphor, lead nurturing is compared with a young plant. Lead nurturing is the soil, water, and sunlight that turns this seedling into a thriving plant, that is a recurring customer. 
3. A Conversation: The best lead nurturers are like good conversationalists. The most effective lead nurturing is about using online data and demographic information to “listen” to your prospects and deliver them the right content at the right time, in the right medium. It’s about personalization.
4. A Romantic Relationship: The most effective lead nurturing makes a prospect feel wanted. And of course, when wooing a mate, you don’t ask for their hand in marriage on the first date. Same goes with lead nurturing, you don’t ask for the sale immediately, either.
5. A Teaching Moment: The book “The Challenger Sale” makes the case that the most effective B2B salespeople are unafraid to teach their prospects something new. Similarly, effective B2B marketing teaches prospects by showing them something they didn’t know. 
6. A Mediocre Baseball Player: It’s fall, and it’s time for the World Series, so I couldn’t resist a baseball metaphor. Email nurturing is like a .200 hitter, because too often 20 percent is the open rate for marketing emails. Using other channels for lead nurturing, such as display and social advertising as with LinkedIn Lead Accelerator, can boost your lead nurturing batting average. 

 

And for help with the scoring of your leads, be sure to download the Lead Scoring Guide for Modern Marketers.

Author Bio: Sean Callahan is a Senior Manager, Content Marketing at LinkedIn. He has been a professional writer for more than 20 years. As part of the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions content team, he contributes to the LMS blog and write guides to help B2B marketers do their jobs better. 

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