Best Practices for Nurture Campaigns

Sales is a lot like courtship. No matter how you feel about the dating scene, you certainly wouldn't jump to a marriage proposal on the first date! It takes time, patience, and an awful lot of getting to know one another before you're ready to commit, which is where a lead nurturing campaign comes in. Even though Emily Post has yet to weigh in on the topic, there are some key etiquette items that can keep your nurture campaign on track with a bit of help from Cain & Company.

It's Not Business, It's Personal

We've often heard that it's business, not personal. We think it's time to rethink that old cliche, since making it personal — personalizing content and targeting via smart segmentation — goes a long way toward setting your business and your marketing apart from your competitors' cookie-cutter approach. Your CRM affords powerful tools for exactly this purpose, so don't let them (and with them, your leads) go to waste.

Curate Your Content

Content marketing takes care. Having a blog or a newsletter isn't enough; good content marketing encompasses multiple channels and content types, including video, infographics, and other touchpoints. What's more, there should be a logical flow to your content so that someone entering at any point in the sequence is guided to their destination with as few bumps in the road as possible.

Don't Neglect Other Marketing Efforts

While outreach in the form of ad retargeting, email drip campaigns, and social media marketing are all necessary, your content marketing and inbound marketing shouldn't be overlooked. Today's consumers are more tech-savvy, informed, and self-sufficient than ever before, so removing choke points in the customer journey is an important best practice for your next campaign.

Tear Down This Wall!

Marketing and sales may be different departments in your business, but neither should be leaving the other in the dark. Each department should know what the other is doing, and should be coordinating efforts for maximum effect; 89% of companies that do this report a measurable increase in sales opportunities. A good CRM with robust support goes a long way in this respect.

Solve, Don't Sell.

"Show, don't tell" used to be the golden rule of sales. These days, busy prospects don't want to be shown or told. They're busy, and they want solutions. If you're approaching your nurturing sequence as a problem-solver and not a salesperson, you're giving your prospects something useful that helps them and builds their confidence in you — making it easier for them to trust your product or service when the time comes.

Cool It.

Everyone likes warm leads. But too much heat is a bad thing. Score your leads and understand that if that score is dropping, it can be good to allow a cooling-off period so you don't come across as desperate and scare off a lead that could've been salvaged with some care and patience.

Get in touch with Cain & Company today for a consultation that helps you build and execute your lead nurturing sequence.