Looking to improve revenue in 2011? Embrace Lead Nurturing.

According to noted lead generation expert, Brian Carroll, as many as 9 out of 10 visitors to your website are not ready to buy now. This means you need to find a way to stay in touch with that 9 and build trust – so that when they’re ready to buy, they buy from you.

The process of keeping in touch with prospective buyers by sharing valuable information till they’re ready to buy is called “Lead Nurturing.”

Should you do Lead Nurturing?

Here are some salient facts from experts:

Sales lead expert, Mac McIntosh, found that six months after inquiring, 23% of the surveyed subjects had bought the product or service, from the promoter or from a competitor. An additional 67% indicated that they still intended to buy but they were not ready.

• According to Forrester Research, companies that excel at lead nurturing are able to generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead.
• According to CSO Insights, companies that excel at lead nurturing have 9% more sales reps make quota, and enjoy a 10% shorter ramp up time for new reps.
• According to DemandGen Report, nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20 percent increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.

Today’s marketers must synchronize their marketing throughout the buying process, providing potential buyers with high quality content that is contextually relevant.  As Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer showed, buyers look for content throughout the buying cycle.

It’s clear that lead nurturing makes economic sense, but most B2B sellers have no idea how to set up a lead nurturing program. So our goal here is to share actionable information.

What are the 7 Keys to a Successful Lead Nurturing Program?

1. Lead nurturing starts with research

Figure out who your ideal buyers are and research what makes them tick. What are their problems? Where do they go for information? How do they like to consume information? The better you know them, the better you can communicate with them. For more information, please check out Buyer Personas.

2. Develop a content map

We have a sample on the Free Tools page at Find New Customers, but you want to map your content across the buying process. Your goal is to help them move through the buying process.

3. Create missing content

Your content map will undoubtedly have holes. Create content to fill those holes.

4. Walk the buyer on a journey from Problem to Solution.

Your content should walk them on a journey – from the problems of today to the solutions of tomorrow. With your insights, you should understand their problems and your products and services should be the solution at some point.

5. Use Catch Factors® (credit: Ardath Albee of MarketingInteractions) to get their attention.

Make sure each piece of content can identify one or more Catch Factors

• Urgency (Why do they need it?)
• Impact (What will result?)
• Effort (How hard will it be?)
• Reputation (Can I trust you?) and
• Intent (Why should I buy from you?)

include a Call to Action (What you want them to do.) and a Cliff Hanger® (Ardath Albee)

– think of the TV show 24 and coming attractions. That’s a cliff hanger. You want to grab their interest and keep it.

6. Space out your communication

between 2 and 4 weeks is generally best. It’s ideal if you can ask the prospect for his or her own preferred pace.

7. Launch your program, measure the results and refine your program.

Lead nurturing should be a continuous journey, and not a task.

Are you gently nurturing leads today?

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Jeff Ogden is President of Find New Customers “Lead Generation Made Simple” Check out the online show every Friday at 11am ET, “Laugh and Learn with the Fearless Competitor.” Find New Customers is one of few lead generation companies in New York.

Find New Customers helps companies like yours (with 50 to 5,000 employees and complex products) implement lead generation programs to improve the way you find and acquire high quality sales leads using best practices in online lead generation. Quality leads matter. In fact, a recent study found that sales teams with fewer, high quality sales leads closed more than sales teams with more leads of dubious quality.

If you wish to do sales lead generation online, contact the B2B lead generation experts at Find New Customers using the form below or follow @fearlesscomp on Twitter.

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