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Don't you just hate it when you're on a mission to get exactly what you need from a store and get out, and an all-too-eager salesperson ambushes you? What about when you have a few questions about a product, but you can't find a salesperson to help answer them? Now imagine that, in either scenario, the proverbial salesperson anticipates your needs, so you receive the right amount of service at the right moment in time. While this might sound like something straight out of The Minority Report, it isn't. It's a reality made possible online with help from lead nurturing tools like HubSpot and Pardot.

Thanks to the internet and its wide accessibility, most people leave digital footprints that can be used to tailor their online experiences. Lead nurturing tools tap into those footprints to help sales and marketing professionals provide online leads with the right amount of service (or information) at the right moment in time. This is called online lead nurturing.

How Does Online Lead Nurturing Work?

Typically, email marketing companies and customer relationship management (CRM) systems offer online lead nurturing tools. This is because the need for such tools stems from both sides of the customer acquisition equation. Marketing is charged with attracting online leads, while sales is charged with converting those leads into customers. So what happens in between? Nurturing.

5 Steps for nurturing online leads

1. Capture - This usually occurs when an online lead completes a form on your website, providing you with contact information such as their name and email address in exchange for an incentive like a free offer, eBook, or consultation.
   
   
2. Confirm - Thank the lead for providing you with their contact information. It's not just polite. It's practically expected. Use this opportunity to start a conversation. Most lead nurturing tools automate this process for you via email.
   
   
3. Content - When it comes to nurturing online leads, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. However, according to the research, nurturing your leads with timely, relevant, personalized content is an effective strategy.
   
   
4. Call to Action - Also referred to as a CTA, a call to action urges a lead to take the next step, such as to "Learn More," “Call Today," or “Buy Now." Every communication with your lead should contain a call to action to move your lead further along the sales and marketing funnel.
   
   
5. Continue - Keep your correspondence going. Studies show it takes an average of eight touches to convert a lead... but don't get too crazy. The law of diminishing returns states that if one production factor (e.g., emails) is increased while other factors are held constant, the output (e.g., open and response rates) per unit of the variable factor will eventually diminish.

In Conclusion

Nurturing online leads is critical to the success of a business, because it has a direct impact on a customer's decision to make a purchase. Investing in lead nurturing tools can help automate the process, saving marketing and sales teams alike precious time while ensuring leads are tended to in a timely manner. This is important because the sooner you contact an online lead, the better your odds are for converting that lead into a sale.

And yet, despite the importance of nurturing online leads. 60% of the respondents to this Lead Nurturing & Acceleration Survey gave their nurture programs a failing grade. If you feel your online lead nurturing program is lacking, contact the team at THAT Agency. We're not only experienced in using lead nurturing tools offered by industry-leading CRMs and email marketing companies, but we're also a full-service digital marketing agency able to assist in creating content tailored to your target audience. Give us a call today at 561-832-6262 to find out what we can do to help support your business.