Lead nurturing
is the process of guiding potential customers to buy your product or service. We will introduce the necessity, benefits, process, and specific methods. In this article, we will mainly explain lead nurturing in BtoB.
What is lead nurturing?
Lead nurturing is a
marketing
activity that connects prospective customers to orders and business negotiations. Use
e-mail newsletters
, seminars, etc. to provide useful information at the right time over the medium to long term to prospective customers who have a latent need for your company’s products and services, increasing their desire to purchase your company’s products and services. I’ll go.
In business terms, a lead refers to a prospective customer. Also, nurturing is a word that means nurturing. Lead nurturing involves nurturing potential customers and guiding them to purchase your company’s products and services.
Three processes of BtoB marketing
BtoB marketing (marketing to businesses) proceeds through the following three processes.
1.Lead
generation
2. Lead nurturing
3. Lead Qualification
In order to deepen your understanding of lead nurturing, you first need to understand BtoB marketing. We will explain each process in turn.
1.Lead generation
Lead generation is the acquisition of information about potential customers. Find potential customers who may purchase your products or services in the future and collect the information you need for marketing.
For example, we create opportunities for our products and services to be seen by potential customers by posting web advertisements and operating
owned media
. In addition, you may be able to increase your chances of being seen by potential customers by holding
exhibitions
and events.
In lead generation, it is important to increase the number of touch points with potential customers. The more touch points you have, the more opportunities your company’s products and services will be exposed to potential customers, which will lead to lead acquisition and lead nurturing.
For information on the basic concepts and methods of lead generation, you can download the materials below for free. Please take advantage of it.
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2.Lead nurturing
Lead nurturing is the stage of nurturing prospective customers acquired through lead generation. Therefore, lead nurturing begins after lead generation.
Lead nurturing involves guiding prospective customers from the stage of being interested in your company’s products and services to the stage of wanting to purchase your company’s products and services.
If you don’t nurture your leads in the right way, you could end up losing out on potential customers acquired through lead generation.
3. Lead qualification
Lead qualification is the stage in which prospective customers who are close to purchasing are selected through lead nurturing and connected to business negotiations. We hand over prospective customer information from marketing to sales and guide them to purchase using methods tailored to the prospective customer.
However, if you do not conduct business negotiations at the right time, not only will it not lead to a purchase, but you may even lose potential customers. It is necessary to improve the accuracy of lead qualification and appropriately determine how close a prospective customer is to making a purchase.
In BtoB marketing, success is largely determined by properly acquiring, nurturing, and selecting leads. You can download the steps and specific techniques you need to know about corporate
web marketing
for free from below. Please feel free to use it.
Why lead nurturing is necessary
The three processes of lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead qualification are sometimes collectively referred to as “demand generation.”
Lead nurturing is a particularly important part of the demand generation process. We will explain why lead nurturing is attracting attention as a marketing method.
Changes in customer behavior due to rapid digitalization
The widespread use of the Internet has made it easier for people to collect the information they need on their own. In addition to researching what products and services are needed, it has become common to compare and consider the prices, specifications, and features of specific products and services.
As customer behavior changes, companies need to reach out to potential customers as early as possible, build relationships, and get them to consider their products and services.
It is also useful to publish information that is accurate and that potential customers would want to obtain, assuming that they will be searching for information on the Internet. Lead nurturing can be said to be an essential process for developing approaches to prospective customers that are compatible with digitalization.
The need to generate leads with high purchasing intent
Even if you acquire potential customers through lead generation, it does not necessarily mean that they will have a high purchase intent. If you do not properly approach potential customers with low purchase intent, your purchase intent may disappear rather than increase.
If a prospective customer has even the slightest desire to purchase, it is necessary to repeatedly approach them appropriately and develop them into more reliable prospects. When your desire to purchase increases, it not only leads to business negotiations, but also brings you closer to making a purchase.
In particular, products and services with high unit prices tend to require a long lead time. It is important to perform lead nurturing to prevent losing customers.
Unearthing dormant customers
Dormant customers are customers with whom you have had business negotiations or contracts in the past, but with whom you currently have no interaction. Dormant customers already have basic knowledge about your company’s products and services, so if you approach them properly with lead nurturing, they are likely to become loyal customers.
In order to approach dormant customers appropriately, it is essential to properly manage customer information. By being able to see at a glance what state a customer is in, it will be easier to determine if they are at the appropriate stage to approach you and what kind of approach is appropriate. In order to increase the effectiveness of lead nurturing, manage your customers and prospective customers appropriately.
Benefits of lead nurturing
In marketing, implementing lead nurturing provides the following benefits:
Let’s take a look at the benefits of each.
Sales activities become more efficient and order rate increases
In traditional sales, which relies on intuition, memory, and experience, results vary depending on the salesperson. However, if lead nurturing is incorporated as a system from marketing to sales, it will not depend on the skills of the salesperson and will prevent tasks from becoming individualized.
By preferentially approaching potential customers who are more likely to make a purchase, you can expect to increase your order rate. In order to improve the efficiency of sales activities, a series of steps including lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead qualification are necessary.
However, lead nurturing is generally considered a marketing job. Collaboration between the sales and marketing departments is necessary to conduct sales to highly qualified prospective customers at the right time. To avoid missing information from potential customers, use online tools such as Excel files to share information.
Reduce the burden of acquiring new customers
Acquiring new customers can be time-consuming and costly. However, if you build strong relationships with existing customers through lead nurturing, you will be able to generate long-term, stable profits and reduce the burden of acquiring new customers.
Additionally, by utilizing information on dormant customers, it is possible to develop existing customers into good customers. The lead nurturing process is essential to reducing the time and cost of customer acquisition.
Approach at the right time and prevent loss of potential customers
By visualizing the behavior and interests of potential customers through lead nurturing, you can approach them at the right time. If you approach at the wrong time or in the wrong way, you could lose potential customers. It is important to prevent opportunity loss by identifying changes in customer needs and maintaining long-term contact.
Easier to upsell and cross-sell
When lead nurturing increases a prospective customer’s desire to purchase, it becomes easier to perform “upselling,” which involves selling higher-end models, and “cross-selling,” which leads to the sale of multiple products and services.
Through upselling and cross-selling, you can increase sales even if you have the same number of customers. Lead nurturing is necessary to achieve more efficient sales.
Disadvantages of lead nurturing
Lead nurturing has many benefits, but there are some things to be careful about. Possible disadvantages include:
Let’s take a look at each.
Requires a lot of resources
Implementing lead nurturing requires many resources such as managing prospective customer information, preparing and providing nurturing measures, and recording marketing activities. Lead nurturing cannot be carried out effectively if either information or preparation is lacking.
You can also consider implementing
MA tools
to properly manage your many resources. With MA tools, it is possible to centrally manage prospect customer information, provide nurturing measures, and record marketing activities. Additionally, by making it visible to all relevant personnel, you can ensure a smooth handover from marketing to sales personnel. This will eliminate missed communications and allow you to approach potential customers more effectively.
“Switch Plus” is an MA tool that realizes efficient lead nurturing. By linking with your existing customer list, you can easily manage records of customer information and marketing activities. We can also create owned media and distribute email newsletters, which are essential for lead nurturing. First, try out the experience with a free trial account.
Difficult to achieve results in a short period of time
Lead nurturing is a method that guides prospective customers to purchase through various approaches, so it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time. It is assumed that the period during which a prospective customer remains a prospective customer, “lead time”, will be prolonged.
Especially for products and services with high unit prices, lead times tend to be longer. It is necessary to properly manage prospective customers so that you do not lose them even over a long period of time.
Requires a certain number of leads
Even if you implement nurturing measures, it is not possible to increase the purchase intent of all prospective customers. Therefore, if you have a small number of potential customers, lead nurturing may not produce the results you expect.
In order to achieve a certain level of results, it is first necessary to secure a certain number of leads through lead generation.
Four processes for lead nurturing
Lead nurturing will be carried out using the following process.
1. Centralize lead information
2. Segment your leads
3. Create content tailored to your customers
4. Implement measures and run the PDCA cycle
I will explain along the flow.
1. Centralize lead information
First, centralize prospective customer information obtained from business cards, information request forms, etc. In addition, by centralizing customer information that is managed individually by sales representatives, you can not only prevent the omission of necessary information, but also avoid duplication of information.
CRM
tools are useful for information management. CRM is an abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management. Using CRM tools, you can not only compile detailed profile information such as prospective customers’ names, ages, and addresses, but also analyze company size, job title, consumption characteristics, and trends.
2. Segment your leads
The collected prospective customer information cannot be used as is. By implementing “segmentation” that classifies customers based on address, age, occupation, past transaction history, etc., you will finally be able to conduct lead nurturing.
Segmentation allows you to approach prospective customers according to their level of purchase intent. Manual work requires a huge amount of effort, so make use of MA tools.
3. Create content tailored to your customers
We create content tailored to segmented leads, such as providing information about your company’s products or inviting them to attend free seminars.
Content marketing
is a marketing method that acquires fans by providing valuable content to the target audience, which leads to the purchase of products and services. For example, if you are a company that sells attendance management systems, you might be able to attract the attention of your target audience by providing them with information about labor and human resources that you think they need.
Content marketing provides valuable information to potential customers through various methods such as email newsletters, SNS, and blogs.
4. Implement measures and run the PDCA cycle
After implementing nurturing measures, be sure to measure customer reactions. If you are not getting the results you expected, you need to improve the content and timing of provision.
Nurturing measures require a continuous PDCA cycle of implementation, effectiveness verification, and improvement. By continuing to implement, verify effectiveness, and improve, you will be able to conduct lead nurturing more efficiently, making it easier to increase sales. The PDCA cycle is explained in detail in the following article.
Main methods of lead nurturing
The main methods of lead nurturing include:
We will explain the characteristics, benefits, and precautions of each method.
email
We may conduct lead nurturing using email. For example, you can send out an e-mail newsletter and regularly provide information on topics that interest potential customers, as well as how to use and benefit your products and services.
Also useful are “step emails,” which change the delivery content according to the level of purchase intent, and “segment emails,” which are sent to prospective customers who meet specific conditions. It will be easier to carry out more effective lead nurturing than sending emails with the same content across the board.
Lead nurturing via email is also carried out to create points of contact with potential customers. For more information on email marketing using email, please see the following:
Additionally, if you continue to send one-sided e-mail newsletters, it may be difficult to get a response, and you may not be able to accurately grasp your relationship with potential customers. The next article explains step-by-step emails that reflect potential customer responses in emails. Please check it out.
DM (direct mail)
DM (direct mail) is a classic lead nurturing method that uses mail and fax. Since you receive it in paper format, there is a higher chance that your content will be viewed than if you received it via email.
Another feature of DM is that you can return to it as many times as you like if you are interested in the content. For example, if you send a catalog of your company’s products or services to potential customers, they may return to them over and over again, increasing their desire to purchase your products or services.
Although you can publish an electronic catalog on your company’s website, it is not always possible for prospective customers to view it. Also, you have to access the Internet to view them, which can be a hassle. The world is moving toward a paperless society, but let’s pay attention to the unique benefits of paper and utilize it for lead nurturing.
phone
Although it is a classic method along with direct mail, the telephone is also sometimes used for lead nurturing. Generally, prospective customers who are close to receiving an order or negotiating a deal are approached by telephone.
Unlike DM or email, where information is given unilaterally by the seller, telephone calls allow you to directly ask potential customers’ opinions and wishes, so the advantage is that you can pinpoint the information you need. is.
Additionally, if you are a potential customer with a strong desire to purchase, you may be able to negotiate a deal with them during lead nurturing over the phone. Another advantage of telephone calls is that you can respond flexibly to potential customers.
Seminar/Webinar
Seminars and webinars (online seminars) are also effective lead nurturing methods. Since you can directly communicate with prospective customers who are considering ordering your company’s products and services or negotiating business, you can approach them with high efficiency.
Seminars where you can talk face-to-face are also good, but be aware that it takes time to prepare the venue and manage attendees. On the other hand, webinars convey information online, making it difficult to have interactive communication with potential customers.
However, if you publish the video distributed as a webinar, it can be seen by potential customers who could not watch it in real time, so it has the advantage of reaching more potential customers. The following materials summarize the key points for efficiently increasing new customers through webinars. Please download and use it for free.
SNS
Another recommended method is to use SNS to announce new products, new services, and related information. Because SNS has a high dissemination power, you can expect to improve awareness,
branding
, and loyalty.
However, due to its high diffusion power, it is important to be aware that it can easily catch fire. Multiple people should check the content you post to make sure it doesn’t offend anyone.
owned media
Another option is to run your own media and keep your potential customers informed with meaningful information. Creating one requires knowledge of
SEO
and web marketing, but once you get it going, you can expect to acquire potential customers.
Please note that SEO is a method of achieving higher rankings in search rankings. Narrow down the keywords that potential customers are likely to search for, and take measures to ensure that your target web page appears at the top of the list when those keywords are searched for in
a search engine
.
If your website appears at the top of search results, you can expect an increase in the number of visitors to your web page, allowing you to deliver information to more people. It will be easier to not only improve your name recognition and acquire potential customers, but also increase sales.
retargeting ads
Retargeting advertising is the process of displaying your company’s ads on external sites that are viewed by customers who have visited your company’s website or potential customers who have clicked on your ad. This will stimulate needs and create an opportunity for people to remember your company.
Please note that advertising fees are required to use retargeting ads. The pricing system is divided into pay-per-click (a fee is charged each time an ad is clicked) and pay-per-impression (a fee is charged each time an ad is displayed). If you want to focus on cost-effectiveness, use pay-per-click, and if you want to increase awareness, use pay-per-impression.
white paper
White papers are materials such as information about your company’s products and services, know-how for solving related issues, and industry trends. Save it as a PDF file, etc., and make it freely available for download by interested potential customers.
Increase your chances of being seen by potential customers by providing it on your own media or attaching it to your email newsletter. Also, by checking the number of downloads, it will be easier to understand the issues that potential customers are worried about.
Key points for lead nurturing success
By keeping the following points in mind, it will be easier to get results from lead nurturing.
I will explain each point.
Set appropriate KPIs
KPI stands for “Key Performance Indicator”, and simply put, it is a numerical target. For example, set goals with specific numbers, such as increasing the number of subscribers to your email newsletter to 1,000 or increasing the number of inquiries by 20%.
In order to conduct effective lead nurturing, it is necessary to set clear KPIs that can be quantified. In addition, we set a period for achieving the goal, regularly verify the results, find areas for improvement, and use the PDCA cycle of implementation, reexamination, and reimprovement to achieve a better state.
Each department collaborates and shares lead information
It is important to share information about potential customers not only with the marketing department, which handles lead nurturing, but also with the sales department, which carries out order-taking activities for customers with increased prospects.
Sharing not only basic information about potential customers such as their name and age, but also detailed information such as what approaches you have made and how the prospective customers have responded to them, will lead to smoother business negotiations. You can
Consider introducing MA tools
If you want to proceed with lead nurturing efficiently, we recommend introducing MA tools. It can be used to send survey emails and guide people to download white papers, allowing you to approach potential customers according to their purchase intent.
Additionally, by using MA tools, it becomes easier to share prospective customer information internally. This will eliminate omissions when handing over information to the sales department, increasing the accuracy and efficiency of information sharing.
“Switch Plus” is an MA tool that seamlessly performs everything from sharing customer information to lead nurturing and sales. Try it out for yourself with a free trial account.
Clarify the definition of a hot lead
Hot leads are potential customers who are highly interested in your company’s products and services. Generally speaking, this refers to a customer with whom you can expect to negotiate or sell within a few months, but depending on the product or service you are selling, a different period may be better.
In order to approach prospective customers appropriately, it is important to clearly define hot leads. If the definition is not clearly defined, it is necessary to be careful because the efficiency of lead nurturing may decrease due to differences in individual perceptions and the implementation of measures that do not match the prospects.
Lead nurturing success stories
Here are some examples of cases in which ProFuture Inc. actually supported companies and improved the efficiency of customer acquisition through appropriate lead nurturing. Please use this as a reference to carry out lead nurturing that is planned and yields results.
“Payroll Co., Ltd.” focuses on outbound and acquires leads
Payroll Co., Ltd., which provides payroll calculation systems, conducts effective marketing activities with a small and elite sales force. HR Pro, one of the largest human resources portal sites in Japan, is used to improve marketing efficiency. With “HR Pro”, we develop leads, develop them into customers, and achieve efficient customer acquisition even with a small number of people.
Payroll Co., Ltd. has also focused on lead nurturing. The payroll system provided by Payroll Co., Ltd. basically expires after five years, so we will continue to contact them regularly through e-mail newsletters and other means so that they can choose to renew their contracts after five years. Rather than waiting for customers to approach us, we use outbound measures to proactively approach customers to secure and acquire customers.
“Ashita no Team Co., Ltd.” strengthens inbound marketing
Ashita Team Co., Ltd., which provides support for building and providing personnel evaluation systems, has strengthened
inbound marketing
by holding seminars across the country and disseminating information through owned media. We are also focusing on creating systems and mechanisms that will make prospective customers acquired through the use of “HR Pro” willing to make inquiries.
We also use the results of the questionnaire survey to create content for lead nurturing. We have built a system in which we are constantly approached by potential customers by repeating the cycle of identifying specific needs and attributes of prospective customers from the survey results, creating content that prospective customers want, and posting it on “HR Pro.”
“Puff Co., Ltd.” Obtained leads through customer-oriented seminars
“Puff Co., Ltd.”, which operates a community for job hunters and provides consulting on new graduate recruitment, deliberately tries to conduct seminars that do not make sales calls, and only provides information that is useful to potential customers.
For example, companies conducting recruitment activities for new graduates are implementing marketing measures aimed at creating empathy, such as providing opportunities for human resources personnel from other companies to communicate with them and events where they can meet students. Masu. By staying close to prospective customers in this way, we gained their trust and increased the probability of making an appointment.
Obtain high-quality leads through collaboration with BizReach Co., Ltd. sales.
BizReach Co., Ltd., which provides job change support for professionals, has broken away from traditional push-type sales. To achieve this, we focused on reviewing our relationships with prospective customers. If you listen to potential customers’ issues, propose appropriate services, and build a relationship of trust before proceeding with sales, you can naturally lead to business negotiations.
Building an environment that makes it easy for prospective customers to approach us, such as increasing our name recognition by running commercials and creating an easy-to-understand contact point for inquiries, has also helped us avoid push-type sales. In addition, internal sales and marketing departments work together to create attractive content that is useful for marketing, which helps cultivate potential customers and strengthen relationships with existing customers.
Understand and utilize the lead nurturing process
Lead nurturing is a necessary process to increase the purchase intent of acquired potential customers. If done carefully, it will be easier to increase sales.
The reality is that acquiring new customers takes a lot of time and money. By increasing the probability of guiding prospective customers to sales through lead nurturing, you can reduce the cost of acquiring new customers and achieve highly efficient marketing.
Effective lead nurturing requires a deep understanding of lead nurturing processes and techniques. In addition, in order to proceed with lead nurturing more efficiently, it is necessary to appropriately manage prospective customer information and introduce MA tools. Please refer to the information we have introduced to realize effective marketing.