This month is focused on what you do after you get the lead; after the user volunteers their information to you, because those actions will determine whether
- you optimize your cost-per-lead, and
- how you know which of those leads are the best to focus on.
When someone hands you a business card, or completes a form at your landing page or site, do you just pass the leads over to sales, and that's it? Studies show that 79% of leads are not followed up on by sales. So if that is all you are doing, then your cost per lead, which is already increasing given costs of PPC, are even higher - because you are losing a large percentage of them by just passing them directly to Sales.
Having the ability to manage your leads comprehensively, so that when you capture a lead initially, you can send them a series of emails (Email Marketing was covered earlier this year), and based on their response to those emails, you can tailor ever more relevant information to those leads, until their interest identifies them as "more sales ready". Then pass those to Sales. So the folks who don't respond at all, you don't need to worry about, and waste anyone's time. And Sales doesn't have to guess which leads might be the best to follow up with.
According to Aberdeen Research, implementing a lead nurturing practice can yield a 50+% increase in sales-ready leads, making a large impact in a company's revenue and growth goals. According to that same report, 51% of companies who don't have a lead nurturing strategy (dubbed "laggards") will be adding one in 2009. Based off the experience we've seen with implementing lead nurturing practices, it's not just about the technology you employ, which is essential, it must be coupled with a lead nurturing strategy and practice that recognizes that it's the ongoing nature of the content strategy that will separate the winners from the losers in nurturing effectiveness and results.
Enjoy!
