3 Simple Ways Small Businesses Can Nurture Leads Until They’re Ready to Buy
By Andrew Patricio
March 01, 2017
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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Regardless of the type of business you run, your customers are online doing research, looking for recommendations and paring down their options. So it’s critical that your business is there to help provide them with insights that prove your way of doing things is better than the alternatives. While you may be spending a lot of time with leads that are ready to buy now, you can’t ignore those who are earlier in the purchasing process. In other words, you can’t ignore lead nurturing. So let’s look at three simple ways your small business can nurture these leads until they are ready to buy.
In the early phases of the journey, customers aren’t ready to hear “why us and not them” type sales pitch. They need to understand why their life is better with your way of solving a problem, and education between the options available to them. So think of creating objective pieces that provide real insights that customers value. Do you have relevant content that they are looking for? Look at your AdWords or sources of website traffic for inspiration on which topics your content should address.
One of the easiest lead capturing and nurturing tactics is to host a live webinar. Pick a topic where you can show your expertise, or from FAQ on your website, and host a live webinar. Not only will this help you further promote yourself as an expert in your field, it will help to push those customers debating between your way of solving a problem and other ways, towards your methodology, with you leading the pack.
Snail mail is making a comeback as our collective inboxes reach capacity. Having a marketing event – send a postcard invite with a specific URL that you can track and see for yourself. If you’re a small B2B business, especially selling services, do not underestimate the power of a handwritten note. Not only is it personal and shows your commitment to hands-on service (pun intended), but will distinguish you from your direct competition.
Of course, in order to nurture leads, you need a way to capture them in the first place with some sort of CRM, database tool. And without a strategy with clear calls to action directing leads to the next phase of the purchasing funnel, all this effort could be wasted. But a little time is a small price for a full funnel.
- Start With Valuable Content
In the early phases of the journey, customers aren’t ready to hear “why us and not them” type sales pitch. They need to understand why their life is better with your way of solving a problem, and education between the options available to them. So think of creating objective pieces that provide real insights that customers value. Do you have relevant content that they are looking for? Look at your AdWords or sources of website traffic for inspiration on which topics your content should address.
- Create Time-Bound Events
One of the easiest lead capturing and nurturing tactics is to host a live webinar. Pick a topic where you can show your expertise, or from FAQ on your website, and host a live webinar. Not only will this help you further promote yourself as an expert in your field, it will help to push those customers debating between your way of solving a problem and other ways, towards your methodology, with you leading the pack.
- Handwritten Notes
Snail mail is making a comeback as our collective inboxes reach capacity. Having a marketing event – send a postcard invite with a specific URL that you can track and see for yourself. If you’re a small B2B business, especially selling services, do not underestimate the power of a handwritten note. Not only is it personal and shows your commitment to hands-on service (pun intended), but will distinguish you from your direct competition.
Of course, in order to nurture leads, you need a way to capture them in the first place with some sort of CRM, database tool. And without a strategy with clear calls to action directing leads to the next phase of the purchasing funnel, all this effort could be wasted. But a little time is a small price for a full funnel.