Lead Nurturing: The Key to Creating Customers Online

Lead Nurturing: The Key to Creating Customers Online:

Creating customers is the key to success for any business. With any buying decision, people need to take time (whether it be minutes or months) to contemplate if they are willing to spend money on a particular product or service. For those people who need more time to decide on whether or not they want to buy from you, it is important for your company to take the right steps in nurturing them so they wind up becoming customers. If these people who have shown an interest in your company are ignored, they may decide to not buy from you. Therefore, it is important to nurture qualified leads to guide them and appreciate them so that they turn into customers.

There are a multitude of ways that people can express general interest in your company and what you have to offer. These actions include but are not limited to: following the company’s social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ et. al.), subscribing to a company’s blog via RSS feeds, signing up for a company’s newsletter and providing contact information to access a downloadable document (white paper, case study et. al.) or webinar . These people who have voluntarily provided their contact information or chose to follow company updates are showing that they are interested in the company and what it has to offer. These people are considered to be qualified leads since they have the potential to be paying customers for a company.

After a qualified lead voluntarily provides their e-mail address, your company has the authority to send informative e-mail messages, since they are interested in receiving them. These e-mails could be newsletters, tips, follow-up, updates or other education information that is relevant to your company’s product or service. E-mail messages can remind prospects of your product or service and sales, which can lead them to making a purchase based on familiarity and trust from being sent informative messages from a company of interest to them. Various parts of the e-mail body should link to a landing page that expands on a particular topic, such as news, industry, sale, special offers or website updates.

Qualified prospects who follow a company’s social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and RSS blog feeds) are showing that they are interested in company updates. Since they willingly choose to follow the company, they are welcoming any updates that the company posts. This is a quick way to share industry news, helpful information, company news, website updates, sales and special promotions to prospects all at the same time.

Consistent blog entries (2-3 times a week) provide opportunity for companies to develop relationships with potential customers as well as lead them directly to a place where they could provide their information or make a purchase. Feedback from readers through comments allows companies to speak directly with them, answering questions, giving them advice or provide solutions to their problems (which could possibly be solved through a purchase from their company). Blog entries could end with or consist of links to various parts of a company’s website, such as product or service catalogs or descriptions, free demos or other landing pages that require interested prospects to provide their contact information.

By placing call-to-actions in your landing pages, you are raising your chances of gaining contact information for qualified leads who visit your website, opening the door to an opportunity to nurture these qualified leads into sales. These call-to-actions can request your website visitors to provide their information in exchange for more information on a product or service, downloadable resources, viewing of a company webinar or speech, access to free samples, demos or discounts, to receive your newsletter or to be contacted by someone in your company.

Research has shown that about 50% of qualified leads are not ready to buy after going to a company’s website. This shows the importance of nurturing these leads to guide them to becoming customers in an effort to avoid losing these potential sales. By showing these leads the appropriate attention and guidance, you are able to create a sense of trust and loyalty to your brand, since they see you as a subject matter expert that helps them to solve their problem or satisfy their desires by purchasing your product or service. By treating qualified leads as valued customers, you have the opportunity to gain both their business and respect for your company.