You’ve managed to capture your ideal client with your website, social media, or some other lead magnet. What happens next?

How do you ensure that your lead turns into a client?

In this blog, I’ll walk you through my personal lead nurturing strategy that has allowed me to become an industry leader and expert digital strategist.

What We’ll Cover:

• What is Lead Nurturing?
• How Email Automation Improves your Lead Nurturing Strategy
• How to Build a Relationship Through Calls
• What to do if a Lead Drops Out of your Lead Nurturing Campaign

What is Lead Nurturing?

Lead nurturing is the process of capturing a prospect’s interest in your business in order to develop a sales pipeline.

Regardless of your industry, this process should be a priority for any online business. Creating a demand for your product or service is the key to creating a thriving business and a solid lead nurturing campaign is a good way to do it.

In most cases, clients and customers are not just going to show up at your door. They will come in through a variety of ways as leads. But turning those leads into customers takes effort.

That’s where lead nurturing comes in.

Once your lead is in the door, you need to work on converting them into a paying opportunity through education and outreach. A good lead nurturing strategy takes time but studies have shown that mature companies achieve 133% greater revenue when they use a lead nurturing campaign.

Start Developing a Relationship Early

It’s no secret that people buy from people. Your customers want to feel like they matter to you and it’s important to start developing a relationship with them early.

The first step in your lead nurturing strategy is to set up an email automation sequence. Make sure to use captivating subject lines to ensure that these emails are opened.

Use the following framework to set up your campaign. All of these emails can be automated within your email campaign system.

Thank You Email

Start your lead nurturing campaign with a thank you email. Leads can come to you in a variety of ways but as soon as you receive someone’s information, send out a thank you email.

Express your gratitude for their curiosity about your product or service. Let them know that you appreciate them. Make it easy for them to connect with you to either purchase your product or schedule a call with you.

Social Proof

The next email you send should contain some sort of social proof. Social proof is the idea that people are easily influenced by society and others around them. When they see others doing certain things, consuming certain products, or acting a certain way, they are more likely to do the same.

You’ll want to tap into this. Send them a testimonial, a client video, or a link to your social media channels and reviews to show them why your product is amazing and why they need it in their lives. Show them people who can’t live without your product and they will be more likely to feel the same way.

Call Preparation and Expectations

Your next step is to send out an email detailing how to prepare for your call and what to expect from it. There is nothing worse than getting on a call with someone who has different expectations for the agenda of the call than you do. Make that a nonissue by mapping out the expectations and boundaries prior to getting on the call.

You should also include any information your prospect needs to provide to you prior to your call, as well as any materials they should read or review so that they are up-to-speed on your business.

Doing this not only gets you both on the same page, but it will also get them excited about your upcoming call while reinforcing that this call will be worth their time.

Education

Your fourth email should contain education about your product. Include things that will increase their trust in your brand. The more a consumer sees your business as a trustworthy brand, the more likely they will purchase from you.

Content marketing is a great way to build your brand trust. Research has shown that consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after reading a piece of educational content. Use this to your advantage and send them some education pieces.

Reminders

These ones are simple but important!

Send out a reminder or two to make sure that your lead doesn’t miss your call. Usually, a reminder email the day before, an hour before, and/or fifteen minutes before are ideal. People can get wrapped up in their day so popping into their inboxes a little bit before your scheduled time is an excellent reminder for them that your call is coming up.

The most important part of all of these emails is the subject line. Your subject line can make or break your lead nurturing campaign. If they aren’t captivating, they won’t be opened and all of that work will be for nothing. Make sure that you are doing everything in your power to increase your open rate and the likelihood that all of your lead nurturing will pay off in the form of a paying opportunity.

Lead Nurturing Through Calls

My lead nurturing strategy moves into a deeper stage of connection through a variety of calls with my potential clients.

I usually set up three calls to truly establish a relationship and get a feel for if my business is a good fit for my potential client and vice versa. Not every one will work with you but you also won’t want to work with everyone. Establishing a relationship over a series of calls is a good way to figure out if this will be a possible working relationship.

The First Call – The Introduction

The first call should always be an introductory call. Let your customer get a feel for you and your business while you get to know their goals. It’s also helpful to establish a specific formula for your introductory calls to get yourself into the habit of asking the right questions to get all of the information you need while delivering all of the information that they need to them.

The Second Call – The Proposal

The second call is where the proposal is presented. Take all of the information you learned in the first call and build out a customized proposal. During this call, you should present all of the information in a clear and concise way that makes it hard for your prospect to decline. Answer their questions and give them time to consider your offer.

The Third Call – The Contract

The third, and usually final, call is the most important. This is where you have all of your contract discussions. Prior to this call, prepare a contract based on the proposal so that your prospect can sign that day if they are ready.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully nurtured your lead and converted them into a client!

What to Do When A Lead Drops Out

There are going to be times when a lead drops out of your lead nurturing campaign. This is normal and it happens to everyone.

It could happen for a variety of reasons — they stop responding to emails, they’ve changed their mind on buying your product or service, or they said no after hearing your pitch.

Your lead nurturing campaign does not need to end. When this happens, take this prospect and put them in a no-client bucket. This creates a pipeline of people who may not be right for your business right now but could be in the future. Staying in contact with them will keep them as a warm lead that could eventually be a paying opportunity after some more education and interaction.

RELATED: What is the Marketing Funnel?

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

The last thing you want to do is shut off the lines of communication. Continue lead nurturing and keep them open by immediately sending them a thank you email. Thank them for their time and interest and let them know that your doors are always open for more questions or inquiries.

A few weeks after you send a thank you email, send them more educational content. Keep educating them on why your product is the answer to the problems. Reinforce this by sending them educational emails over the course of a few weeks.

After a few months, follow up with them again. Let them know that you still have availability and would like to reconnect if your product or service is something they may now need. The first time you connected may not have been the right time for them but with education over time, they may come to the realization that they cannot live without your product.

You can repeat this process as many times as you would like. By sending 6-12 emails over the course of 6-12 months, you are keeping your business fresh in their mind and greatly increasing the chances that they will re-engage with you.

Use these emails to keep your business at the forefront of their minds so that when they are ready to pull the trigger on a product or service, yours is the one they think of. They don’t have to be long or detailed. In fact, they don’t even have to all be emails! You could combine emails and SMS messages to get your message across. Utilizing emails and SMS messages together will take your lead nurturing campaign to a whole new level.

Lead Nurturing is a Long Game

While you’re establishing your lead nurturing strategy, it’s important to remember that these huge changes won’t happen overnight. Truly nurturing your leads is going to take time so lead nurturing can be a long game.

No matter how long it takes, lead nurturing will pay off and your business will be thriving with incredible ideal customers that fit your business model.